Risk Management

Why organisations work with Adrian Hayes A senior commercial career running in parallel with the expedition record. Six years as Airbus Middle East sales director is the kind of credential adventure-only speakers cannot produce, and it changes how executive audiences engage with the material. ICF-accredited executive coaching behind every session. Audiences leave with frameworks they can apply to decision-making and team performance back in the business, beyond the story they will remember. Direct experience of serious failure and life-threatening decisions. The 2013 K2 attempt ended in a fatal avalanche for his teammates. The 2025 Kanchenjunga summit ended in a near-fatal descent and a Sherpa-assisted rescue. His position on risk comes from having made those calls himself. Arabic and Nepalese fluency, with residence in eight countries and operational work in more than a hundred. The cross-cultural perspective comes from years inside those cultures at the working level. Biography highlights Former British Army Gurkha officer, commissioned through the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, with eight years in the Brigade of Gurkhas and postings in Hong Kong, Brunei, and Oman. Two Guinness World Records: fastest male completion of the Three Poles Challenge (Everest, North Pole, South Pole) in 1 year 217 days, and the longest unsupported Arctic kite-ski expedition for a 67-day crossing of Greenland in 2009. Summited the world’s three highest mountains: Everest (2006), K2 (2014), and Kanchenjunga (2025). Former Airbus Middle East sales director for six years, followed by over fifteen years as an ICF-accredited executive coach and keynote speaker. Author of Footsteps of Thesiger (2013) and One Man’s Climb: A Journey of Trauma, Tragedy and Triumph on K2 (Pen and Sword, 2019). Presenter or featured subject in broadcast documentaries for National Geographic Channel (The Greenland Quest) and Discovery Channel (Footsteps of Thesiger; In Inner Mongolia); Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Biography An avalanche at Camp 3 on K2 killed New Zealand climbers Marty and Denali Schmidt on 27 July 2013. Adrian Hayes was due to begin his own summit push the next day. The expedition stopped. He returned a year later and reached the top. That sequence, the halted attempt followed by the return and summit on 26 July 2014, says something about how Hayes approaches his work with senior leaders. He teaches what decision-making looks like when the cost of mistakes is absolute and the ordinary conditions for clear judgment have gone. The experience behind that work is unusually broad. Eight years in the Brigade of Gurkhas, including training and operational roles across Hong Kong, Brunei, and Oman. Six years as Airbus Middle East sales director, running a major commercial portfolio in one of the world’s more complex regions. Two Guinness World Records: the fastest male Three Poles Challenge in 1 year 217 days, and the longest unsupported Arctic kite-ski expedition for his 2009 crossing of Greenland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an ICF-accredited executive coach. His two books, Footsteps of Thesiger and One Man’s Climb: A Journey of Trauma, Tragedy and Triumph on K2, sit alongside documentary work for National Geographic and Discovery. In May 2025, he summited Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain, completing the three highest peaks on earth. He was injured on the descent and rescued from Camp IV by Sherpa climbers. Key speaking topics Leadership decision-making under uncertainty Team performance under sustained pressure Cross-cultural leadership in complex markets Resilience and mental endurance Risk management and recovery from setback Responsible leadership and sustainability Ideal for CEOs and executive teams facing major strategic change or commercial pressure Boards navigating crisis, setback, or leadership transition Sales and commercial leadership in complex international markets Senior leadership development programmes, particularly cohorts preparing for cross-cultural or high-stakes assignments Audience outcomes A method for making decisions when information is limited and the cost of error is high A view of what resilience looks like in practice, distinct from its motivational framing Leadership lessons drawn from senior roles in the Gurkhas, at Airbus, and on major expeditions A clearer picture of what separates teams that hold under sustained pressure from those that fracture

Why organisations work with Adrian Joseph He has run an AI and data function of roughly 1,600 people inside a FTSE 100 company, so his advice to boards reflects what it takes to deliver at that scale, not what a strategy deck suggests. He sits on the boards of Direct Line, Allwyn and Great Ormond Street Hospital, giving him a current view of how AI lands in insurance, gaming and healthcare rather than a single-sector perspective. As an Expert Member of the UK AI Council he contributed to the National AI Strategy, so he reads regulation and policy as someone who has been inside the room, not as an outside observer. He holds an OBE for services to equality and diversity in business and was named the UK’s most influential minority ethnic technology leader by the Financial Times and Inclusive Boards, which sharpens his credibility on the workforce side of AI transformation. His career path through Google, EY and BT gives audiences a rare triangulation: the hyperscaler view of what the technology can do, the consulting view of how to sell change internally, and the operator view of what actually breaks. Biography highlights Former Chief Data and AI Officer, BT Group, leading approximately 1,600 data and AI professionals. Former Senior Partner and Head of UK Data and Analytics for Financial Services at EY. Over ten years in senior leadership roles at Google across cloud, digital and data science. Non-Executive Director at Direct Line Insurance Group, Allwyn UK and Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Expert Member of the UK Government’s AI Council and former Non-Executive Director at the Home Office. OBE for services to equality and diversity in business; named the UK’s most influential BAME technology leader by the Financial Times and Inclusive Boards. Biography Running an AI and data function of 1,600 people inside BT Group taught Adrian Joseph OBE what most board conversations about AI miss. The commercial case is not won in the model. It is won in the operating model, the talent pipeline and the patience of the leadership team to let value compound. That operator’s view is what he brings into the room. Before BT, he spent over a decade at Google in senior cloud, digital and data science roles, then led the UK Data and Analytics practice for Financial Services at EY as a Senior Partner. The path gives him three lenses on the same problem. Hyperscalers built the infrastructure. Consultancies sold the transformation story. Incumbents have to actually run the thing in production under regulatory scrutiny. He currently holds non-executive director roles at Direct Line Insurance Group, Allwyn UK, the National Lottery operator, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, and sits on the Technology Advisory Board at NatWest Group. As an Expert Member of the UK Government’s AI Council he contributed to the National AI Strategy, and served as a Non-Executive Director at the Home Office from 2015 to 2020. He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours for services to equality and diversity in business, and the Financial Times and Inclusive Boards named him the UK’s most influential Black, Asian and ethnic minority technology leader. That recognition is not decoration on the CV. It sharpens his argument that the AI advantage large organisations seek is inseparable from who they let build and govern the systems. Key speaking topics Enterprise AI strategy and commercial return Responsible AI and governance Data and AI operating models at scale Digital and cloud transformation in regulated industries AI policy and the National AI Strategy Diversity and inclusion in technology leadership Board-level oversight of AI risk Ideal for CEOs, CFOs and boards under pressure to show commercial return from AI and data spend Chief Data Officers, CIOs and CTOs building or restructuring AI and data functions Financial services, insurance, healthcare and public sector leaders navigating AI in regulated environments CHROs and transformation leads addressing the talent and inclusion dimension of AI adoption Audience outcomes A sharper line between AI activity that produces commercial return and AI activity that produces slides A realistic view of what an AI and data operating model looks like at enterprise scale, from someone who ran one Current reading of UK AI policy and regulation from inside the AI Council and National AI Strategy work Practical signals for boards on where to probe AI risk, governance and delivery maturity Language for connecting AI capability to workforce, talent and inclusion strategy

Why organisations work with Alain Prost Four Formula One World Championships won against the strongest field of the modern era, including Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda. Evidence, not assertion, that analytical preparation outlasts raw aggression over a full season. Few speakers move between the cockpit and the boardroom with equal authority. Competed for McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and Williams across 13 F1 seasons, then owned and ran Prost Grand Prix, and later served in a senior advisory role at Renault and Alpine. The mantra of “win as slowly as possible” translates directly to senior leadership. It reframes the question from speed to timing: how to preserve the machine and execute the decisive move when rivals have overextended. Held the record for most Grand Prix victories (51) for 14 years, broken only by Michael Schumacher, and remains the only French driver ever to win a Formula One World Championship. Biography highlights Four-time Formula One World Drivers’ Champion (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993). 51 Grand Prix victories, a record that stood for 14 years until Michael Schumacher surpassed it in 2001. Competed at the Formula One level for McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and Williams. Founded and ran the Prost Grand Prix Formula One team from 1997 to 2001, after acquiring the former Ligier operation. Co-owner of Renault e.dams in Formula E, winning three consecutive Teams’ Championships. Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur; honorary OBE; recipient of the 1999 World Sports Awards of the Century in motorsport; inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Biography Ayrton Senna was faster over a single lap. Alain Prost won four Formula One World Championships. That gap is the argument of his career. Speed is measurable. Winning a 16-race season is a different discipline, closer to running a complex business than to driving a fast car. His mantra, “win as slowly as possible,” described a specific operating method. Conserve brakes and tyres early. Read the race against the field’s pace, and position the car so the decisive move comes late, when rivals have burned through their margins. The nickname “the Professor” was given by journalists who could not explain how a driver who rarely topped qualifying still kept ending the season as champion. The perspective extends beyond the cockpit. Prost founded and ran his own Formula One operation, Prost Grand Prix, from 1997 to 2001, after acquiring the former Ligier team. He later became co-owner of Renault e.dams in Formula E, where the team won three consecutive Teams’ Championships from 2014-15. He has held senior advisory roles at Renault and Alpine, and continues to work as a commentator and analyst across the sport. Senior teams running complex, capital-heavy operations recognise the discipline immediately. A Formula One season, played out across 16 races and four continents, is sustained decision-making under pressure in a highly instrumented environment, against rivals with similar resources. The winners read conditions accurately and know when to hold a position and when to strike. Prost brought that method to McLaren and Williams as a driver, then to the pit wall as owner of Prost Grand Prix. Key speaking topics Strategic decision-making under sustained competitive pressure Team leadership in complex, technical environments Risk management in high-performance competition Building and running an elite competitive operation Lessons from four decades at the top of Formula One Ideal for Board and executive teams are responsible for long-cycle competitive strategy CEO and COO audiences in capital-intensive, operationally complex industries Leadership forums focused on high-performance teamwork and technical collaboration Senior leaders in sectors where timing and risk determine outcomes Audience outcomes A case study in why methodical preparation beats high-effort aggression across a long competitive season A working vocabulary for reading conditions and timing the decisive move under pressure A first-hand account of what it takes to hold together a Formula One team, where engineers, strategists, commercial partners and the driver each shape the next decision Direct lessons from competing against, and later working alongside, some of the most demanding figures in global sport

Why organisations work with Aleksander Kwasniewski He was President of Poland through the single most consequential decade in the country’s modern foreign policy, signing the 1997 Constitution and overseeing accession to NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. As the mediator of Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution and a long-time EU envoy on Ukraine-EU negotiations, he holds one of the deepest first-hand views of the Russia-Ukraine-EU interaction now dominating European risk analysis. His current institutional footprint is substantive: Chairman of Yalta European Strategy, Distinguished Scholar at Georgetown, former member of the Atlantic Council International Advisory Board and former board member of the International Crisis Group. Club de Madrid membership places him alongside more than 120 former heads of state and government, reinforcing the peer-level standing corporate audiences expect when a former President speaks. His long-standing reconciliation and tolerance work, including chair of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation and the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center board, gives him credibility across a range of cross-cultural and public-diplomacy briefs. Biography highlights President of Poland, 1995 to 2005 (two terms) Led Polish accession to NATO (1999) and the European Union (2004); signed the 1997 Constitution Mediated the 2004 Ukraine Orange Revolution; co-led the European Parliament monitoring mission on Ukraine to November 2013 Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership, Georgetown University Chairman of Yalta European Strategy; founder of Amicus Europae; member of Club de Madrid and the Global Commission on Drug Policy Chair of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation; supervisory board, Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Biography The generation that designed modern Poland’s international position included a short list of people who had to take the decisions in real time. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland from 1995 to 2005, is the one with the clearest record on the outcomes that still shape the continent: a new Constitution in 1997, accession to NATO in 1999 and to the European Union in 2004. Two terms, each won at the ballot box, in a country that had become a democracy less than a decade before he took office. His post-presidential record is built around Ukraine and European security. He mediated the 2004 Orange Revolution, brokering the settlement that ended the crisis and placed Viktor Yushchenko in the Ukrainian presidency. From then until late 2013 he co-led the European Parliament’s monitoring mission in Ukraine and headed EU talks with Ukraine on the association agreement whose collapse in 2013 triggered the Euromaidan protests the following year. Few external politicians have as long an unbroken view of the Ukraine-EU-Russia triangle as he does. The current institutional portfolio reflects that expertise. He is Chairman of Yalta European Strategy, founder of the Amicus Europae Foundation, and Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University. He sits on the Club de Madrid and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, on the supervisory board of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv, and on the International Advisory Council to Uzbekistan. His earlier international board roles included the Atlantic Council of the United States International Advisory Board and the International Crisis Group. For governments, multinational corporations, financial institutions and policy audiences trying to read European security, Eastern European risk and the trajectory of Ukraine, Kwasniewski is among the small group of former heads of state who speak with both political experience and current institutional engagement. His register is direct, and his material is built for executive audiences working on decisions that have consequence. Key speaking topics European security and the future of the EU and NATO Ukraine, Russia and the Eastern European geopolitical picture Poland’s transition, EU accession and political economy International diplomacy and mediation under pressure Reconciliation, tolerance and post-conflict public policy Global drug policy reform Ideal for Boards, CEOs and investment committees assessing European and Eastern European geopolitical risk Financial institutions, energy companies and multinationals with Central and Eastern European exposure Policy forums, think tanks and international affairs audiences Diplomatic, EU and NATO-adjacent events Audience outcomes A head-of-state reading of the forces shaping European security and Ukraine’s position Inside account of the 2004 Orange Revolution mediation and the 2013 EU-Ukraine association talks Historical context from Poland’s NATO and EU accession directly applicable to emerging-market strategy conversations A clearer view of how current international institutions are likely to respond to ongoing crises, from someone who has advised them

Why organisations work with Alessandra Dabul A board chair and M&A lawyer who has spent three decades inside cross-border deals, so her ESG perspective lands as governance and diligence content, not as advocacy. President of the Board at Gavea Angels and board member at AmCham Brasil, giving her a working line of sight into how investors and corporates in Latin America are actually pricing ESG into capital decisions. Brings the rare combination of IBGC corporate governance certification with executive education in Sustainable Capitalism at UC Berkeley Law and Sustainable Business Strategy at Harvard Business School, applied to live private and public company boards. Speaks fluently in English and French to international audiences, with deep specificity on the Brazil and broader Latin American context that most global ESG speakers cover only thinly. Founding partner of two Brazilian firms focused on M&A and family business governance, which gives her credibility on succession, owner transitions, and the ESG questions that surface during ownership change. Biography highlights Founding partner of Pereira, Dabul Advogados and of RCA Governanca e Sucessoes, both Brazil-based firms. President of the Board at Gavea Angels, one of Brazil’s longest-standing angel investor networks. Board member at AmCham Brasil and member of Women Corporate Directors Brazil Chapter. Former director at Deloitte and senior manager at KPMG, with prior leadership at EY in southern Brazil. Masters and PhD in Economic Law and Social and Environmental Law; IBGC corporate governance certification. Executive education in Sustainable Capitalism and ESG at UC Berkeley Law, and in Sustainable Business Strategy at Harvard Business School. Biography Most boards in emerging markets are still treating ESG as a reporting exercise. The directors who have lived through cross-border M&A know the cost of that posture. Diligence opens up environmental liabilities, governance gaps, and labour exposures that were invisible in the management deck, and the deal repricing happens in the room. Alessandra Dabul has spent close to thirty years inside that room. She built her career advising European, North American, and Canadian corporates entering Brazil through acquisition, first as a director at Deloitte and senior manager at KPMG, with earlier leadership at EY, and now as founding partner of Pereira, Dabul Advogados and of RCA Governanca e Sucessoes. The second firm reflects the part of her practice focused on family business succession, where ownership transitions surface governance and ESG questions that cannot be deferred. Her board work runs in parallel. She is President of the Board at Gavea Angels, one of Brazil’s longest-standing angel investor networks, and a board member at AmCham Brasil. She holds IBGC corporate governance certification and has completed executive education in Sustainable Capitalism at UC Berkeley Law and Sustainable Business Strategy at Harvard Business School. The combination matters because the substance of ESG governance, as she frames it, is whether the board can defend a capital allocation, a deal, or a succession decision when it is questioned by an acquirer, a regulator, or a limited partner. That is the conversation she brings into the room: ESG as a discipline of decision, tested against the realities of M&A, board accountability, and investor capital in a Latin American market that does not yet have the regulatory scaffolding of Europe, but increasingly has the scrutiny. Key speaking topics ESG governance for boards and investment committees Sustainable business strategy in emerging markets Corporate governance and board effectiveness Cross-border M&A and post-acquisition integration in Latin America Family business succession and ownership transitions Angel investment and early-stage capital in Brazil Ideal for Boards and audit committees of multinationals with Brazilian or Latin American operations Chief sustainability officers and general counsel managing ESG diligence and reporting Private equity, venture capital, and angel investor networks pricing ESG into deal flow Family business owners and family office leadership facing succession or governance reform Audience outcomes A clearer view of the specific ESG questions that surface in cross-border M&A diligence, and how to answer them at board level. A working framework for distinguishing ESG narrative from ESG governance, with examples from Brazilian and Latin American board practice. Practical reference points on how angel investor networks and corporate boards are integrating ESG into capital decisions today. A grounded perspective on family business succession, including where ownership transitions create governance risk.

