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.”

John Paul Volanthen is a world record-holding British exploratory cave diver who specialises in rescues through the Cave Rescue Organisation, South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue, and the British Cave Rescue Council. John hit the headlines in July 2018, when he was part of the multi-national team involved in the rescue of 12 young football players and their coach in the Tham Luang caves in Thailand. John and his co-diver, Rich Stanton, were the first to make contact with the missing youngsters when they had been lost for nine days. Both men were part of the team that successfully rescued all the boys and their coach and brought them to safety. In keynote talks, John gives audiences an astonishing account of the harrowing rescue effort. With heart-pounding anecdotes from the high-risk rescue mission, he hammers home the importance of perseverance, determination, and preparation, and explains why he believes success in life is rarely due to “luck.” John also shares his belief that anyone can rise to the occasion and achieve extraordinary things in the face of insurmountable odds. Using a combination of pictures and audio, he communicates what it was like to be there and the joy he felt when it was all over. Uplifting and inspiring, John’s story is one in a million.

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.

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.

Matthew Syed is one of the world’s most influential thinkers in the field of high performance and cultural change and has worked with many leading organisations to build a mindset of continuous improvement. He is the author of 3 best-selling books on the science of performance – Bounce (2010), Black Box Thinking (2015) and You Are Awesome (for children – 2018). Matthew Syed is a multi-award winning columnist for The Times and regular TV and radio broadcaster.

Tim Peake is a former Apache pilot, flight instructor, test pilot and current European Space Agency astronaut. A veteran of 18 years military service, Tim has flown over 3,000 hours on operations worldwide. In December 2015, Tim became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station and conduct a spacewalk during his six-month mission, Principia, where he captured the hearts and minds of millions. Tim’s mission engaged more than two million students in outreach activities. He has a background as a test pilot and a British Army Air Corps officer, and he is also a best-selling author. In addition to his achievements, he ran the London marathon from space. He is an ambassador for STEM Education, The Prince’s Trust, and the Scout Association.

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.

Julian is a sound and communication expert. He travels the world training people to listen better and create healthier sound. He is author of the books How to be Heard and Sound Business. Julian’s five TED talks have been watched more than 40 million times. His latest, How to speak so that people want to listen, is in the top 10 TED talks of all time. Julian is regularly featured in the world’s media, including TIME Magazine, The Times, The Economist and the BBC. Julian is also founder of The Sound Agency. The audio-branding company asks and answers the question “How does your brand sound?”. The Sound Agency work with some of the world’s biggest brands to improve their sound. Their award-winning work has made headlines internationally. Julian’s love of sound stems from his early experience as a musician. He was a drummer for British brand The Transmitters, amongst many others, and played on their second Peel Session in 1981. Before The Sound Agency, Julian spent 30 years working in advertising and publishing. He founded, grew and sold contract magazine publishing agency TPD. Nowadays, Julian splits his time between London and Orkney, where he lives with his fiancee and youngest daughter

Chris Gibson brings with him over 34 years military and leadership experience. He has held leadership roles and key appointments throughout his career, serving on specialist military operations all over the world. Named International Innovator of the Year 2017-2018 by Ideas UK, Chris is currently serving as a special advisor to the Ministry of Justice as a Leadership and Cultural Advisor and speaks with various groups on applying his first-hand military practice and innovation into business leadership to formulate wining strategies.