Evan served for over ten years as an undercover Operations Officer with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, including multiple conflict zone tours of duty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. More recently, he advised the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives on national security issues and is currently the Chief Policy Director with the House Republican Conference and a co-founder of the early stage, next-generation television platform Yedy.tv. Given his first-hand insight, he asks why the free world continues to allow genocide and other mass atrocities to occur despite repeatedly vowing “Never Again”, and what can individuals and companies do about it.

Claudia Christian landed her first TV series at 18 on NBC’s nighttime drama Berringers and her first studio feature at 20 in New Line Cinema’s cult hit “The Hidden.” Over 50 films, hundreds of TV shows and 5 music albums later, Claudia has worked with George Clooney, Kirk Douglas, Faye Dunaway, Nicolas Cage and countless other luminaries. A hugely successful actress who saw her personal life and career tested by addiction, Claudia shares her journey of overcoming alcoholism and offers fresh perspectives on alcohol use disorder treatments.

Computers can drive cars and beat people at the toughest board games, but can they be creative? As a composer and entrepreneur, Ed Rex believes we are heading towards a world where AI will master creativity, and he has founded a startup to find out more. In this talk, he reframes the question by asking what we really mean when we say that humans are creative, and examines how far computers have come in replicating this process and what it will mean for us as they continue to improve.

Matthew Syed was the British table tennis number one for almost a decade, three-time Commonwealth Champion, and twice competed for Great Britain in the Olympic Games (in Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000). A columnist for The Times, he has also gone on to publish numerous bestselling books; Bounce, published in April 2010, has been described as “one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking books about sport ever written”, and Black Box Thinking, published in 2015, which has been globally acknowledged and translated into multiple languages. He makes the case for acknowledging failure and confronting our mistakes, a notion he refers to as “Black Box Thinking”.

As a Texan fluent in Japanese and Chinese, Kelly Price wondered if she was destined to become a doctor in Asia. Instead, she parlayed her love of biology, language and travel into a career in medical market research with a focus in oncology. Later on, when Kelly was matched with a patient in need of a stem cell transplant, she suddenly found herself observing the treatment of cancer from the inside. The experience was life-changing. Kelly hopes that through her talk, she can help others realise how truly simple it can be to offer someone the chance of a cure.

Chris Cowan once followed the typical path of a successful marketeer: Unilever, Duracell Batteries, Disney. He then decided to start over and set up Clusters, a market research agency, which was built on his passionate belief that evidence-based targeting is a prerequisite for great marketing. A far cry from the overused buzzwords they have become, Chris promotes ‘segmentation’ and ‘advocacy’ as ideas that must be delivered with simplicity in order to positively impact the way a business goes to market. He takes us back to one of the purest ways of delivering ideas, word of mouth, and explains how it really works.

During his time as a peace monitor in South Africa at the height of Apartheid, Charles Irvine developed a belief that conflict has the potential to be our greatest natural resource. Since relocating to the UK in 1996 to build “Questions of Difference”, a niche consultancy, he has gone on to inspire more than 40,000 people as a strategic business consultant in over 30 countries. He is driven by his passion for creating environments where groups of people do extraordinary things. Backed by his unique experiences, Charles gives a fascinating perspective into conflict and the power of good that can emerge from the unexpected.

A professional coach helping leaders achieve sustainable change, Kitty Chisholm developed a passionate interest in how people and organisations learn and change through her work with the Open University. As a founder Director of BoardwalkLeadership, she uses her knowledge of how brains can be changed to support more women into leadership and companies to develop a more diverse leadership pipeline. Hot on the heels of her new book, “Neuroscience for Leadership”, Kitty gives us insight into the power of attention as a key mechanism to change your brain.

Through her time spent volunteering in Ethiopia, Julia Lalla-Maharajh had a first-hand glimpse into the devastating practice of female genital cutting. Deeply affected, Julia founded the Orchid Project, where she worked on the ground in Senegal and The Gambia and witnessed an incredible grassroots movement of communities choosing not to cut their daughters. By sharing her passionate fight to end this taboo, Julia lifts the lid on how social change happens and explores how radical shifts can lead to extraordinary results.

The discovery that hypnosis is not magic, but a legitimate tool used in psychotherapy and personal development led Daniel Robaczewski to start performing with a group of enthusiasts on the streets of Warsaw at the age of 17. During the journey that followed, he became a certified hypnotist, participated in hundreds of hours of workshops, hypnotised over a thousand people and taught hundreds of his own students, including psychologists, psychiatrists and actors. In his entrancing talk, Daniel gives a glimpse into how hypnosis works and explores the power of the human mind.