Why organisations work with Alex Brummer Five decades of front-line financial reporting, from the 1976 sterling crisis to the 2008 banking collapse to the post-Brexit settlement, give audiences a working memory of how financial crises actually unfold. A named position of record. As City Editor of the Daily Mail he writes the paper’s daily view on business, markets and the economy, which means organisations get an author whose arguments are already in public circulation. Book-length theses backed by serious publishers. Bad Banks on financial system fragility and The Great British Reboot (Yale University Press, 2020) on UK economic strategy give audiences a coherent argument, not a survey. Specific expertise on pensions and long-term savings, the subject of The Great Pensions Robbery, which matters to any organisation running a material defined benefit liability or rethinking retirement provision. Award weight from credible bodies: Wincott Senior Financial Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards Financial Journalist of the Year, Overseas Press Club of New York for US coverage. Biography highlights City Editor of the Daily Mail since May 2000, writing the paper’s daily commentary on business, markets and the economy. 26 years at The Guardian in senior roles including US Financial and Washington Correspondent, Financial Editor, Foreign Editor and Associate Editor. Author of seven books including The Great British Reboot (Yale University Press, 2020), Bad Banks (2014), Britain for Sale (2012) and The Great Pensions Robbery (2011). Wincott Prize for Senior Financial Journalist of the Year (2001); British Press Awards Financial Journalist of the Year (1999); Overseas Press Club of New York (1989). Honorary Doctor of the University, University of Bradford (2014). Columnist for New Statesman; contributor to The Spectator and Jewish Chronicle; chair of the Jewish News editorial board. Biography The 1976 sterling crisis, the 2008 banking collapse and the post-Brexit argument over UK industrial strategy have one thing in common. The same journalist covered them from inside a working newsroom, in real time, for a general reader. Since May 2000, that newsroom has been the Daily Mail, where Alex Brummer is City Editor. The role means writing the paper’s daily view on business, markets and the economy, turning movement in the FTSE, the Bank of England and global capital markets into a clear argument rather than a data dump. Before that he spent 26 years at The Guardian, including ten years as US Financial and Washington Correspondent covering three presidential elections, then Financial Editor, Foreign Editor and Associate Editor. The books map the territory he speaks from. Bad Banks (2014) traced the post-2008 banking system’s unresolved fragility. Britain for Sale (2012) set out the costs of foreign ownership of British industrial assets. The Great Pensions Robbery (2011) examined the unwinding of UK retirement provision. The Great British Reboot, published by Yale University Press in 2020, argues how the UK can rebuild economic strength through research, technology and industrial reform. The recognition is from bodies that matter in the field: the Wincott Prize for Senior Financial Journalist of the Year, the British Press Awards for Financial Journalist of the Year, and the Overseas Press Club of New York for best foreign correspondent in the United States. Bradford awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2014. Key speaking topics UK economic outlook and industrial policy Banking stability and systemic financial risk Pensions, savings and long-term capital Foreign ownership of UK assets and national economic security Global markets and macroeconomic trends Post-Brexit economic strategy Ideal for Boards and CEOs in financial services, asset management and banking needing an informed macro read alongside strategic decisions CFOs and treasury leaders exposed to rate, currency and pensions risk Policy forums, regulators and industry bodies across financial services, infrastructure and pensions Conferences needing a City Editor-grade host or moderator across business, economics and markets Audience outcomes A clearer read on how UK economic policy, banking regulation and market conditions intersect with their own sector Named historical reference points, from the 1976 sterling crisis to 2008 and beyond, for interpreting current financial stress A sharper frame on the pensions and long-term savings question facing UK employers A working journalist’s view on what is actually driving coverage and sentiment around their industry An argument, not a survey, on where the UK economy is heading and what that implies for strategy

Why organisations work with Alex Hibbert Holds a Guinness World Record for the longest unsupported ski expedition on the Greenland Ice Sheet, giving board-level audiences a verified rather than rhetorical reference point for endurance and risk. Works with a named concept he calls “coping headroom”, the margin a team needs before pressure turns into chaos, which maps directly onto how leaders think about capacity, reserves and pacing. Rejects motivational framing on record, building talks around stark assessment and realistic planning, which travels into strategy, risk and finance functions rather than only conference-style audiences. Combines first-hand expedition leadership with a science background from Oxford and an honorary doctorate from the University of Portsmouth, so credibility holds in technical and executive rooms. Repeat client list including Rolls-Royce Deutschland, Royal Bank of Canada, Stryker and Aberdeen Asset Management signals that the content lands with engineering, financial services and regulated industries, not only general audiences. Biography highlights Guinness World Record holder for the longest unsupported ski expedition on the Greenland Ice Sheet, 2,211 km over 113 days with George Bullard. Founder of the Dark Ice Project, a multi-year expedition programme to reach the Geographic North Pole from northwest Greenland in winter. Author of four books on polar travel and the Arctic: The Long Haul, Maybe, Kalaallit Nunaat and Polar Eskimo. Honorary doctorate from the University of Portsmouth, 2017. Corporate speaking clients include Rolls-Royce Deutschland, Royal Bank of Canada, Stryker, Grant Thornton UK, Aberdeen Asset Management and Fresenius Medical Care. Guest speaker at the Oxford Union and Cambridge University, with media commentary for Sky News, the BBC and national newspapers. Biography In 2008, two young Britons skied 2,211 km across the Greenland Ice Sheet and back, unsupported, in 113 days. The journey still sits on the Guinness World Records list as the longest unsupported ski expedition on that ice cap. One of them was Alex Hibbert, then twenty-one, with an Oxford biology degree and a plan that did not depend on luck. What followed was not a career of flag-planting. Hibbert founded the Dark Ice Project, a sustained attempt to reach the Geographic North Pole from Qaanaaq in northwest Greenland during the Arctic winter, and has returned to that region across multiple iterations and years. More than five hundred days in cold regions, close to two hundred of them genuinely unsupported, sit behind the work he now does with leadership audiences. The speaking proposition is deliberately unsentimental. He argues that the adventure-story version of endurance, the triumphant narrative, is the least useful part for serious organisations. What boards and operating committees need is a way to think about pressure that accounts for reserves, changing conditions and the point at which capable people start making poor decisions. His concept of “coping headroom”, the margin a team carries before it starts losing grip on the plan, maps onto how senior leaders actually think about capacity, risk and pacing. Evidence of fit sits in the client list. Rolls-Royce Deutschland, Royal Bank of Canada, Stryker, Grant Thornton UK, Aberdeen Asset Management and Fresenius Medical Care have all booked him, alongside Oxford and Cambridge platforms. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Portsmouth in 2017, has authored four books on polar travel, and has been a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year finalist on three occasions. Key speaking topics Decision-making under sustained pressure Risk assessment and operational margin Leadership of small teams in hostile conditions Endurance and the limits of preparation Polar exploration and unsupported travel Honest planning and the rejection of wishful thinking Ideal for Board and executive leadership gatherings where risk, judgement and reserves are on the agenda Strategy, risk and operational resilience functions in regulated industries Engineering, energy and financial services leadership forums where technical credibility is essential Audience outcomes A sharper working vocabulary for pressure, reserves and the point at which plans start to fail A practical sense of what honest risk assessment looks like before, during and after a high-stakes decision A reference case, drawn from a verified world-record expedition, that senior teams can return to in their own planning conversations A different register from typical adventure speakers, with content built for strategy rooms rather than conference-floor inspiration

Why organisations work with Alex Wood First-hand operator knowledge of social engineering, impersonation and mule-account networks, drawn from years inside the work rather than modelled from the outside. Active advisor to the Home Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Cabinet Office, the Financial Conduct Authority and UK police forces, so the material reflects current regulatory and policing priorities. Consults for Tier 1 banks including NatWest and risk firms including Experian on the fraud mindset and social engineering, giving risk, compliance and customer-protection teams a structured view of how scams are designed. Co-presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Scam Secrets with Shari Vahl and Dr Elisabeth Carter, a weekly national broadcast that keeps his case base current rather than historical. Biography highlights Co-presenter, BBC Radio 4 Scam Secrets, alongside journalist Shari Vahl and criminologist Dr Elisabeth Carter Advises the Home Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Cabinet Office, the Financial Conduct Authority and UK police forces on fraud mindset and social engineering Consults for Tier 1 banks including NatWest and risk firms including Experian Author of the forthcoming memoir Facing the Music: From Her Majesty’s Palaces to Her Majesty’s Prisons, represented by Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Trained classical violinist, Purcell School, Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music; early performances at the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall Named speaker at Counter Fraud 2023 and UK Cyber Week 2024 Biography Most fraud controls assume the attacker is a technical problem. The last decade of evidence says the attacker is a psychologist with a laptop. What banks, insurers and regulators rarely get in the room is the working logic of the person on the other side of the transaction, and that is what Alex Wood brings. Wood trained as a concert violinist at the Purcell School, Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music, and performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall. A repetitive strain injury ended the career in his early twenties. What followed was a decade of fraud, including a 2015 conviction for impersonating the Duke of Marlborough across London hotels and a later sentence tied to banking fraud. He was released from prison in 2022. Since then he has become a working advisor to the Home Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Cabinet Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, UK police forces and Tier 1 banks including NatWest. His focus is the mule-account economy and the social engineering playbooks that defeat otherwise strong controls. He co-presents the BBC Radio 4 series Scam Secrets with Shari Vahl and Dr Elisabeth Carter, dissecting live cases with forensic detail. His memoir, Facing the Music: From Her Majesty’s Palaces to Her Majesty’s Prisons, is represented by Andrew Lownie Literary Agency, and a documentary on his story is in production with Mindhouse Productions, the company founded by Louis Theroux. For a risk committee briefing, what Wood delivers is specific: how a criminal chooses a target, how a customer is moved into a mule role, and where in a bank’s own process the decisive second of hesitation was lost. Key speaking topics The fraud mindset and how sophisticated scams are designed Social engineering and impersonation at scale Mule accounts and the retail-banking fraud perimeter AI-enabled fraud and the near-term threat surface Informal value-transfer systems and underworld banking (Hawala, Daigou) Counter-fraud culture inside large financial institutions Ideal for Heads of financial crime, fraud and compliance at banks, insurers and law firms Risk and customer-protection teams rebuilding fraud prevention programmes Internal audit, AML and onboarding functions facing mule-account and impersonation pressure Counter-fraud conferences, regulator-facing events and financial services leadership summits Audience outcomes A working view of how fraud is designed from the offender side, not the detection side Specific frames for spotting social-engineering and impersonation pressure earlier in the transaction path A read on where AI-enabled fraud and underworld banking are pushing the near-term threat surface A speaker whose BBC Radio 4 co-presenter role keeps the material current with national-level fraud reporting

Why organisations work with Alexandra Cousteau Oceans2050, which she co-founded and leads as President, published the first peer-reviewed global assessment of seaweed carbon sequestration in Nature Climate Change (2025) – giving her ocean restoration arguments a scientific grounding most sustainability voices cannot match. She reframes water security as a material business risk rather than a reputational issue, mapping how freshwater and ocean health are embedded in supply chains, food production, and coastal infrastructure in ways that affect operations, procurement, and investor disclosure. She has testified before the U.S. Congress on water policy and maintains direct relationships with heads of state and senior policy makers, giving organisations a credible connection point at the intersection of science, advocacy, and government decision-making. She pioneered real-time expedition storytelling on social media before it was standard practice – in 2010 she led National Geographic’s first interactive expedition, a five-month journey across North America – making her one of few climate voices who has demonstrably mobilised both institutional and popular attention at scale. As architect of the Blue Cities Alliance through Oceans2050, she connects organisations to a growing network of coastal city governments taking measurable action on ocean restoration, relevant to companies seeking credible local partnerships for their nature-based ESG commitments. Biography highlights Co-founder and President, Oceans2050 – lead organisation behind the first peer-reviewed global study of seaweed carbon sequestration, published in Nature Climate Change (2025), with research funding from WWF and the Bezos Earth Fund National Geographic Emerging Explorer (2008); World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2010) Co-founder, EarthEcho International – youth environmental education organisation reaching more than 2 million people in 146 countries Founder, Blue Legacy International (2008) – produced 100+ award-winning short films on water issues, with expeditions across six continents Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Georgetown University (2016); BA in Political Science (International Relations), Georgetown University Senior Advisor, Oceana; CNN Principle Voices contributor (2008); UN Earth Trustee; U.S. Congress water policy witness Biography The ocean absorbs roughly a quarter of all carbon emitted since industrialisation, yet it remains largely absent from corporate ESG strategy. Alexandra Cousteau, co-founder of Oceans2050 and granddaughter of the legendary oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, has spent two decades building the scientific infrastructure to address that gap. The Oceans2050 study published in Nature Climate Change in 2025 was the first peer-reviewed global assessment of carbon burial beneath seaweed farms, demonstrating sequestration rates comparable to mangroves and seagrasses and establishing the scientific foundation for a new blue carbon market. Cousteau’s consistent argument, advanced across her work with EarthEcho International, Blue Legacy, and Oceans2050, is that water security is not a separate environmental concern but a material business risk embedded in every supply chain, food system, and coastal community. This is grounded in fieldwork across six continents, peer-reviewed science, and direct engagement with heads of state, NGOs, and senior policy makers. She has testified before the U.S. Congress on water policy and served for years as Senior Advisor to Oceana on ocean conservation and governance campaigns. Her credentials span the academic and the field-based. She holds a degree in International Relations from Georgetown University and received an honorary doctorate from the same institution in 2016. National Geographic named her an Emerging Explorer in 2008; the World Economic Forum recognised her as a Young Global Leader in 2010. She co-founded EarthEcho International, now reaching more than 2 million young people in 146 countries, and established Blue Legacy International in 2008, producing over 100 award-winning films on freshwater and ocean issues. The case she makes to organisations is specific: ocean restoration is market infrastructure. As architect of the Blue Cities Alliance and the Oceans2050 seaweed carbon project, she is building the verified frameworks that enable corporate investment in blue carbon at scale. Boards evaluating ESG commitments increasingly need to distinguish credible ocean science from reputational positioning. Cousteau provides that distinction with the rigour to back it up. Key speaking topics Ocean restoration and blue carbon markets Water security as material business risk ESG strategy and nature-based climate solutions Blue economy and sustainable aquaculture Science-based storytelling and public engagement Long-term environmental thinking and intergenerational leadership Ocean policy and governance Ideal for Chief Sustainability Officers and ESG leadership teams evaluating nature-based and ocean-based climate commitments Corporate boards and senior executives with water or coastal supply chain exposure in their risk frameworks Policy forums, international summits, and governmental bodies focused on ocean governance, climate action, and blue economy development Investment and financial audiences engaging with emerging blue carbon and voluntary carbon market opportunities Audience outcomes A clearer framework for distinguishing science-backed ocean and water climate solutions from greenwashing, directly applicable to ESG due diligence and investor reporting A systems-level understanding of how water security – from freshwater access to ocean health – connects to supply chain risk, food production, and community resilience Awareness of blue carbon markets as an emerging investment and risk management tool, including the peer-reviewed science behind seaweed farming as a carbon sequestration mechanism A reframing of ocean ESG commitments from reputation management to material strategic risk, with evidence-based criteria for evaluating corporate action Practical insight into what responsible, evidence-based corporate engagement with ocean conservation looks like, drawn from Oceans2050’s work with WWF, the Bezos Earth Fund, and global seaweed farming communities

Why organisations work with Alice Beer Her investigative background on Watchdog gives organisations a rare outside-in account of how consumer-facing practices look to a sceptical, informed journalist – a perspective no internal audit can replicate. Her reporting on household white goods safety contributed directly to product recalls and raised the issues in parliamentary debate; she can show organisations concretely how consumer issues escalate when companies fail to respond. She works as a consultant with major high street brands on consumer fairness – meaning she understands the brand side of the relationship as well as the investigative side, and can identify where practice diverges from expectation. As Consumer Editor on This Morning since 2014, she explains product safety, household finance, and fair trading to millions of mainstream viewers weekly – a skill directly relevant to organisations that need to communicate clearly on difficult consumer topics in the public domain. She contributes to Good Morning Britain, Sky News, and national newspapers including the Daily Mail, Sunday Express, and Sunday Mirror – giving her a current, working understanding of how consumer stories are selected, framed, and amplified by the media. Biography highlights Co-presenter, BBC One’s Watchdog, alongside Anne Robinson – seven years of undercover consumer investigations, 1992–1999 Consumer Editor, ITV’s This Morning, from 2014 to the present day Regular contributor, ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Sky News Guest columnist, Daily Mail, Sunday Express, and Sunday Mirror Presenter: BBC series Healthcheck, Face Value, Holiday, The Heaven and Earth