Kathryn Kaboutian is the Group Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer for the Bristol NHS Hospital Group, bringing more than 17 years of experience in digital transformation, clinical technology, and large-scale organisational change across North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol & Weston.
A people-first digital leader, Kath is known for her commitment to psychological safety, partnership working, and creating the conditions for honest conversation. She is a champion of clinicians, digital professionals, and improvement teams working side-by-side. Always keeping the patient at the heart of every digital decision. For Kath, technology is never “the thing”: it is the enabler that helps staff provide safer, kinder, more personalised care.
Kath plays a leading role in shaping the emerging Group Digital Strategy, the Single Digital Enterprise Team, and major transformation programmes including EPMA implementations, Enterprise Network, AI governance and pilots, regional imaging collaboration, DrDoctor digital pathways, and the Group’s ambitions around HIMSS and the NHS 10-Year Plan. She is particularly interested in how digital can drive safer, more sustainable, and more equitable care — while sweating existing assets and keeping clinical safety at the core of every decision.
Elected to the Digital Health Networks CIO Advisory Panel for the 2025–2027 term, Kath is an active national voice on digital workforce, leadership, and culture. She regularly speaks at events such as Digital Health Rewired, HETT, HTN Live, and regional leadership forums, advocating for inclusive digital leadership, honest challenge, and the value of face-to-face collaboration.
Her leadership style is shaped by personal resilience and the belief that progress comes from celebrating small wins — whether that’s a successful sprint review, a tricky conversation navigated well, or helping teams feel more confident in a time of change. A proud Welshwoman, Kath blends warmth, humour and authenticity in everything she does, never shying from reflecting openly on impostor syndrome, belonging, and the realities of leading through change.
Outside of work, Kath is a wife and mother, avid reader of sports leadership books, and lover of travel, running and time spent with her family.
