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Meet the judge

Meet judge, Kata Escott 

Kata Escott

Managing Director and Head of Country

Airbus Defence & Space UK

Kata is the Managing Director of Airbus Defence and Space UK. Prior to joining Airbus in 2023, she was a civil servant, supporting governments across a range of national security priorities since 2001.

During her time in the Ministry of Defence Kata advised Ministers and Chiefs on policy, operations and planning from the integrated civilian/ military headquarters in Whitehall. Most recently, she led the 2021 Defence Review which saw a major reset of UK Armed Forces, a shift towards tackling state on state competition, and a £16.5Bn investment towards a modern, tech-enabled military.

Kata has also held pivotal roles in the Cabinet Office at the centre of the UK’s government - supporting the Prime Minister's National Security Council advising on the Integrated Review, AUKUS and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; leading the government's response to the 2013 Snowden intelligence crisis; and as the Chief of Staff to the Cabinet Secretary (who is the Prime Minister’s principal policy adviser and the Head of the Civil Service) from 2016-19.

In 2022 Kata was a member of the senior leadership team charged with setting up the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. She remains passionate about the transformative potential at the intersection of science and technology and national security, and to that end, is committed to ever closer collaboration between government and industry.

Kata has been a strong advocate and champion for diversity in defence throughout her career and is proud to return as a judge for WID in 2025