Show, and financial quiz Show Me the Money; Channel 5’s Hot Property; LBC Breakfast Radio Show Co-author, A Contented House with Twins (with Gina Ford), published by Random House Reporting on household white goods safety prompted product recalls and raised the issues in parliamentary debate Biography When a consumer investigation lands on a brand, the question is rarely whether the organisation broke the law. It is whether it treated customers fairly – and whether it understood the difference. For more than three decades, Alice Beer has investigated that distinction on national television. On BBC One’s Watchdog from 1992 to 1999, Beer co-presented alongside Anne Robinson, taking undercover reporting briefs that exposed major industries for the way they handled consumer complaints. Her investigations into household white goods safety contributed to product recalls and raised the issues in parliamentary debate. That is not commentary; it is consequence. Since 2014, Beer has been Consumer Editor on ITV’s This Morning, regularly explaining product safety, household finance, identity theft, and fair trading to millions of viewers. She contributes to Good Morning Britain and Sky News, and has written for the Daily Mail, Sunday Express, and Sunday Mirror. Her ability to translate regulatory complexity into plain, actionable language is a professional skill built across decades of public-facing journalism. Beyond broadcasting, she works as a consultant with major high street brands – helping them align their consumer-facing practices with what customers actually experience, rather than what boardrooms assume. Organisations that engage her gain a perspective built on three decades of examining the same gap from the other side of the camera. Key speaking topics Consumer rights and fair trading Brand accountability and public trust Product safety and regulatory compliance Household finance and personal financial protection Investigative journalism and how consumer stories are built Consumer communication and media-facing risk The brand–consumer relationship in a transparent marketplace Ideal for Senior marketing, brand, and customer experience leaders at consumer-facing organisations Legal, compliance, and product safety teams in retail, financial services, and utilities Communications and PR directors managing consumer-facing brand reputation Retail, financial services, and consumer goods sector conferences Audience outcomes A clearer understanding of how consumer issues are investigated and why certain organisational behaviours attract journalistic scrutiny Sharper awareness of the gap between a brand’s self-perception and how it is experienced by consumers Practical insight into the product safety and fair trading obligations that most frequently generate complaints and escalate into public attention A working sense of how to communicate with consumers on complex financial and product issues in ways that build rather than erode trust Concrete examples of how the media selects and frames consumer stories – and what organisations can do before a story reaches broadcast

Why organisations work with Amelia Rose Earhart Her “Aviate, Navigate, Communicate” protocol, drawn directly from aviation’s standard emergency sequence, gives organisations a practical, step-ordered model for distributing responsibility and maintaining forward momentum when conditions destabilise. The 2014 circumnavigation she planned and executed required close to $2 million in corporate partnerships across 28 organisations, custom FAA engineering approval for an aircraft modification, and 17-stop coordination across 14 countries, making her case study in mission execution verifiable and specific, not metaphorical. A genealogy investigation, published by a colleague just before her departure, revealed no traceable connection to her famous namesake and triggered public accusations of fraud; the fact that she proceeded and completed the flight gives her resilience argument a dimension most speakers cannot replicate. Learn to Love the Turbulence (2023) extends her “pilot in command” framework into a structured leadership methodology – passengers react while pilots decide – providing a reference architecture that client teams can apply long after the event. Audiences include Boeing, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, United Healthcare, Lockheed Martin, Capital One, and the United States Air Force Academy, giving her both commercial credibility and access to high-stakes operational contexts. Biography highlights Youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft (Pilatus PC-12 NG, 2014); first to do so in that aircraft type Self-funded and managed the 24,300-nautical-mile, 17-stop global flight, raising close to $2 million across 28 corporate partnerships and securing custom FAA engineering approval Holds private, instrument, and commercial pilot certificates Approximately 15 years as a broadcast news anchor and reporter: KUSA-TV (9NEWS, NBC affiliate, Denver) and Los Angeles television Author of Learn to Love the Turbulence (2023, with Kristin Clark Taylor); keynote clients include Boeing, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, United Healthcare, and the United States Air Force Academy Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award (2013, Atchison, Kansas Chamber of Commerce); Jaycees Top Ten Young Americans (2014) Biography Aviation has a decision protocol for moments when a flight goes wrong: aviate first, navigate second, communicate third. Amelia Rose Earhart spent two years designing a circumnavigation that would test that protocol under real conditions. Closed borders, a custom FAA-engineered fuel system, and a public genealogy scandal nearly derailed the flight before it left California. In June 2014, she departed Oakland in a single-engine Pilatus PC-12 NG. Across 17 stops and 24,300 nautical miles through 14 countries, she landed back in California on July 11. The mission required close to $2 million in corporate partnerships across 28 organisations, custom FAA engineering approval, and open-water survival training. She became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft, and the first to do it in a PC-12 NG. Her 2023 book, Learn to Love the Turbulence, codifies what that flight revealed about organisational decision-making. Preparedness, not optimism, is what keeps teams airborne when conditions deteriorate. The “pilot in command” framework – passengers react, pilots decide – is now the architecture of her work with Fortune 500 clients and the United States Air Force Academy. Before the circumnavigation, she spent approximately 15 years as a news anchor and reporter, at KUSA-TV (NBC’s Denver affiliate) and in Los Angeles. That background sharpens her communication under pressure and her ability to hold a senior audience, which are not the same skill. Key speaking topics High-stakes decision-making and mission execution Resilience and adaptive leadership Strategic planning under uncertainty Risk assessment and contingency thinking Goal setting and organisational accountability Women in aviation and STEM leadership pathways Team performance under pressure Ideal for C-suite and senior leadership teams navigating high-stakes execution challenges or strategic pivots Sales and commercial teams preparing for stretch targets or significant market disruption Women’s leadership programmes and DEI-focused executive conferences Annual leadership conferences and kick-offs requiring both narrative coherence and audience energy Audience outcomes A practical decision sequence – aviate, navigate, communicate – for maintaining clarity and distributing responsibility when a plan breaks down in real time A clearer distinction between reactive and decisive leadership, with a specific framework for building the latter as a team habit Concrete tools for forecasting risk and planning contingencies, drawn directly from aviation mission-planning discipline A reframing of disruption as a navigable condition rather than an exceptional one – and the mindset shift required to operate accordingly A reference framework from Learn to Love the Turbulence that extends the conversation beyond the event itself

