Kathryn Parsons founded Decoded in January 2011 using just a credit card. She launched a global movement in code education with her “Code in a Day” course. Under her leadership, Decoded has taught coding, data, and cyber skills to over half a million people in more than 85 cities. Business leaders now turn to Decoded to boost digital skills and build strong digital cultures.
Kathryn saw a clear problem—low digital literacy across all sectors. She created Decoded to close this gap and help everyone, from boardroom leaders to new hires, gain essential tech skills.
Her love of languages began early. At Downing College, Cambridge, she studied French, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin, and Ancient Greek. She sees code as another language—one that anyone can learn and everyone should.
Her passion helped bring coding into the UK National Curriculum in 2014. For this work, she received an MBE in 2015 for Services to Education.
Kathryn speaks at major events including the Dublin Web Summit, Google EMEA @Women Summit, and the European Commission’s Google Big Tent. She champions coding, women in tech, and the future of work in the digital economy.
She began her career at WPP’s Ogilvy Group, where she led award-winning projects in branded content, virtual worlds, and mobile research. In 2006, she launched her first business, focused on innovation and product development for global brands.
