With more than a decade working at the heart of the technology industry, Dex Hunter-Torricke has managed communications for some of the most-influential and admired Silicon Valley leaders and corporations of our day. In his daily work, Dex plays a critical role in writing the next chapter on science, tech, the economy, and society across the globe, and spearheads efforts to bring the stories of how the world is being moved forward to light. From 2012-2016, he led the executive communications team at Facebook and served as personal speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg. He then went on to join SpaceX as senior director of communications. He later served as the VP Global Communications & Public Engagement for the Oversight Board for Meta, the independent body that makes decisions on Facebook and Instagram’s most challenging content issues. Dex takes audiences into Facebook’s boardroom, Musk’s open-concept cubicle, the famed Googleplex, and finally to the UN itself to share lessons on what it takes in today’s environment to build highly effective internal teams, how to use storytelling in modern communications, and what to make of the steady transition from local to global that’s unfolded over the past decade.

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.

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.

Gavin Patterson is the president and chief revenue officer of Salesforce.com, Inc., leading the CRM company's global sales organization. He previously served as Chief Executive, BT from 2013-19. During his tenure, Patterson completed the UK rollout of the superfast fibre and started the deployment ultrafast fibre. He led the £15billion acquisition of EE, launched BT Sport, expanded BT’s cyber security practice and championed BT’s social purpose agenda. He joined BT in 2004 as MD Consumer and joined the board as CEO BT Retail in 2008. Prior to BT, he spent four years at Virgin Media and nine years at Procter & Gamble. Patterson is a Non-Executive Director at British Airways plc and a Trustee of the British Museum. He graduated from Cambridge University with an MEng in Chemical Engineering.

Alex is a technology expert, specialising in the practical application of the latest innovations and tech trends to solve retail’s biggest challenges, from machine learning to post-channel retail. Prior to GDR, he spent seven years at technology firm Red Ant, designing and delivering award-winning applications, innovation and strategy from boardroom to stockroom for some of the UK's largest and most forward-thinking retailers. In his spare time, he enjoys running and an ongoing quest to connect everything in his house to the internet.

Grant Leboff’ is a thought leader on business strategy, best-selling author and successful businessman. Through his portal, stickymarketing.com he produces a wealth of resources and information on effective Sales and Marketing for business in an ever changing business environment. His main focus is to address the massive changes that are taking place in a world that is constantly being introduced to new technologies and an evolving world wide web. He provides businesses with new sales and marketing strategies to achieve success in this new environment. Grant is able to guarantee that your audience will not have heard his material before and answers the question: "What should I be thinking about in two years and what should I ignore?" He is also a successful businessperson in his own right, so his talks are based on experience, not theory. Indeed , he is so much at the forefront of digital marketing technology that he is frequently engaged by Silicon Valley firms to test their technology prior to launch.

During the course of a 40-year career Mark Gallagher has held senior roles in the high-performance environment of Formula 1 motor racing. Today he is an author, broadcaster and industry analyst who continues to work with drivers and teams at the forefront of this global sport. He is also a renowned public speaker and since 1998 has provided keynote presentations and insights to organizations worldwide. Mark’s executive management career in Formula 1 included more than a decade on the management board of the successful Jordan Grand Prix team, running the world-famous Cosworth engine business and helping establish the commercial arm of Red Bull Racing. Mark’s career in Formula One commenced in 1983, working in media and communications before joining the start-up Jordan Grand Prix team in 1990. Mark joined the management board of Jordan in 1998, the team challenging for the World Championship in 1999. In 2004 he was invited to join the Jaguar Racing organization as it transitioned into becoming Red Bull Racing. In 2010 Mark was appointed head of the world-famous Cosworth Formula 1 engine company, supplying one-third of the teams in Formula 1 with engines and associated technologies.

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.

Bill has served as CEO at Wickes, Focus and Iceland. He has now produced The Grimsey Review, looking at what can be done to reinvigorate the high street. He argues that town centres should be reinvented as community hubs, with housing and public services at the centre. Bill talks about changing customer habits and the growth of ‘mall culture.’ These out-of-town arenas will become the showrooms of the future, in which we choose what to order online.

Martin McCourt has spent over 40 years working at the heart of British-based manufacturing, design and marketing for quality brands such as Dyson, Mars, Duracell, Toshiba and Pelikan. Martin was the CEO of Dyson for 15 years, the ideas to market-leading consumer products maker. As CEO, he devised and implemented a strategy that transformed the company from a single product, single market producer into one where 80% of the business came from over 60 markets around the world. In that time he increased UK skilled jobs, grew profits to over £300m and enabled James Dyson to keep on inventing. In 2011 Dyson hit £1 bn revenue for the first time. Martin was directly responsible for the establishment of Dyson subsidiaries in the USA, Japan, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. In total he took Dyson into over 60 markets, achieving market leadership in the majority including the USA.

Daniel is the Founder & CEO of Brandwave Marketing - one of the world's leading sports marketing consultancies and the chosen agency of many of the industry’s leading brands including Adidas, BMW, Scott, Reebok, Les Mills, INEOS, Wiggle, and Salomon. With a lifetime spent coaching and competing in sport himself, Daniel is passionate believer in the power of sport as a catalyst for positive change on multiple levels. Daniel is also a respected speaker in the global sports and marketing industries with keynote talks at Web Summit, Blue Earth Summit, Amazon, EuroBike, ISPO, Sweat, The OutDoor Show, Elevate, OIA and EOG Summit.