Keynote Speakers
Fons Trompenaars
Thinkers50 Hall of Fame, World Expert in Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness (Dutch)
Fons is a Dutch organizational theorist and founder and director of intercultural management consultancy Trompenaars Hampden-Turner.
He is recognized around the world for his work as a consultant, trainer, motivational speaker and author of various books on all subjects of culture and business. Fons ranked in the Thinkers50 to be one of the most influential management thinkers alive 5 times and was inducted into the Hall of Fame with Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and Michael Porter.
He has spent over 30 years helping Fortune 500 leaders build meaningful connections to manage and solve their business and cultural dilemmas to increase global effectiveness and performance, particularly in the areas of leadership, innovation, globalization, intercultural understanding and managing culture change by reconciling different (ethnic, gender or generation based, professional, organizational etc).
Fons wrote over 100 articles and 25 books in the last 40 years. He has translated his approach into innovative, practical and profitable results in all areas of international business.
In October 2023, The World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) awarded its prestigious George Petitpas Award to Fons Trompenaars - one of the world’s most influential management thinkers in a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal.
Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business was announced by Thinkers50 in its 2024 top ten Management Classics Booklist.
Fons holds several positions in many well reputed Universities and Management research centers, such as:
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Professor of International Management at the Free University of Amsterdam
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Member of Advisory Board Webster University Leiden;
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Distinguished Advisor of Centre for TransCultural Studies at Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore;
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International Director at the International Society for Organisational Development;
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Faculty Member at the Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD);
Judge of the Fons Trompenaars award for Innovation and Creativity at the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI)
Leadership as a Catalyst:
Mastering Culture to Build an Agile and Resilient Organization
Leadership is the driving force behind meaningful change, serving as the bridge between tradition and transformation. In this keynote session, Fons Trompenaars will explore how leaders can guide their organizations through continuous evolution, building resilience for the future while honoring past practices. By integrating the strengths of both tradition and innovation, leaders can create agile, learning organizations that thrive in a dynamic global environment. Participants will gain practical insights into how to balance change with continuity, foster an evolving organizational identity, and leverage cultural insights to drive growth and innovation.
Learning Objectives include:
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Catalyze Meaningful Change: Explore how leadership serves as a catalyst for meaningful change by integrating tradition with innovation
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Build Resilience: Learn strategies for building a resilient organization that embraces the future without abandoning foundational practices.
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Continuous Learning: Understand the role of leaders as change agents in reconciling change with continuity to maintain an evolving organizational identity
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Foster Innovation and Agility: Discover how to create an agile, learning organization that thrives on the dynamic interplay between tradition and transformation.
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Leverage Cultural Insights for Growth: Learn to harness the strengths of varied cultural perspectives to drive innovation and solve complex business challenges
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
Professor of Business Psychology, Columbia University (USA)
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is an international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. He is the chief innovation officer at Manpower Group, as well as the co-founder of Deeper Signals and Meta Profiling. Dr. Tomas is a Professor of Business Psychology at both University College London, and Columbia University. He has previously held academic positions at New York University and the London School of Economics, and lectured at Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, London Business School, Johns Hopkins, IMD, and INSEAD. He has published 10 books and over 150 scientific papers on the psychology of talent, leadership, innovation and AI. His global academic contributions, paired with his creation of science-based tools to improve performance prediction in organizations, make him one of the most prolific social scientists of his generation. He has made over 100 media appearances, and have shared his ideas on TED, CNN, and the BBC.
Harnessing AI for a Future-Ready Workforce:
Navigating the Shifts in the Modern Workplace
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing our understanding of learning and career development. Join Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Professor of Business Psychology at Columbia University , as he offers actionable insights on overcoming AI-related anxieties and leveraging new opportunities to help employees craft relevant and impactful careers. AI advancements are constantly breaking new ground, performing tasks we once believed were exclusive to humans: from writing sophisticated code and drafting persuasive documents to designing learning content and courses. What implications do these technological strides hold for the future of work? In this practical session, Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic delves into the opportunities and challenges AI presents for organization, drawing on his best-selling book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique.
Dave Ulric
Professor of Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Co-Founder of RBL Group, "The Father of Modern HR", 2024 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers by HR Executive Magazine
Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a partner at the RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value. He has published over 200 articles and book chapters and over 30 books. He edited Human Resource Management 1990-1999, served on editorial board of 4 Journal and on the Board of Directors for Herman Miller (16 years), has spoken to large audiences in 90 countries; performed workshops for over half of the Fortune 200; coached successful business leaders, and is a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources. He is known for continually learning, turning complex ideas into simple solutions, and creating real value to those he works with in three fields.
Organization. With co-authors, he has influenced thinking about modern organizations (Reinventing the Organization) by empirically showing how organization delivers 4 times business results over talent (Victory Through Organization), defined organizations as bundles of capabilities (Organization Capability) and worked to delineate capabilities of talent management (Why of Work; Talent Accelerator), culture change (GE Workout), learning (Learning Organization Capability), and collaboration (Boundaryless Organization).
Leadership. With colleagues, he has also articulated the basics of effective leadership (Leadership Code and Results Based Leadership), connected leadership with customers (Leadership Brand), shown how leadership delivers market value (Why the Bottom Line Isn’t), shapes investor expectations with an ability to measure leadership (Leadership Capital Index), and synthesized ways to ensure that leadership aspirations turn into actions (Leadership Sustainability).
Human Resources. He and his colleagues have shaped the HR profession and he has been called the “Father of Modern HR” and “HR Thought Leader of the Decade” by focusing on HR outcomes, governance, competencies, and practices (HR Champions; HR Value Added; HR Transformation; HR Competencies; HR Outside In). He spearheaded a “gift” book on the future of HR (The Rise of HR) distributed to over 1,500,000 HR professionals), in which 70 thought leaders freely shared their insights.
Driving Business Impact: How HR Creates Value in a Rapidly Changing Workplace
In an ever-changing business environment, HR is no longer just about managing processes, it's about making a real impact. Staying relevant and in demand in today’s increasingly fast-moving competitive market requires an ongoing commitment to learning and HR development.
Ranked as the number 1 management guru by Businessweek, profiled by Fast Company as one of the world’s top 10 creative people in business, named a top five coach in Forbes, and recently recognized on Thinkers50 Hall of Fame as one of the world’s leading business thinkers, Dave Ulrich will share best practices on how HR departments can shift their focus to drive business results and create value. The session will cover the key competencies HR professionals need to stay relevant and effective, while also exploring ways to align HR strategy with business goals. Attendees will walk away with practical strategies to ensure HR remains agile and influential in today’s workplace.
Learning Objectives:
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Understand the core activities that allow HR to contribute directly to business success
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Learn the essential skills and competencies for HR professionals in modern organizations
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Explore ways to keep HR adaptable in a constantly changing business landscape
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Discover how to align HR practices with broader business objectives to maximize impact