Rebecca Salsbury’s professional life reads like a cross-continental map of media-tech evolution. Born and raised in a coastal town in Maine, she spent her teenage years helping run her mother’s garden-centre shop, an experience she now credits with sparking an early taste for leadership. After university, a desire for change sent her across the Atlantic in 2000, where she accepted an expatriate role with TiVo and settled in Edinburgh for six years. The Scottish capital became a launchpad for moves to Sky in London and eventually a decade-long stint at the BBC, during which she held six distinct product and platform positions.
From consultancy to the helm of product at the Financial Times
In May 2023 Salsbury joined the Financial Times as Chief Technology Officer, overseeing the newspaper’s digital infrastructure and engineering strategy. Less than three years later, in January 2026, she was promoted to Chief Product and Technology Officer a role that blends product vision with technical execution. Between those appointments she consulted for Napster, revamping its user experience and building a new product team, and for the University of the Arts London, where she led a data-maturity assessment. Across all these assignments, a recurring theme emerges: a willingness to take calculated risks, whether that meant moving continents, shifting industries, or stepping into her first formal leadership role without a clear roadmap.
Learning to be an ally: personal evolution and professional responsibility
Salsbury describes herself as an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, acknowledging that her early environment—rural, working-class, and subtly religious—treated sex and sexuality as taboo topics. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was the prevailing mantra, and she recalls barely noticing any openly gay or lesbian friends. University and later urban workplaces exposed her to diverse identities, prompting a gradual reshaping of her worldview. She admits that remnants of her upbringing still surface as missteps, but emphasizes ongoing self-education and the importance of listening to lived experiences.
Her commitment deepened when she accepted the executive sponsorship of FT Proud the newspaper’s LGBTQIA+ employee network. In that capacity she not only champions the group’s initiatives but also uses the platform to challenge her own assumptions, ensuring that policy changes—such as a trans-inclusion framework and gender-affirming health benefits—are informed by authentic voices within the organisation.
Embedding inclusion into the Financial Times culture
According to Salsbury, inclusion at the FT goes beyond slogans. The newsroom strives to create an environment where staff can be openly themselves and influence the policies that affect them. Visible senior leaders, including herself, openly discuss their identities, signalling that authenticity is valued at the highest levels. FT Proud acts as both a community hub and a catalyst for systemic change, having collaborated with HR to draft a comprehensive trans-inclusion policy and to secure gender-affirming care within the company’s private health scheme.
She warns that maintaining an inclusive culture requires constant vigilance, especially as external social climates shift and legal frameworks differ across the FT’s global offices. Yet she expresses pride in the organization’s willingness to listen, adapt, and act when employees raise concerns. The ultimate goal, she says, is a workplace where nobody feels compelled to hide aspects of their identity to belong.
