Speaking
I speak about the work, not around it.
Most AI talks describe a future. Mine describe a system I built, the numbers it moved, and the parts that went wrong first. Audiences get frameworks they can use on Monday, and the candour that makes them believable.
Speaking topics
Six topics, each adaptable from a 20-minute keynote to a half-day workshop.
The Agentic Enterprise: what changes when software takes actions
For: boards, executive teams, operating partners
Most organisations are still deploying AI that answers questions. The next shift is AI that executes processes. This session covers what an agentic operating model actually looks like, where the human checkpoints belong, and what it does to roles, controls and cost.
Audience leaves with: a working definition of agentic AI they can use with their own teams; a view of which processes are ready and which are not; the failure modes that surface first.
Leading Through Uncertainty: the executive’s guide to AI
For: boards, C-suite, non-technical senior leaders
A plain-language session for leaders who need clarity rather than vocabulary. No jargon and no vendor pitch. The mental model, the decisions in front of them, and the questions they should be putting to their technology teams.
Audience leaves with: a mental model they can hold in their head; a priority order for AI investment; the three questions that expose a weak AI plan.
The People Side of AI: leading cultural change
For: CHROs, COOs, transformation leads
The human story behind AI programmes. Drawing on re-skilling 700 engineers at a FTSE 250 company, this session addresses job anxiety and resistance directly rather than around the edges.
Audience leaves with: why culture, not technology, is usually the binding constraint; a re-skilling approach that survived contact with a real organisation; how to turn fear into engagement without over-promising.
Escaping Pilot Hell: from experimentation to measurable outcomes
For: CDOs, CIOs, heads of AI, portfolio companies
Most GenAI programmes do not fail. They stall. This is a post-mortem of the pattern: what the successful minority do differently, and what the rest have in common.
Audience leaves with: the diagnostic signs of a programme that will never ship; the operating changes that unstick it; how to define an outcome a board will accept as evidence.
AI-Ready Data: the foundation most enterprises skip
For: CDOs, data leaders, architects
Every AI failure I have investigated traces back to data. Not volume, but data that nobody trusts, owns or can trace. This session covers what AI-ready actually means, and why the work is organisational before it is technical.
Audience leaves with: a practical definition of AI-ready data; the ownership and lineage questions to settle first; why most data programmes measure the wrong things.
Governing AI: FinOps, cost and compliance
For: CFOs, risk, audit, boards
The questions senior leaders are often too cautious to ask out loud. Why AI costs spiral, who owns the controls, and what regulators will expect next.
Audience leaves with: why agentic systems cost more than expected and how to control it; a governance foundation that does not slow delivery; the compliance questions to answer before scaling.
Formats
| Format | Typical length | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Keynote | 20–45 min | Conferences, summits, internal leadership days |
| Fireside chat | 30–45 min | Large plenaries, customer and partner events |
| Panel, as panellist or moderator | 45–60 min | Industry conferences, private equity and financial services |
| Executive workshop | 2–4 hours | Boards, operating partners, leadership teams |
| Webinar | 45–60 min | Distributed teams, client education |
Selected engagements
| Event | Format | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Economist Impact Business Innovation Summit | Panel | Mar 2026 |
| Finovate Europe | Keynote | Feb 2026 |
| Operating Partners Forum New York, PEI Group | Panel | Oct 2026 |
| Operating Partners Forum Europe, PEI Group | Panel | May 2026 |
| UKAI Sovereign AI panel, Dawn Capital | Panel | Jun 2026 |
| Chartis Quantitative Analytics 50 | Panel | Jun 2026 |
| Cambridge Judge Business School | Panel | Jun 2026 |
| DNV Group | Session | Aug 2026 |
| Lumine, Bermuda | Session | Jun 2026 |
| The Summit for ESG London | Fireside chat | Oct 2025 |
| Risk Live Europe, Risk.net | Panel | Jun 2025 |
| AI Summit London | Panel chair | Jun 2025 |
| Global RegTech Summit | Panel chair | May 2025 |
| A-Team Data Management Summit | Panel | Mar 2024, Mar 2026 |
| IDC CIO Summit | Panel | Mar 2024, Sep 2024 |
Event enquiry
Tell me about the room and I will tell you what will work in it.
What to send: event name, date and location; audience size, seniority and sector; session format and length; what you want the audience to leave thinking; any theme you need addressed, or avoided.
Lead time: four to six weeks for a keynote. Longer where the session needs custom research, a workshop design, or a pre-event call with your team.
What you get: a call to shape the session, slides written for your audience rather than recycled from the last event, and a short summary afterwards that your team can circulate.
Fees: keynote fees are quoted per event. Panels and workshops are priced separately. Honorariums are considered for non-profit and academic events.
To start an enquiry, get in touch via the contact page.