Jennifer Vessels

Why organisations work with Jennifer Vessels

• The P.E.A.C.E. Framework gives transformation a structured language and methodology: not abstract change theory, but a tested roadmap built from live engagements inside organisations including Adobe, Cisco, and Novartis
• She brings Silicon Valley operational experience applied globally, having led transformation programmes across EMEA and Asia, she translates insider knowledge of how the world’s most innovation-intensive organisations actually work into practical approaches for complex, multinational businesses
• She is an active CEO running transformation programmes concurrently with her speaking engagements, meaning her insights reflect current deployments, not retrospective case studies
• Her work on generational integration: aligning Gen Z talent, AI capability, and experienced human capital, addresses a workforce tension that most change and transformation speakers do not tackle with equivalent specificity
• Through the Executive Growth Alliance (EGA), she connects audiences to a live community of F100 leaders navigating the same challenges, giving organisations access to a peer learning network beyond the event itself

Biography highlights

• CEO of Next Step, Silicon Valley consulting firm leading business transformation for global enterprises since 2006
• Founder, Executive Growth Alliance: a global peer community of Fortune 100 leaders focused on future-of-work and AI adoption
• Creator of the P.E.A.C.E. Framework (Purpose, Exploration, Action, Collaboration, Empowerment), deployed across organisations including Adobe, Cisco, Google, IKEA, Microsoft, Novartis, and Schneider Electric
• Awarded “Best Technology Speaker ’24” (IOFM, Diversified Communications)
• Author of “No Clue, No Fear: Navigating Storms of Change” and “How Leaders are REALLY Winning with Technology”
• Featured by EFMD, the World Economic Forum, the Institute of Directors, the San Jose Mercury News, and The New York Times
• MBA, San Jose State University; MS Occupational Psychology, University of London
• Early career: international business development at Tandberg (acquired by Cisco); Director of Global Sales Operations at Tandem Computers

Biography

Leadership thinking built for the Industrial Age is not built for what organisations are experiencing now. Most change programmes assume that if the strategy is sound and the technology is right, transformation will follow. It does not. The missing variable is almost always how leaders are thinking, and what they are willing to let go of.

Jennifer Vessels has spent two decades inside that gap, working as CEO of Next Step across Silicon Valley, EMEA, and Asia. Her client list includes Adobe, Cisco, Google, IKEA, Microsoft, Novartis, and Schneider Electric: organisations navigating business model change, AI adoption, and leadership redesign at scale. From that operational experience, she developed the P.E.A.C.E. Framework: a structured methodology giving leaders a repeatable roadmap through disruptive change rather than a case for why change is necessary.

What distinguishes her position is its currency. She is not drawing on past engagements. As an active CEO running transformation programmes alongside her speaking work, the examples she brings to audiences reflect live challenges rather than archived successes. She also founded the Executive Growth Alliance, a community of F100 leaders using collaborative challenge-resolution as a vehicle for building future-readiness collectively.

Her forthcoming book, “Emergence: How Leaders Break Free from Outdated Thinking,” extends her framework into a broader argument about the leadership models that are no longer fit for purpose, and what replaces them.

Key speaking topics

• AI Adoption and Human-Centred Integration
• Change Leadership and Organisational Transformation
• Future of Work and Generational Integration
• P.E.A.C.E. Approach for Leading Through Change
• Silicon Valley Innovation Applied to Global Business
• Business Model Redesign in an AI Era

Ideal for

• CEOs and senior leadership teams navigating business model transformation or AI adoption programmes
• CHROs and people leaders managing generational integration, workforce redesign, and future-of-work strategy
• Transformation leads and change management functions inside large multinational organisations
• Leadership conference audiences where the appetite is for operational credibility over academic theory

Audience outcomes

• A structured framework (P.E.A.C.E.) that gives teams shared language and a repeatable approach to leading through uncertainty
• Clearer understanding of why AI adoption and transformation programmes stall at the leadership level – and specific approaches to address it
• Practical tools for integrating generational diversity: particularly Gen Z talent alongside experienced human capital and AI capability
• A more precise view of how Silicon Valley’s most transformation-intensive organisations actually drive change, applied to the audience’s own context
• Mindset shift from managing disruption defensively to positioning it as a source of competitive advantage