About Pete Woodbridge

Now I am the Digital & Technology Cluster Lead for the Liverpool City Region, working with the region's businesses, universities, investors and talent to grow its digital and technology sector. I also direct Dreamlab, an R&D lab and collective of 48+ experts, and write Dream Machine, a living book, newsletter and podcast about AI and the next creative economy, cited by The Economist and Fast Company.

Hands-on I am a creative engineer and technologist. Most of that work now is AI, agentic workflows, realtime 3D systems and data engineering: systems and tools that people use inside production. It sits on top of two decades of software development, realtime production, immersive experiences, interactive media and the workflows underneath them. That has meant projects for major brands, artists, studios and partners across film and TV, music, games and live experiences. It has also meant leading teams of developers, engineers, UX designers and 3D artists on new software, games engines, hardware, data and AI products.

Before that I was R&D and Innovation Lead on MusicFutures, a £7.2m programme I helped the region win, and R&D Innovation Director at the MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub, where we backed 35+ collaborative projects on a £3.2m accelerator. In studios, I have been a creative technologist at Crucial FX, a creative producer on the LED stage at Pathway, a senior R&D technologist at Draw & Code, and Product Director at TMRW Foundation, building a new 3D web engine and patented immersive products.

In universities I developed and led the world's first MA Immersive Arts at LJMU, co-directed its Experimental Technologies Lab, led curriculum development during the bid and formation of Manchester's £35m School of Digital Arts, and worked on open education and digital publishing at Coventry's Centre for Disruptive Media. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

In the community I founded the Immersive Liverpool network in 2018 and the Immersive Storylab collective in 2014. I have sat on the Liverpool LEP Digital Board, the College of Experts at XR Stories, review panels for innovation funding across the UK, and as an external bid reviewer and advisor for the EPSRC, CoSTAR and Digital Catapult.

Outside of all that I am a partner and dad, a guitarist and, occasionally, a Chinese rock star.