Eric Kihlstrom is an internationally recognised innovation leader and entrepreneur, and Chair & Chief Executive Officer of Centaur Robotics Ltd. He brings deep, end to end understanding of the full feasibility to commercialisation lifecycle for advanced technology ventures operating in regulated and conservative markets.

Eric served as Director of the £98 million Innovate UK Healthy Ageing Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, providing first hand insight into national scale innovation funding, programme governance, and what differentiates fundable feasibility projects from commercially scalable propositions. This role required rigorous evaluation of technical readiness, commercial viability, societal impact and delivery capability.

Under his leadership, Centaur Robotics has received international recognition and Winner of the Emirates Airlines Aviation X Lab 2023, reflecting his experience operating within global innovation ecosystems and engaging with international partners, governments and investors.

As a Non-Executive Director of Sisura Innovation Ltd, Eric provides board-level oversight on strategic partnerships, commercialisation pathways and investment readiness. His experience strengthens Sisura’s ability to transition from grant funded pilots and proofs of concept into credible, repeatable commercial deployments in the UK and international markets.