# Al Kingsley

> Al Kingsley MBE is the Peterborough-based group CEO of NetSupport, the education and corporate software company behind classroom.cloud, and chair of Hampton Academies Trust. His career spans finance, international software growth, school governance, education books and advisory work on digital strategy and AI.

- **Role:** Group CEO at NetSupport; Chair of Trustees at Hampton Academies Trust
- **Organizations:** NetSupport, classroom.cloud, Hampton Academies Trust, British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), K4 Consulting, Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Forbes Technology Council, City College Peterborough
- **Nationality:** British
- **Known for:** MBE for services to education, 2025 New Year Honours., Chaired Hampton Academies Trust during its securing of more than £30 million in government funding for Hampton Gardens secondary and Hampton Lakes primary schools., 2023 Edufuturist of the Year.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked at Barclays Bank and Unilever, training in accounting before moving into IT.
- **Early 1990s** — Ran an accounts and IT support business, then joined Dave Apsey in developing the business around remote control software that became NetSupport Manager.
- **1995** — NetSupport launched its classroom management solution.
- **Late 1990s** — Moved to Atlanta to develop NetSupport’s US business.
- **2002** — Returned to the UK base.
- **2014** — Became chair of Hampton Academies Trust.
- **2020** — NetSupport accelerated limited access to classroom.cloud; Kingsley announced the platform in August.
- **2021** — Wider North American classroom.cloud release; My Secret #EdTech Diary published; elected chair of BESA’s EdTech group.
- **2025** — Awarded an MBE for services to education in the New Year Honours; The Awkward Questions in Education published by Routledge.

## Achievements

- MBE for services to education, 2025 New Year Honours.
- Chaired Hampton Academies Trust during its securing of more than £30 million in government funding for Hampton Gardens secondary and Hampton Lakes primary schools.
- 2023 Edufuturist of the Year.
- 2023 Educational Resources Awards Outstanding Achievement recognition.
- 2026 EdTech Digest Global Leader award, recorded on his LinkedIn profile in May.
- 2026 ISTE Making IT Happen award, recorded on his LinkedIn profile in June.
- Co-authored A Guide to Creating a Digital Strategy in Education with Mark Anderson.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Hosted Episode 2 of What MATters Most with John Murphy and Danielle Lewis-Egonu, discussing leadership in schools and multi-academy trusts; LinkedIn article published 18 September.
- **2026-08** — Appeared on the ITPro Podcast on 21 August to discuss IT strategy, change and the human value of technology adoption.
- **2026-06** — LinkedIn records an ISTE Making IT Happen award.
- **2026-05** — LinkedIn records an EdTech Digest Global Leader award.

## Links

- Website: https://alkingsley.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alkingsley1/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/AlKingsley_Edu
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alkingsley/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/al-kingsley
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21