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Ambassador Matthew Gould

  • Acting UK Ambassador to Iran and Former UK Ambassador to Israel
  • Former CEO of NHSX; Led Digital Transformation Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Former UK Director General for Digital & Media Policy and Leader of the UK’s Cyber Security Strategy
  • Writer for The Washington Post

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The view from inside a crisis looks very different from the headlines. Ambassador Matthew Gould has spent his career on the inside.

The only person to have served as Ambassador or Acting Ambassador to both Israel and Iran, Gould has advised at the highest levels of British government, represented the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee in Washington, and led the country’s cyber security strategy. As CEO of NHSX during COVID-19, he drove the digital transformation of England’s health system when the pressure to adapt became immediate. Across each chapter, Gould has seen what happens when institutions built for one world suddenly have to operate in another, and what separates the leaders who adapt from those who get left behind.

On stage, Gould connects the forces transforming our world to the choices leaders have to make now. Drawing on extraordinary firsthand experience, he helps audiences see around corners, make sense of uncertainty, and understand what it takes to lead when change refuses to wait.

 

Ambassador Matthew Gould headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • techUK
  • Weizmann Institute
  • University of Cambridge (CSaP)
  • PJT Partners
  • IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
  • RSA Conference
  • RAF Senior Command Course
  • Royal College of Defense Studies
  • British Embassy Tel Aviv
  • Stanford Business School
Rave Reviews About Ambassador Matthew Gould
“
Ambassador Gould has been the guest speaker at corporate events both for my own company and for a US investment bank whose advisory board I chair. He has an unusual breadth of knowledge and experience - detailed understanding of both Iran and Israel as well as information technology and policy-making - and combines that with a commercial instinct and a delivery that is thoughtful, fluent and amusing.

”
More rave reviews

"I have used Matthew to speak on several RAF senior leadership development programmes. Matthew is a brilliant and inspirational speaker who speaks openly, and candidly, generating insightful reflections for our participants. His broad and varied background enables him to cover a wide variety of topics and in Q&A he is always prepared to allow the conversation to go where it is most useful for the cohort. I highly recommend him as a speaker."

-Tedder Academy of Leadership

"Matthew spoke about the Middle East at one of our dinners for senior business leaders. He was insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, and provided the basis for an excellent discussion. "

-Nina Thiruchelvam, Hakluyt and Co
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Matthew Gould Speaks on the Queens Birthday at British Embassy Israel - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Ambassador Matthew Gould
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Israel, Iran and the Middle East: A Diplomat's Inside View

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD is the only person to have served as the UK’s Head of mission in both Israel and Iran. He offers first-hand analysis of the forces shaping the region, the personalities driving events, and what it means for global security, energy and international business. Unscripted, cand ...

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD is the only person to have served as the UK’s Head of mission in both Israel and Iran. He offers first-hand analysis of the forces shaping the region, the personalities driving events, and what it means for global security, energy and international business. Unscripted, candid and based on direct experience at the highest levels of diplomacy.

Leading Through the Unthinkable: Resilience in an Age of Disruption

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD draws on direct experience to explore what genuine leadership looks like under extreme pressure. How decisions get made with incomplete information, how institutions hold together under strain, and what separates leaders who deliver from those who don't. ...

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD draws on direct experience to explore what genuine leadership looks like under extreme pressure. How decisions get made with incomplete information, how institutions hold together under strain, and what separates leaders who deliver from those who don't.

Digital Transformation at Scale: Making Change Happen in Complex Organisations

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD led digital transformation across the NHS and the UK Government at moments of real consequence. He speaks plainly about what it takes to change large institutions.   Where the resistance comes from, how to build momentum without losing people, and why most transformation pro ...

AMBASSADOR MATTHEW GOULD led digital transformation across the NHS and the UK Government at moments of real consequence. He speaks plainly about what it takes to change large institutions.   Where the resistance comes from, how to build momentum without losing people, and why most transformation programmes fail to deliver. Practical, honest and drawn entirely from experience.

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Press & Media
I was a diplomat in Iran. Two rules explain its actions. - The Washington Post
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Biography

Ambassador Matthew Gould is a former British diplomat, technology leader and conservationist whose career has taken him from the world's most sensitive diplomatic postings to the frontline of digital transformation in public services.

He spent 25 years as a diplomat, serving in Tehran, Islamabad, Washington, Manila and Tel Aviv. He is the only person to have served as Ambassador or Acting Ambassador to both Israel and Iran, two of Britain's most complex bilateral relationships, and represented the UK's Joint Intelligence Committee in Washington. He served on the personal staff of two Prime Ministers (Tony Blair and Gordon Brown) and headed the offices of two Foreign Secretaries. During his time as Ambassador to Israel, he founded the UK-Israel Tech Hub, which has become a model for bilateral technology collaboration.

Returning to London, Matthew led the UK Government’s cyber security strategy, before becoming the UK Government's first Director General for Digital and Media Policy. He then served as CEO of NHSX, responsible for the digital transformation of health and social care in England, a role he held through the Covid-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, his team built the NHS Datastore for real-time pandemic data management and delivered the award-winning NHS Covid Pass, used by tens of millions of people across the UK.

From 2022 to 2025, Matthew served as CEO of the Zoological Society of London, the international conservation charity that runs London Zoo. There he led work on biodiversity, conservation science and the use of data and technology to protect endangered species.

Matthew writes for The Times, The Telegraph, The Spectator and The Guardian, and speaks internationally on geopolitics, digital transformation, leadership under pressure and the the role of business protecting nature. 

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