Polar explorer, TED speaker, and record-breaking long-distance skier Ben Saunders fuses the spirit of adventure with impressive technical ingenuity. He has five North Pole expeditions under his belt and is best known for leading one of the most ambitious expeditions in a century. Humble and self-effacing, he is an explorer of limits and his message is one of inspiration, empowerment, and boundless potential. He explores the dichotomy between ideas and action and urges audiences to consider carefully how to spend the “tiny amount of time we each have on this planet.”

Recognised as “the man who fixes businesses” Kevin Gaskell has an impressive track record in building and leading successful companies. As CEO of Porsche, Lamborghini, and BMW, Gaskell led hugely successful turnarounds that are pointed to as examples of how to successfully transform companies and position them for long-term success. His energy and leadership have helped companies to achieve world-class levels of customer service and financial performance, and he speaks with electricity about using inspired leadership to achieve incredible results.

Daniel Hughes has spent the last 15 years leading and making decisions in high pressure and often environmentally hostile environments. He describes himself as a “determined problem solver, who builds teams to succeed”. He previously has been a Special Forces Instructor, Great Britain Athlete and in 2013 built a team of 268 for him to deliver the world’s highest video broadcast from the summit of Mt Everest to the BBC Newschannel. Hughes is a current 787 pilot and as the founder of Reignite Consulting, he globally delivers Management Development programmes to executive teams and helps organisations establish or reaffirm their vision and values.

Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE is a former Specialist Military Unit Colonel in the British Armed Forces and a former Partner at McChrystal Group - an elite advisory services firm that builds agile teams and enables clients to adapt to their complex operating environments. Ash was a Partner in McChrystal Group's London, England office, where he focused on expanding the firm’s offerings and developing relationships with European clients. With a focus on leader development, talent management, and team-building solutions, Ash draws upon lessons learned from over 22 years of experience leading and managing diverse multinational military, civilian government and other elite teams.

Helena Boschi is a psychologist who focuses on applied neuroscience in the work place. Her particular areas of interest include the brain and behaviour, our emotional and rational neural networks and how to improve our cognitive abilities in order to get the best out of our own and others’ brainpower. Helena has also researched the influence of cognitive biases and corporate psychopathy across different organisations. She has recently investigated the impact of chronic, work-induced stress on brain function and has just published a book called ‘Why we do what we do’.

Caspar Berry is a former professional poker player. He uses strategies based on poker to inspire audiences to change the way they think about risk. Participants to learn about the nature of risk, the fallacy of risk management, the brilliance and flaws of intuition, what getting “the edge” actually means, and why fear of failure can be brilliant if you know how to use it to your advantage.

Steven Van Belleghem is a thought leader on the transformation of customer relations and the future of marketing. In 2012, Steven founded the inspiration company B-Conversational. He gives strategic advice to companies around the globe, helping them better understand the world of conversations, social media and digital marketing. In addition, he also helps clients set up long-term inspirational programs to change the mindset and enrich the knowledge of their teams. Steven started his professional career in 2000 as a research assistant at the Vlerick Business School, where he remains a guest marketing professor to this day. He is an expert in guiding companies through the smart usage of technology in the customer relationship, without forgetting the human side of business. In 2001, Steven became one of the first employees to join InSites Consulting, an innovative start-up in the online research industry. Over the next eleven years, he worked his way up to become one of the company’s managing partners and shareholders. During this period, the company grew from just 8 staff to 130 with branches in 5 countries. Steven is a best-selling author of business books. His latest, titled “When Digital becomes Human” (2014), describes the need to digitise the customer relationship without forgetting the human aspect. He believes that today’s world not only needs a digital transformation; the human side of business is also in need of a makeover. His two previous books, “The Conversation Manager” (2010) and “The Conversation Company” (2012), are award-winning best-sellers with more than 50,000 copies sold.

Kate Ancketill is the brains and driving force behind GDR Creative Intelligence, a globally recognised consultancy focused on innovation and emerging trends in retail, leisure and hospitality around the world. World-renowned, dynamic and commercially successful, Ancketill won the Jennifer d’Abo Memorial Scholarship for female entrepreneurs in 2007 and was selected as one of the UK’s top 100 in the Courvoisier Future 500 in 2009.

Originally a facial therapist, Jo fell in love with fragrance whilst working from her discreet skin care clinic which she set up from her London home. Discovering an instinctual talent for creating scented products by hand in her kitchen, word of her exceptional potions quickly spread and soon Jo was unable to keep up with demand. From these artisan beginnings Jo launched her first brand, Jo Malone London which gained cult status around the world.

Dr Gorkan Ahmetoglu is an Associate Professor of Business Psychology at University College London (UCL) and the co-founder of Meta Profiling Ltd. He is the Director of the Business Psychology programme at UCL and has previously held the positions of Director of Management and Entrepreneurship, Director of Digital Entrepreneurship, and Director of Consumer Behaviour at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has also taught at London’s City University and Heythrop University. Gorkan is the author of Personality 101, the editor of the Wiley Handbook of Entrepreneurship, and has published numerous articles and reviews in leading academic journals as well as authored in Harvard Business Review and Management Today. Dr Ahmetoglu is a leading expert in psychological profiling and assessment and a business adviser and speaker in the areas of entrepreneurship, consumer decision-making, and marketing strategy. He is also an associate to Harvard’s EFL Global. Gorkan consults to global organisations and the UK government, and frequently appears in media as expert adviser. His clients include HSBC, LVMH, ABF, Unilever, Google, Ford, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Mars, McKinsey & Co, BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, The Edrington Group, the Office of Fair Trading, the Intellectual Property Office, the British Brand Groups, Government Social Research, The Grocer, The Marketing Magazine, and KPMG.

Kenton Cool is one of the world’s leading high-altitude climbers and also a highly engaging and inspiring motivational speaker. He has successfully climbed Mount Everest fifteen times. Kenton was first introduced to mountaineering when he read about Hillary and Norgay’s first ascent on Mount Everest in 1953. An obsession with rock climbing developed at university and, on graduating, Kenton moved to Sheffield to pursue this further. In 1996 he suffered a fall from a rock face and shattered both heel bones. A year of surgery and therapy saw him become determined to regain his climbing form and he joined the British Mountain Guides scheme. Since then, Kenton hasn’t looked back. He has climbed extensively all over the world – establishing new routes and first ascents on peaks in Alaska, France and India. In 2003, he was nominated for a Piolet d’Or award (the equivalent of the Oscars for mountaineers) for a route on Annapurna III. Kenton is also one of the world’s most sought-after guides, his track record on Everest is the best of any leader. In 2007, Kenton successfully guided Sir Ranulph Fiennes up the North Face of the Eiger before leading him to a successful Everest summit in 2009.

With an extraordinary career at the highest levels of sport, politics, and international diplomacy, Lord Coe has achieved huge success by leading from the front to make vision a reality. He cemented his place in public life leading the successful bid, and subsequently the organising committee, for London 2012, and is today the President of the IAAF and Executive Chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment.