FEATURED AUTHOR KEYNOTE
Hidden Power
The defining keynote on the two futures AI is creating, and the leadership choices that will determine which one we build.
KEYNOTE SPEAKING
Signature Keynotes
Delivered to boards in retreat, nominating-committee programmes, and policy labs that need a serious voice on AI.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTES & EXECUTIVE BRIEFINGS
Signature Keynotes & Executive Briefings
AI is no longer only a technology transition. It is a leadership, capability and institutional transition.
Dr Kate Barker speaks to boards, governments, executive teams and global forums on the leadership questions emerging as AI becomes infrastructure: how organisations create value, protect human capability, govern intelligent systems, sustain trust and build institutions fit for the next era of work and performance.
Each keynote can be delivered as a mainstage keynote, executive briefing, board retreat, leadership offsite, moderated conversation or closed-door session.
Download Keynote Speaking BriefEach keynote is shaped to the room.
AI and the Competitive Advantage
The new architecture of growth, differentiation and market leadership, built through machine intelligence and exceptional human judgement.
The new architecture of growth, differentiation and market leadership, built through machine intelligence and exceptional human judgement.
Read keynote insightThe Next Human Era
Human potential, creativity and agency unleashed as intelligent machines redefine the boundaries of performance, possibility and progress.
Human potential, creativity and agency unleashed as intelligent machines redefine the boundaries of performance, possibility and progress.
Read keynote insightInventing the Future 2050
The converging forces reshaping global power, prosperity and human progress, and the strategic choices defining 2050.
The converging forces reshaping global power, prosperity and human progress, and the strategic choices defining 2050.
Read keynote insightBorrowed Intelligence
Cognitive atrophy and the urgent fight to preserve human judgement, expertise and independent thought in the age of AI.
Cognitive atrophy and the urgent fight to preserve human judgement, expertise and independent thought in the age of AI.
Read keynote insightThe Leadership Trust Reckoning
Trust, truth and legitimacy as the defining leadership test in an age of synthetic evidence and manufactured certainty.
Trust, truth and legitimacy as the defining leadership test in an age of synthetic evidence and manufactured certainty.
Read keynote insightThe Last Human Decision
The enduring frontier of human judgement, authority and accountability as AI advances from recommendation to autonomous action.
The enduring frontier of human judgement, authority and accountability as AI advances from recommendation to autonomous action.
Read keynote insight EXECUTIVE SESSION
Behind Closed Doors
The Leadership Discussion now that matters most
The private session for the leadership questions that cannot be asked on stage.
WHICH KEYNOTE FITS THE ROOM
Which keynote is right for your audience?
Different audiences need different conversations. This guide helps programme chairs, board offices and executive teams select the keynote that best fits the room.
We need AI to create measurable commercial advantage AI and the Competitive Advantage We want an optimistic keynote on human potential The Next Human Era We want a visionary long-horizon keynote Inventing the Future 2050 We are worried about what AI is doing to our people’s thinking Borrowed Intelligence We need to talk about trust, truth and legitimacy The Leadership Trust Reckoning We need to decide what stays a human decision The Last Human Decision We want the book-linked author keynote Hidden Power
FORMATS
Formats, lead time and fee.
Each keynote is shaped to the room and can be delivered in the format that best fits your audience.
KEYNOTE · FORMATS & TERMS №
- FORMATS
- Mainstage keynote · executive briefing · board retreat · leadership offsite · moderated conversation · closed-door session
- RUN
- 35–55 minutes, with Q&A
- CAP
- Eighty bookings per calendar year
- LEAD TIME
- Twelve weeks minimum
- TRAVEL
- Worldwide, business class
- FEE
- On enquiry
Signed · Dr Kate Barker
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
For programmers, organisers, and chairs.
A short FAQ. For longer conversations, please write directly.
Can you brief our research team in advance?
Yes. A pre-call with the chair and one analyst is part of every booking. The aim is for the keynote to read as if it were written for you, because it was.
Will you participate in a panel afterwards?
Sometimes. Panels work when there is a real argument; less so when they are decorative. Ask early.
Do you record sessions?
You record sessions. I provide the deck and notes; the recording is yours, with the usage rights spelled out in the booking letter.
For event teams and media: Download Media & Bio Kit ↓
What Dr Kate Barker speaks about
Dr Kate Barker speaks across the questions now defining leadership: artificial intelligence, the future of work, governance and human performance. Explore by topic.
- AI Governance SpeakerKeynotes and board sessions on AI oversight, accountability and the Board AI Index, for directors who must govern systems they did not design.
- AI Keynote SpeakerBook Dr Kate Barker, global executive advisor and the world's first Chief Futurist, for AI keynotes to boards, governments and Fortune 500 audiences.
- AI Leadership SpeakerKeynotes on AI strategy, leadership capability and cognitive agility for boards and executive teams, from a global executive advisor to Heads of State.
- AI for Board DirectorsAI briefings and governance sessions for board directors and chairs, covering oversight, accountability and readiness, with the Board AI Index diagnostic.
- Agentic AI SpeakerKeynotes on agentic AI, autonomous systems and the accountability gap, for boards and executive teams deciding what to delegate to machines that act.
- Executive Coach for CEOsPrivate advisory for chief executives, chairs and boards on AI transformation, board readiness and leadership performance, from a global executive advisor.
- Female AI Keynote SpeakerBooking a female keynote speaker on AI and the future of work? Dr Kate Barker is a global executive advisor and the world's first Chief Futurist.
- Future of Work SpeakerFuture of work keynotes for boards, governments and global forums on talent growth, skills and cognitive agility in the age of AI, by Dr Kate Barker.
- Futurist Keynote SpeakerBook the world's first Chief Futurist. Futurist keynotes for boards, governments and global forums on AI strategy, the future of work and leadership.
- Generative AI SpeakerKeynotes on generative AI for boards and executive teams: performance, human judgement and the capabilities that decide who gains advantage and who erodes.
- What Is a Chief Futurist?What a Chief Futurist does, why organisations appoint one and how the role shapes strategy. Explained by the world's first, a role held at NEOM.
Where Dr Kate Barker speaks
Engagements across the Gulf, Europe, Asia, North and South America and Australia, with keynotes delivered at the world’s leading forums. Explore by city.
Kate is exceptional on stage. She combines real energy with the ability to challenge a senior audience on questions that matter. She is provocative, deeply informed and highly engaging, moving easily between what is happening now and what leaders need to be thinking about next. Our leaders came away with a different perspective on the choices ahead and what those choices will demand of them.
Jean-Philippe CourtoisFormer Executive Vice President and President, Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, Microsoft, Global Kate is exceptional on stage. She can take a room of senior leaders, challenge what they think they know and keep them completely engaged while she does it. She is provocative, deeply informed and genuinely inspiring, but what distinguishes her is how she brings the audience into the conversation. People leave still debating the questions she raised. That is why we invited her back.
Charles GoddardEditorial Director, Economist Impact Kate holds a mainstage audience on a subject that defeats most speakers. She is substantive without being dry, she does not hide behind slides, and an audience leaves with something they can act on rather than something they were impressed by. From a programming point of view, that is the whole job.
Philip ThomasExecutive Chairman, Informa Festivals; Chairman, Cannes Lions
ENQUIRE
Enquire about a keynote.
Twelve weeks minimum lead time. Eighty bookings a year. Every enquiry is read personally.