Twenty years working with organisations as a Learning and Development Specialist gave Sue Cox a deeper perception of the nuances of strong leadership than most. However, her most powerful and illuminating insights came from an entirely unexpected quarter; a three-year sabbatical dancing Tango in Argentina. On her return to the UK, she devised Ballroom2Boardroom workshops, drawing from the complex dynamic of tango to challenge how we lead and follow in business. In her talk, Sue advocates an inclusive approach to leadership, one which allows us to embrace uncertainty and foster creativity.

A population health scientist by trade and Chief Statistician of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the University College London, George Ploubidis’ research has centred on uncovering the socio-economic, demographic and structural determinants of population health and the mechanisms that link these over the life-course. He is particularly interested in the joint progress of health and mortality and the use of population surveys to capture macro level trends. With a focus on the development of reliable population health metrics and the evaluation of existing measurement instruments, George talks about the power of longitudinal data in understanding how life changes across generations.

Professor of Marketing and Academic Director of LBS’ very own Deloitte Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Rajesh Chandy’s findings on innovation have been quoted by Forbes magazine as “an unorthodox and bracing set of management principles”. He is widely recognised for his work with aspiring and established entrepreneurs, and the winner of multiple awards for his contributions to marketing theory and thought. On the back of his unorthodox principles, he asks an unorthodox question for someone who is such a champion of innovation: Could fewer entrepreneurs mean greater prosperity?

As a freelance art critic for the BBC and Sky News who trained as a fine artist, Estelle Lovatt is well placed to offer her expert opinion on the theory, practice and intention behind great artworks. Estelle believes art is a universal language that best communicates human emotion as it breaks down barriers regardless of idiom, race, age, culture, gender, religion, country and ethnicity. In her illuminating talk she opens your eyes to the hard-to-fathom masterpieces, explaining how best to appreciate different art styles at work and understand the artist’s original intentions, allowing you to discover the hidden critic in you.

Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at LBS, Freek Vermeulen writes, consults and speaks across the world on topics such as strategies for growth, strategic innovation and making strategy happen. Using rigorous research to gain insight into how business really works, his work has been recognized by the most reputed academic journals and managerial publications. He explains why market forces fail to eliminate inefficient processes and strategies and how, as a result, outdated and plain detrimental practices persist within companies and industries—just like viruses persist in nature. Identifying and eliminating such corporate viruses can enable firms to innovate and create competitive advantage.

Palestinian musician Ruba Shamshoum has lived and breathed the music industry for almost a decade, during which she has been involved in a large range of musical styles and ensembles. She started composing her own material in 2011, writing the song ‘Ya Leil La Trouh’ for Annemarie Jacir’s film ‘When I saw You’. Her new singles generated much critical acclaim and elevated her onto the indie charts in the Middle East. As a beacon of innovation and imagination in a conservative environment, she shares her fascinating experience of being creative in a society that worships the past.

Edwina Dunn talks about market research in the digital age, how to extract value and truly understand your customers.

Udayan Goyal talks about why success lies in cooperation and collaboration, why start-ups should work with incumbents, and what factors make for a successful collaboration.

Sherry Coutu talks about how to turn despair into hope and how to inspire the next generation.

Alex Edmans talks about the long-term impacts of social responsibility and challenges the idea that caring for society is at the expense of profit.

Jessica Butcher talks about how visual search has the potential to enhance and deepen appreciation of the physical world in everyday life.

Karl Lokko talks about the importance of community and his transition from a gang member to a community leader, creating a therapeutic rehabilitation center for youth.

Jean-Pierre Benoît talks about the problem of prevention, inherent contradictions in the logic of “doing the right thing,” and and how to alleviate these issues.

Anant Singh talks about his journey creating films that speak out about difficult issues in South Africa and abroad to create social awareness.

Melissa Reiner talks about how to listen to the music in your everyday life and surroundings

Robert Diamond tells us why sharing our personal data could be the best thing we do. He examines how individuals, companies, and government all must play a role to leverage personal data to truly change the way we interact with the world.

Every single one of us is affected by diseases which stem cells could potentially treat in the future. Dr. Crystal Ruff explains what stem cells are and how they are changing the way we treat diseases.

Gareth Cliff talks about the impact of the mobile phone on democratization of media in Africa, one of the youngest, most active, and unsaturated consumer markets in the world.

Adam Carroll talks about his $10,000 Monopoly game with his kids and how to teach finance management in a cashless society.

London Business School Associate Professor John Mullins tells us how to start, finance or grow our business using our own customers’ cash. Professor Mullins explores how customers can provide venture capital.

London Business School student and Australian Army Officer Ash Judd explores the topic of leadership. Through his personal struggle with mental health following a the war in Afghanistan, Ash explains how we should make our leadership about the led, and not about the leader.

Alexa’s pioneering artistic technique – shown in the Saatchi Gallery, London and worldwide – lies at the intersection of painting, photography, performance, and installation. Painting directly onto her subjects and then photographing them, Alexa blurs the line between reality and representation.

Lydia is a finance and business researcher at the New Economics Foundation (nef). A former trader, her work now focuses on financial reform & insuring that banks and markets effectively and sustainably serve society.

Riley is a medical resident at the University of Manitoba. Inspired by a succession of family and friends diagnosed with prostate cancer, Riley recently ran 6,600km across Canada to convince men to “Step Into Action” towards early detection.

Chris Coghlan founded Grow Movement, a non-profit that provides low-cost advice to small business entrepreneurs in Uganda through remote volunteer consultants in Africa and globally. Operations are expanding to Rwanda and Malawi later this year.

Angela leads the British Bankers Association, the trade organization for the UK's banking and financial services sector. She served as a Conservative Party member of Parliament and as Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She holds several board positions.

Rajal is a Forte Foundation Fellow at London Business School. Before this, she founded a firm in LA to develop movie marketing campaigns. Rajal authored 'Starstuck', a novel based on her experiences working in Bollywood and published by Harper Collins in 2011.

Jana, a mobile advertising expert, is responsible for building sustainable partnerships with strategic global suppliers, publishers, and app developers from the mobile internet area. Prior to madvertise, Jana worked at Advanced Marketing Consulting and the German Publishing House SevenOne Media.

BioCouture is a research project harnessing nature to propose a radical future fashion vision. We are investigating the use of microbial-cellulose, grown in a laboratory, to produce clothing. Our ultimate goal is to literally grow a dress in a vat of liquid.

From 2005 to 2009, Spencer was the COO of Last.fm with responsibilities including advertising, business development, ecommerce, internationalization, HR, labels negotiation, plus content and rights management.

Holly Mccartney is the Founder and Director of b.supreme; the UK’s first and largest festival dedicated to women in hip hop, which she has built to become a major event in the international hip hop dance calendar.

Matías Hancke is a London-based composer born in Buenos Aires. His work includes instrumental and electroacoustic music, and he has collaborated with other artistic disciplines, such as video-art and dance. His music has been performed and aired throughout North and South America and Europe.

Nader Tavassoli is Professor of Marketing at London Business School, where his research and teaching closely aligns with what we practice. He was previously on the faculty at the MIT Sloan School of Management and received his PhD from Columbia Business School.

DuoFertility is a new medical device and service to help couples conceive without drugs or surgery, and has been shown to be equally effective as a cycle of IVF after just six months of use. At one-tenth the cost of IVF, DuoFertility is changing the way that we look at fertility treatment, and healthcare generally.

Kevin has been responsible for the International operations of three Silicon Valley companies since coming to Europe in 2000. He was the General Manager of AltaVista International spanning 14 countries. He joined SideStep as Managing Director in 2005 and in 2007 was appointed Managing Director for LinkedIn.

In recent years, Nuno Mendes has been loaded with accolades. His restaurant — Viajante — won a coveted Michelin star within just 9 months of opening. Yet for Nuno, more important is seeing the excitement and enjoyment sparked by those who experience his singular, inspirational food. Food bloggers discuss every dish in minute detail and seats at the restaurant are booked out for weeks in advance.

Having spent 5 years in local government, Dominic established FutureGov Consultancy in early 2008. FutureGov supports central and local government in the UK to better understand and draw on social technology in the areas of digital democracy and public service innovation.

As President, Brian Forde leads Llamadas, S.A. strategic efforts to bring low-cost phone service to rural Nicaragua through a series of innovative telephony projects specifically created for the developing world. Llamadas, S.A. was recently named the Social Enterprise of the Year through the Inter-American Development Bank’s program Pioneers for Prosperity.

Born and bred in Quito-Ecuador, Eduardo pursued Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Political Science at Bates College (Maine, USA) and specialized in Development Economics and Economics of Education at University of Oxford (UK). It was there that his passion for all things ‘development’ started.

Despite being an avid traveler and thoroughly enjoying his time abroad, Khaled has been very much thinking about returning to continue his career in his home country, yet never found the right time or opportunity. On a recent trip to Egypt, Khaled experienced one of the most interesting events in the history of his country – the revolution of the 25th of January.

Andy has earned a reputation as one of the most disruptive and effective advisors in business. As the Chief Curator and Provocateur at Prophet with twenty years of experience, Andy leads a team of experts to create change and inspire leaders of Fortune500 companies. GE, Proctor & Gamble, The United StatesOlympic Committee and Nike are just a few of the companies that regularly call Andy for his unique point of view.

A former English amateur boxer, Luke Dowdney founded Fight for Peace (FFP) in 2000 in the Complexo da Maré, a complex of favelas (shantytowns) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the help and support of Viva Rio.Luke’s experience with boxing had taught him that this sport can be an effective tool to overcome division and violence and promote the potential of young people most in need.

Tom is a Design Director at IDEO in London, where he uses the innovation and design process to develop new business opportunities. A serial entrepreneur and angel investor, Tom has first-hand experience in building successful enterprises and, as a result, a very thorough understanding of business.

Payal sees the world as a puzzle to be solved and thus began her career as a management consultant with Alvarez & Marsal, a rapidly growing professional services firm. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for Payal to help build a consulting practice while working with people who took their work seriously but themselves not too seriously.

Samir’s mission has always been to champion emerging talent. He is credited with discovering some of the big names in the new Young British Art movement and has offered unprecedented apprenticeship programmes. Samir is an expert on arts and culture, regularly curating exhibitions and speaking on creative entrepreneurship and contemporary art trends.

Dr Margaret Ormiston is on the faculty in Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. She received her doctorate in Business Administration and Industrial Relations from University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines the underlying psychological processes that influence teams and organisational performance in small groups as well as top management.

Sarah, author of The Connection Agency, is interested in how people form authentic connections with one another. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree in business from American University, in Washington, D.C and is currently an MBA2014 student at London Business School.

Alejandro is the CEO of Formula E Holdings, a global motor racing company that uses cars powered solely by electricity. Alejandro graduated in Economics and Business Studies at Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) in Spain.

Tahreem has married her passion for diverse audiences, connecting people and entrepreneurship by producing Food4Thought, a community engaging talk show at LBS. She is an LBS scholar, a Chartered Accountant and she graduated cum laude from McGill University.

Kamalini is Departmental Editor of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department of Management Science. Kamalini is an expert in the area of innovation.

Alice has managed to break new ground in virtual-to-physical goods. MakieLab makes game-connectable 3D printed toys and recently launched MAKIES: the world’s first build-your-own 3D printed doll, soon to be expanded as a tablet game and app. Tech City Insider calls MakieLab “one of London’s most admired tech startups.”

Manan is currently reading for his MBA at London Business School and is passionate about creating sustainable social impact in developing markets. Over the years, he has led several health awareness and education related initiatives at the grassroots level in India through a range of not for profit organizations. He is currently extensively involved with an early stage startup aimed to enable wider and more convenient healthcare access in rural and urban India.

The Financial Times’ esteemed Lex column delivers agenda setting commentary on business and finance. Prior to joining the Financial Times, Stuart worked at Oliver Wyman, a management consultancy specialising in financial services.

Mahyad is a creative producer, cinematographer, and self-proclaimed story junkie and his resume ranges from Hollywood blockbusters to documentaries. BoomGen is a storytelling factory that sits at the intersection of interactive media, entertainment, and education.

Rachel makes dance for the magical context of the theatre, communicating experiences that aren’t so easy to express verbally. She believes that anybody can understand the meaning of movement with surprising clarity. Rachel is a London-based contemporary dancer, both making her own work, and collaborating and performing with other artists.

Orsola de Castro, an up-cycling pioneer and mom of four, is bringing awareness to green fashion – the belief that turning ‘waste to fashion’ can foster healthy attitudes on sustainability in fashion. She began up-cycling in 1997 with her original label, From Somewhere. She and her partner, Filippo Ricci, later launched Esthetica under the British Fashion Council, to nurture young designers in thinking and creating sustainably.

Erich is a thought leader with more than 40 published articles and author of two important books on brands. He is also engaged in many consulting projects and undertakes extensive research on global brands, technology, and the formulation of corporate & business-unit level strategies.

Rami is an engineer, product champion and technology evangelist. He has a passion for communicating technology, entrepreneurship and healthcare. He has previously served as a committee member of Australian Engineering Week, judge of the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards, chair of an Institute of Engineering Technology chapter, and co-founder of industry cluster Embedded Systems Australia.

How can we challenge unethical behavior? Gabrielle Adams shares the results of a social psychology study which shows how language can substantially curtail cheating. She shows that using nouns that connect a person’s actions to their identity and character can have a powerful influence on your behavior.

n addition to pursuing a full-time MBA, Shoshana is the CEO of Turquoise Mountain, a non-profit in Afghanistan that has rebuilt the historic old city of Kabul and the traditional craft industry. Originally a teacher in inner-city US schools, she has spent six years living in Afghanistan, and with her team, has rebuilt 65 traditional buildings, created an institute for training traditional artisans, established a clinic serving 12,000 patients a year, and sold over $2.3 million worth of Afghan crafts internationally.

Dame Stephanie Shirley is a successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent philanthropist and workplace revolutionary.

George, overly influenced by Star Trek, previously worked at NASA, earning his “rocket scientist” credentials. He currently manages Rocket Fuel and has married big data with artificial intelligence to create the leading programmatic media buying engine in digital advertising.

Justin is an entrepreneur and modern day adventurer. He has lived the exploits that many of us only dream of. He started his career as a soldier before starting his own business. He has represented Britain in the Whitbread Round-the-World Yacht race winning the Bollinger Award for outstanding crewman.

Originally from Scotland, Stewart has spent years exploring the relationship between the mind, body and spirit. Following a severe back injury, Stewart experienced an amazing recovery through intensive Ashtanga Vinyasa Mysore yoga practice. Stewart’s sadhana led him towards an extensive yoga education with teachers from around the world.

Gustavo draws on his experiences with bees for The Golden Co, a project enhancing well being and employability of young people in Hackney. He also works on improving the Hackney City Farm’s sustainability; devising ways of growing income, strengthening social impact and improving the environment.

Adrian is the founder of Special Projects, a design and invention studio based in London, and previously ran the award winning design studio, Vitamins. Adrian uses technology to make magic. His background in Electronic Engineering and Industrial Design, combined with the fact that he is a full member of the Magic Circle, help him to understand how things work, and how they will work in the future.

Based in London, Andrew Grill is an internationally renowned thought leader in the fields of social business and social media networks.

Simona teaches Marketing and Brand Management and her research is on consumer behavior and decision making. Simona is particularly interested in the psychological processes underlying freedom of choice, and how different ways of providing and exercising choice influence consumers’ perception of control, satisfaction, and well-being.

Amelia is an advertising and digital veteran, having started out as one of the very first WPP Marketing Fellows in 1997, and choosing to specialize in digital. Her WPP career took her from London to the U.S. Where she lived for 5 years working for Ogilvy Interactive.

Jean is the CEO of Virgin Unite, the entrepreneurial foundation of the worldwide Virgin Group. In her previous life, Jean lived and worked on five continents helping to lead successful mobile phone start-ups in South Africa, Colombia, Bulgaria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the U.S.

Abigail runs an arts charity which combines artistic excellence with long term community engagement. She is passionate about the role of the arts in civic life as a central part of our identity, our engagement with the wider community and our sense of the world.< consumers’ perception of control, satisfaction, and well-being.

Paul Craven is a coach, consultant and public speaker in the area of Behavioural Economics. His talk on “The Mind, Markets and Magic” reveals why human beings have hardwired biases and often make ‘mental shortcuts’ – whether in the field of finance, more broadly in life or even when watching a magician.

Glen joined Knight Vinke in 2007 after a 20-year investment banking career at leading firms such as Kleinwort Benson and Morgan Stanley. He is a specialist in the banking and energy sectors and a keen observer of the investment trade.< sense of the world.< consumers’ perception of control, satisfaction, and well-being.

Rooted in his study of ancient India’s mystic devotional, Radhanath’s message is simple: by cultivating a genuine practice of service, we can become instruments of compassion and agents of sustainable change in the world.

James is responsible for the shaping of the UK m2m Strategy and Vision, the creation and execution of all Marketing and the development of new products and propositions. He has over 15 years of experience in Telco’s ranging from start up’s to blue chips including Telewest, Centrica, and Carphone Warehouse.

Winner of FameLab, PhD Hypersonics Leon is a rocket scientist; he researches how air flows over things at several kilometres a second. Leon believes science communication is as important as the science itself. In many aspect of life science is becoming an ever growing authority, with scientific facts winning arguments and driving government policy.