The Leading Speakers Bureau

Global Business Strategist

Akio Miyabayashi was a former CEO of Minolta Europe, responsible for the launch of Minolta Europe in 1965, and Minolta’s own distribution network in the USA 1966, he became CEO Minolta Europe in 1975.

[expand title=”What he offers you”]His clear understanding of the criteria and driving forces of global competitiveness enabled him to successfully develop the European Operations of this multi-national corporation from a staff of 17 in 1965 to 5,200 in 1995 when he became a senior corporate adviser for the Minolta worldwide. His ability to understand the different cultures of the world and utilizing it for the successful growth, enabled Minolta to become a major player in the European market, with 44 companies and subsidiaries and 2 factories throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe and some parts of the former Soviet Union.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A charismatic speaker with the knowledge of different cultures (European, American and Japanese), Akio Miyabayashi has shared centre stage with some of the world prominent politicians and business leaders. His presentations leave the audience with a valuable insight into European and Asian developments in industry, management and society, and offer meaningful projections into the 21st century.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Technology Guru, Founder & Director, Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford Univ., Palo Alto

B.J. Fogg is best known for promoting the concept of “captology,” a word he coined to describe the overlap between persuasion and computers. The founder of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab is one of the most sought-after thinkers in Silicon Valley today. As a psychologist he brings a new perspective on working with technology innovations. He holds at least seven patents, and has additional patents pending.

Fortune Magazine recently listed BJ as one of “10 New Gurus You Should Know”

[expand title=”In detail”] B.J. Fogg has held full-time positions at Interval Research, HP Labs, Sun Microsystems, and Casio Research. In 2003, shortly after publishing his book, he began investigating how computers can help people develop close personal relationships. This work has led to a startup and Internet service YackPack. Stanford University awarded BJ the Maccoby Prize in 1998 for four years of experimental research on how computers can change people’s attitudes and behaviours.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]B.J. Fogg applies his findings to companies like eBay (where he’s working to improve customer service) and Nike (where he has helped simplify its sports technology line) and shares his insights with his worldwide audiences. His research goes deep into investigating the psychology of Facebook, how Web site or cell-phone design can impact consumers and he has started research into Peace Innovation (the vision is to innovate persuasive technologies that can bring about world peace in 30 years). [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]B.J.’s life’s work is to shape technology innovation in ways that benefit the world and make people happier and his powerful and passionate presentations draw us all that little bit closer.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Professor of Business & Technology and Dean of External Relations at INSEAD

Soumitra Dutta is an authority on technology and innovation strategy. He has advised top management of major multi-nationals, leaders of major governments and has been showcased in major business and general news media. He is currently Robert Berger Professor of Business & Technology and Dean of External Relations at INSEAD and has co-written several books on technology-enabled business innovation.

“Refreshing global perspective on technology-enabled business innovation”

[expand title=”In detail”] He is the former Dean of Executive Education at INSEAD and had the responsibility of leading the largest executive education program portfolio in the world. Prior to joining the faculty of INSEAD in 1989, he was employed with Schlumberger in Japan and General Electric in the USA. Soumitra is also a fellow of the World Economic Forum and the co-editor of the Global Information Technology Report, the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee for ICT for the Government of Qatar.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Throughout his distinguished career, he has focused on how to drive business innovation and growth through the right combination of innovative people and technology. He demonstrates why innovation is the best solution for making businesses thrive today and also ensuring that they emerge stronger after a crisis. In his latest book ‘Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom’, he reveals how online social networking is transforming our personal lives, the inner dynamics of our organisations as well as our behaviour as consumers and citizens.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Soumitra is a highly knowledgeable and insightful speaker whose presentations are filled with a host of concrete examples ready to be put into practice.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Leading Futurologist, who addresses issues both present and future that impact on the process of management decision-making

Dr James Bellini is a leading futurologist and author with a considerable reputation as a thought-provoking speaker and moderator at top-level management conferences and business schools around the world. James has spent more than twenty-five years as a respected TV broadcaster, futures analyst and writer with a strong focus on social, economic and technological trends up to Horizon 2025.

“A historian of the future”

[expand title=”In detail”] After an early academic career James joined the US-headquartered futurology ‘think tank’, the Hudson Institute, as its first British member. He subsequently moved to the BBC to present The Money Programme, Newsnight, and Panorama. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his outstanding work throughout his career. For seven years he was a studio presenter with Financial Times Television and Sky News. James has written many books and special reports and is a regular contributor to leading publications.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Dr Bellini addresses issues both present and future that impact on the process of management decision-making. He focuses on a number of specific but interrelated areas of direct relevance to business and government.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Authority on Competitive Intelligence

Yves-Michel Marti is founder and President of EGIDERIA, the leading Business Intelligence company in Europe. Competitive Intelligence (CI) employs advanced methodologies and tools to help decision makers build the ‘situational awareness’ of their competitive terrain.

Yves-Michel Marti embarked on his career in telecommunications in 1982 with Dassault Electronique. In the following years he worked for Pacific Monolithics and Hewlett Packard in Silicon Valley. During this time Yves-Michel taught at Berkeley University, California.

[expand title=”In detail”] In 1991 Yves-Michel Marti joined the Lucas Group in the UK. He created a new range of software and services achieving sales of over $1m in North America during the first year. In 1992 he co-founded the French branch Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, SCIP, in France of which he was the secretary general for six years. In 1995 he founded EGIDERIA.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Authority on eBusiness Leadership and Corporate Transformation

As Principal at Nextera and best selling author, Susan Annunzio has provided corporate strategy advice to companies involved in large-scale transitions. She is a sought-after advisor to senior corporate leaders around the world for her expertise in fashioning programmes that maximise success and profitability through breaking down the traditional structural and managerial barriers.

A renowned leader of change management with 25 years of experience, Susan inspires companies to transform their traditional culture into an environment ready to compete and profit in the new economy by demolishing the implicit rules that stifle employee creativity.

[expand title=”In detail”] Susan leads Nextera’s strategic change management practice and her projects have covered a wide variety of industries: financial services, petroleum, manufacturing, high technology, professional services and healthcare. One of her major achievements is the complete re-shaping of a global petroleum company, reversing its declining performance through an ongoing effort aimed at reinvigorating the leadership of the organisation. In just a few months the company’s newly inspired leaders eliminated numerous barriers and unproductive work processes resulting in increased revenue and shareholder value.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

World’s foremost expert on cyber and computer security

Kevin Mitnick is a well-known computer security expert. He first gained notoriety when was arrested by the FBI on February 15, 1995 and was convicted of wire fraud and of breaking into the computer systems of Fujitsu, Motorola, Nokia, and Sun Microsystems. He served five years in prison and was released on January 21, 2000. He subsequently went on to become the world’s foremost expert on cyber and computer security.

“Security is not a product that can be purchased off the shelf, but consists of policies, people, processes, and technology.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Kevin has written two books ‘The Art of Deception’ and ‘The Art of Intrusion’ focusing on real stories of security exploits. Nowadays he offers security consulting services and is a regular guest on television and radio and at leading security conferences around the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Using concrete examples, Kevin Mitnick shows what your business can do to develop a creative and engaging security program that heightens awareness, motivates employees to change their attitudes, influences them to think defensively, and encourages the adoption of good security habits.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Founder and CEO of Blogosfere

Marco is the founder and CEO of Blogosfere, Italy’s biggest web log network. He is currently assistant professor at the Cattolica University, Milan and teaches theories and techniques of online communication at the faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Marco also  hosts his own TV show on SkyTG24 Television channel, Reporter Diffuso, which deals with the Internet, blogs and news.

“Italy’s leading blogger and website developer”

[expand title=”In detail”] Marco is a leading expert on internet laws specifically those related to copyright and file sharing and has consulted on these issues to a variety of top private organisations as well as the Italian Government. In addition to his own television show he appears regularly in the media and is a highly respected voice in Italy in the world of IT and the internet. During the last 10 years he has created some of Italy’s most successful websites.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With a wealth of experience in designing and developing websites, Marco is ideally qualified to advise organisations on how to reap the benefits of the internet.  He offers useful actionable information specifically designed to raise a company’s web profile and increase their turnover and profits. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Marco tailors each presentation to precisely fit each event and follows each of his high content presentations with a lively and invaluable interactive Q&A session with audience members.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Director of Global Logistics for Amazon.com

Girish Lakshman has been a part of the Amazon.com e-logistics strategy since July 1999, he has been instrumental in shaping the logistics strategy of the company and is now a recognised leader in this field. He has thirteen years experience in the manufacturing and automotive industry, and has provided corporate strategy advice in the biotech industry in India.

Through his presentations he explains how to develop prototypical decision support systems to demonstrate the benefits of using IT for creating an optimal level of core inventory. Girish also uses his expertise to enable business leaders to design and implement systems to project production at cost for different manufacturing facilities to level load production and reduce manpower requirements.

[expand title=”In detail”] He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University, India, and studied a variety of topics at the Graduate School of the University of Missouri Rolla. He has been an officer of the Young Orators Club for several years, learning and teaching the art of public speaking.

He has led the effort to establish an optimised inventory distribution plan across the network at Amazon.com, including formulating the functional specifications to correlate split shipments with inventory placement and distribution centre capacity, systems evaluation and integration.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Girish has been an inspirational leader in transforming traditional business culture into an environment ready to compete intelligently in the e-commerce world. His experience has been hands-on and has left a legacy of leadership and forward thinking in all the places he has worked.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Most recently he has designed several decision support systems, and has implemented a number of training programmes to demonstrate the complexities of IT systems and the benefits that can be reaped by correct system application.

Girish Lakshman is a highly motivating and articulate speaker, his enlightening presentations are always well received. He not only inspires but also presents his clients with actionable solutions that can be implemented immediately.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Technology Pioneer, Inventor

Ray Kurzweil is one of the leading inventors of our time. He was the principal developer of the first CCD flat-bed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind and the first text-to-speech synthesizer. He also designed the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition.

“The ultimate thinking machine” Forbes

[expand title=”In detail”] Among Ray’s many honours, he is the recipient of the $500,000 MIT-Lemelson Prize, the World’s largest for innovation and in 1999 he received the National Medal of Technology, the USA’s highest honour in technology, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony. Most recently he was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, established by the US Patent Office in recognition of his inventions.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With unparalleled insights into what the future holds and how new technologies will affect the way we work and develop, Ray Kurzweil offers audiences an invaluable sneak preview of what is just around the technology corner.[/expand]
Continue Reading »