Why organisations work with Amy Webb Webb’s foresight methodology is not scenario-planning by another name – it applies quantitative modelling to emerging signals, giving boards an evidential basis for long-horizon technology decisions that is defensible rather than intuitive. Her annual Tech Trends Report tracks more than 700 emerging technology and science trends and is downloaded more than one million times a year; few advisory practices produce intelligence infrastructure at comparable scale or breadth. The Big Nine named and defined the “G-MAFIA” framework – the six American and three Chinese corporations Webb argues hold structural control over AI’s trajectory. Audiences gain a durable analytical vocabulary for a problem most organisations are still describing in generic terms. Her advisory relationships with the White House, European Union, United Nations, and World Economic Forum are ongoing, not project-based – her understanding of how governments are approaching AI governance and technology risk is primary source, not aggregated. Her latest concept, “living intelligence” – the convergence of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced sensors into a single technology supercycle – gives senior leaders a framework for thinking beyond current AI strategy before the convergence forces reactive decisions. Biography highlights Founder and CEO, Future Today Strategy Group; ranked #3 most influential management thinker globally by Thinkers50 (2025) Adjunct Professor of Strategic Foresight, NYU Stern School of Business; Visiting Fellow, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School; former Nieman Fellow, Harvard University Author of The Big Nine (2019) – longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year, winner of the 2020 Gold Axiom Medal – and The Signals Are Talking (2016), winner of the Thinkers50 RADAR Award and 2017 Gold Axiom Medal The Genesis Machine (2022, co-authored with Andrew Hessel) named by The New Yorker as one of the year’s best nonfiction works; books translated into 23 languages Life member, Council on Foreign Relations; founding member, WEF Strategic Foresight Advisory Board; member, WEF Global Risks Board; AI Governance Alliance partner Contributor to Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review; TED Talk on algorithmic thinking viewed more than 8 million times, translated into 32 languages Biography The gap between sensing that a technology will reshape a sector and knowing when – and how – to act is where most long-range strategy breaks down. Amy Webb’s work is built around closing that gap. As founder and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group, she pioneered a quantitative modelling approach to strategic foresight: one that applies the analytical rigour of economic forecasting to the identification of emerging technology signals, rather than relying on narrative scenarios or trend decks. Her books have given organisations specific frameworks for understanding the structural dynamics of technology change. The Big Nine named the six American and three Chinese corporations – the “G-MAFIA” and BAT – that Webb argues hold disproportionate control over AI’s development, and traced the geopolitical and commercial consequences of that concentration. The Genesis Machine, co-authored with biotechnologist Andrew Hessel, examined the organisational and governance implications of synthetic biology before the technology entered mainstream strategy conversations. Both were recognised externally: The Big Nine was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year; The Genesis Machine was named by The New Yorker as one of the year’s best nonfiction works. Her access to the rooms where technology governance is being decided is direct and ongoing. As an advisor to the White House, European Union, and United Nations, and as a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Foresight Advisory Board, Webb’s work informs global technology policy – not as periodic input but as sustained engagement. Her annual Tech Trends Report, tracking more than 700 emerging technology and science developments, is downloaded more than one million times a year. Ranked third on Thinkers50’s 2025 list of the world’s most influential management thinkers, Webb teaches strategic foresight at NYU Stern’s MBA programme and holds a visiting fellowship at Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Her current framework, “living intelligence” – the convergence of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced sensors – maps the technology supercycle she argues is already underway. For organisations whose long-range strategy begins and ends with AI, it is a substantive challenge to the scope of their thinking. Key speaking topics Quantitative strategic foresight Artificial intelligence and the global technology power landscape Living intelligence: AI, biotechnology, and advanced sensors Technology supercycles and long-horizon planning Geopolitics of emerging technology Futures methodology and organisational decision-making Synthetic biology and the next frontier of disruption Ideal for C-suite and boards developing long-range technology and competitive strategy Chief Strategy Officers and innovation leads rethinking their approach to uncertainty and futures planning Government, regulatory, and policy audiences responsible for technology governance Risk, investment, and scenario-planning teams assessing the strategic implications of AI and converging technologies Audience outcomes A clear analytical method for distinguishing which emerging technology signals warrant a strategic response – and which represent noise Understanding of the “living intelligence” framework and why the convergence of AI, biotechnology, and advanced sensors represents a broader challenge than current AI strategy typically accounts for A structural vocabulary for the global AI power landscape – particularly the dynamics between major US and Chinese technology actors – that simplifies a complex geopolitical issue for non-specialist leaders Familiarity with the Tech Trends methodology: how to scan, filter, and prioritise signals across a large and rapidly evolving technology landscape Practical frameworks for building a long-horizon foresight capability internally, rather than depending on periodic external consultancy