Sir Richard Moore

Former Chief (‘C’) of the UK Secret Intelligence Service (2020–2025) (MI6) at Front-line decision maker in geopolitics and intelligence

Keynote

Sir Richard Moore was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2020 through September 2025, guiding the organisation through a period of major geopolitical change. He prioritised responses to state-based threats from Russia, Iran and China, and advanced MI6’s engagement with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence — working in partnership with the private sector to do so. He also reshaped MI6’s relationship with the public — becoming the first Chief to give live television and radio interviews and to use X (formerly Twitter) as a platform for direct communication.

Before becoming Chief, Sir Richard was Political Director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Ambassador to Turkey. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford, was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard, and later attended the Stanford Executive Programme. He began his MI6 career in 1987, serving in postings in Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia.