Whitespace appoints Mike Howard to lead products ahead of funding round
The UK defense AI company wants to expand its Collective platform into government departments, banking and healthcare.
UK artificial intelligence company Whitespace has named Mike Howard, previously a product manager at Meta, as chief product officer. His responsibilities include shaping product strategy and expanding the development team while the business prepares to seek Series B funding.
The appointment comes as Whitespace seeks wider adoption of Collective, its main AI platform. The company describes the software as learning an organization’s operations to help employees reach decisions faster. It wants to attract government departments, banks and healthcare providers beyond its defense work.
Whitespace says its customers include NATO and the UK Ministry of Defence. It also reached an agreement with listed company Defence Holdings to develop military AI software.
Howard brings more than 20 years of experience across technology and data. During his time at Meta, he helped expand a London engineering team to about 100 people, moving from technical work into product leadership. His earlier work at Deloitte involved data analysis and financial modeling.
Founded in 2015 in Belfast, Whitespace secured £10 million in Series A financing from Beach Equity and White Cloud in November 2025, according to UKTN. Chief executive and co-founder Paul Jenkinson said Howard would support the expansion of both its products and development team as it pursues customers internationally.
