Peter Cochrane was Head of BT Research from 1993 - 99, in 1999 he was appointed Chief Technologist. At the end of November 2000 Peter retired from BT to join his own startup company, ConceptLabs - which he founded with a group out of Apple Computers in 1998 in Silicon Valley.

In 2006 Peter moved on to form a new virtualized global operation (Cochrane Associates) to exploit the new business freedoms and opportunities afforded by the latest technologies. A graduate of Trent Polytechnic and Essex University, he was the Collier Chair for The Public Understanding of Science & Technology at The University of Bristol from 1999 to 2000. He is a Fellow of the IEE, IEEE, Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He has published and lectured widely on technology and the implications of IT and was awarded an OBE in 1999 for his contribution to international communications, the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000 and The City & Guilds Prince Philip Medal in 2001.