Daniel Williams- Looking back on 25 years of BYPY

Photo credit: Birmingham Post

This year, we are celebrating 25 years of the iconic BYPY Awards. The awards highlight the exceptional talent and skills of young professionals across Greater Birmingham, while also giving the overall winners the chance to open doors in their careers that they might not otherwise have been able to open.

As part of these celebrations, we spoke to the overall winners of the awards, dating right back to the very first winner in 2001 to last year's winner.

Meet Daniel Williams, our 2019 BYPY winner.

Daniel is a leading voice in shifting the EdTech conversation from screen time to screen value, advocating for purposeful, impact-driven use of technology in classrooms. Daniel's passion includes focusing on how schools can use AI meaningfully and efficiently.

Read all about how Daniel felt about winning BYPY below..

What category did you win?

I won the HR category and the main overall BYPY award in 2019.

Tell us about yourself…

I am Head of EdTech Delivery at the International Schools Partnership (ISP), where I lead the adoption and evaluation of AI and educational technology across a global network of more than 100 schools in 25 countries. At the heart of this work is ISP’s evidence-informed LabSchools model—an initiative I oversee to pilot, assess, and scale digital tools that demonstrably enhance teaching, learning, and student wellbeing.

I am a leading voice in shifting the EdTech conversation from screen time to screen value, advocating for purposeful, impact-driven use of technology in classrooms. My recent contributions to international education discussions have focused on how schools can use AI not just efficiently, but meaningfully—amplifying teacher impact, reducing workload, and deepening learning. My work brings together innovation, pedagogy, and strategic implementation to ensure digital transformation is grounded in evidence and focused on real-world educational outcomes.

Where were you working at the time of winning your award?

At the time of winning, I was at Avison Young as their head of Recruitment. Now, I'm at International Schools Partnership, one of the largest schools group in the world, working as Head of EdTech Delivery and AI.

What does your career look like now?

I oversee EdTech and AI for over 190,000 students. Our focus is on responsible usage of both and impacting learning for the better.

What did winning BYPY do for your career? Have you had any other big achievements or award wins since?

I spent a lot of my early-twenties grinding through work without really getting my head up to take stock of the impact I was having. BYPY really allowed me to do that. It might sound weak of me, but I really needed that external validation to know I was on the right track, which winning BYPY gave me. It built up my confidence: I stopped feeling like I was playing a leader and started feeling like a leader.

Why should people apply for GBYPY?

It's not your classic award procession. It's the first award process I've been a part of where everything felt like it was on merit. There were no preferences, no agendas; I felt listened to, like I wasn't just there to make up the numbers. People take the award seriously for that reason: you're seen as a proper custodian of young professionals in the city.

How did winning BYPY feel?

It was pure catharsis; knowing that others valued purpose-driven work as much as I did.