Steven Bartlett is a cultural force inspiring entrepreneurs to think big, act boldly, and innovate fearlessly. Whether on stage, on screen, or through his hit podcast The Diary of a CEO, Bartlett’s insights and energy make him a must-see figure for anyone passionate about the future of business and leadership.

As the youngest-ever “Dragon” on BBC’s Dragons’ Den (since 2021), Bartlett brings a bold, modern perspective to this iconic show, which inspired the American hit Shark Tank. His ability to connect with emerging business leaders and younger audiences has redefined the role of a Dragons’ Den investor, making him a standout figure in the UK business community.

Bartlett is also the host of Europe’s leading podcast, The Diary of a CEO, where he engages in candid conversations on entrepreneurship, mental health, and personal growth with some of the world’s most influential figures. His raw, insightful storytelling resonates with millions, making the podcast essential listening for aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike.

His influence extends into the health and wellness sector with investments in groundbreaking companies like Huel, the UK’s fastest-growing e-commerce brand, and Zoe, a personalized nutrition program created by top scientists. His diverse portfolio also includes ventures in biotech, blockchain, space exploration, and Web3 technologies, demonstrating his visionary approach to innovation.

As the co-founder of Flight Group, a media, marketing, and investment powerhouse, Bartlett drives growth across industries through companies like Flight Fund, Flight Ventures, and Flight Story. His entrepreneurial journey began with Social Chain, a digital marketing agency that revolutionized how global brands like Apple and Coca-Cola engage with audiences.

Born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and an English father, Bartlett’s rise from humble beginnings to becoming a multimillionaire entrepreneur is a story of grit, innovation, and authenticity. He embodies the next generation of leadership, empowering others to embrace challenges, disrupt industries, and build meaningful impact.

Columbia Business School professor Dr. Sheena Iyengar is a world expert on choice and decision-making. Her book The Art of Choosing received the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year and inspired an eponymous TED Talk.  Her subsequent book, Think Bigger, was a Gold Medal Winner of the 2024 Axiom Business Book Award. Her research is regularly cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Economist as well as in popular books, such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance. Dr. Iyengar has also appeared on television, including The Today Show, The Daily Show, and Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on CNN. Her TED Talks have collectively received 7M views and her research continues to inform markets, businesses, and individuals around the world.

Dr. Iyengar has been named a member of Thinkers50, a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers. She won the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School in 2012 and was named one of the World’s Best B-School Professors by Poets and Quants. She has also given keynotes and consulted for companies as wide-ranging as Deloitte, Google, Bloomberg, Blizzard Entertainment, J.P. Morgan & Chase, and The North Face.

Governing Through Crisis: Lessons in Global Leadership

David Miliband—former UK Foreign Secretary and current President of the International Rescue Committee—is one of the most respected voices in global leadership today. Drawing on a remarkable career at the intersection of government, diplomacy, and humanitarian action, Miliband offers a sweeping and deeply informed perspective on what it takes to govern through crisis in a rapidly changing world.

As Foreign Secretary, Miliband helped shape UK foreign policy during an era of profound global volatility. Today, as the leader of the IRC—founded by Albert Einstein—he oversees one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, delivering life-saving aid across 40 countries and guiding refugee resettlement efforts throughout the United States. Under his stewardship, the IRC reached more than 38 million people last year alone.

In his compelling talks, Miliband explores how institutions—whether governmental, financial, or humanitarian—must evolve to meet 21st-century challenges. He speaks to the critical need for international cooperation, the moral imperatives of leadership, and the strategic thinking required to navigate conflict, displacement, public health emergencies, and climate-related crises. His TED Talk, "The Refugee Crisis is a Test of Our Character," has garnered more than 1.5M views, and his book Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time offers timely insights into leadership, ethics, and global responsibility.

A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Grammy Award-winning narrator, Miliband is a gifted communicator with rare moral clarity and strategic depth. President Bill Clinton called him “one of the ablest, most creative public servants of our time.”

Whether addressing business executives, policymakers, or global citizens, Miliband challenges audiences to think bigger, lead boldly, and act with purpose in a world that demands nothing less.

De Kai is a pioneering AI scientist who is widely regarded as “the Statesman of AI.” A founder of the contemporary AI field as known today, three decades ago De Kai invented and built the world’s first global-scale online language translator. De Kai continues to push boundaries in AI research, alongside speaking to philosophical questions about the fears and possibilities of humanity's new technology and how we can be empowered to shape our future. In his book Raising AI, De Kai brings decades of experience to help audiences make sense of our interactions with AI at both personal and collective levels—ethically and responsibly. De Kai is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at HKUST and Distinguished Research Scholar at Berkeley’s International Computer Science Institute. His cross-disciplinary works relating AI, cognition, language, music, creativity, media arts, ethics and society centers on enabling cultures to relate, and stems from a liberal arts perspective emphasizing creativity in both technical and humanistic dimensions.

De Kai’s groundbreaking projects have spurred the paradigm shift toward today’s state-of-the-art statistical natural language processing technologies. He has done research at Berkeley, UCSD, University of Toronto, Bell Laboratories, Columbia University, TU Munich, and Toronto. He founded HKUST's internationally funded Human Language Technology Center which launched the world's first global-scale online language translator over twenty years ago.

De Kai is among only 17 scientists worldwide named by the Association for Computational Linguistics as a Founding ACL Fellow and has been named one of the 100 most influential figures of Hong Kong. His TEDx Talk was named an editor's pick. He serves on the board of AI policy think tank TFS (The Future Society), which is heavily involved in drafting the European Union’s forthcoming AI Act. In 2018, Google named De Kai as one of eight inaugural members of its AI Ethics council, ATEAC (Advanced Technology External Advisory Council). Over the past decade, De Kai has given hundreds of talks worldwide on AI ethics, society, and safety.

A Visionary Leader in Healthcare Innovation and Healthcare Policy

Dr. Francis Collins is one of the most influential scientists and healthcare policy leaders of our time, recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to genomics, precision medicine, and national healthcare initiatives. As the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2009 to 2021, he played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s biomedical research agenda under three U.S. Presidents—Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. His leadership was instrumental in advancing critical research on diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, neuroscience, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revolutionizing Medicine: The Human Genome Project and Beyond

Before his tenure at NIH, Dr. Collins led one of the most significant scientific efforts in modern history—the Human Genome Project. Completed in 2003, this international collaboration successfully mapped the entire human genetic code, revolutionizing genetic medicine, diagnostics, and targeted therapies. His leadership in genomics has had a lasting impact on precision medicine, transforming the way diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and treated.

Physician and geneticist Dr. Francis Collins' life story is one of curiosity, discovery, and deep human connection. His journey from a small-town upbringing to leading the Human Genome Project and serving as Director of the National Institutes of Health is a testament to the power of perseverance, intellectual courage, and ethical leadership.

Guiding National Healthcare Policy and Research

As NIH Director, Collins secured bipartisan support for major healthcare initiatives, fostering public-private partnerships to accelerate biomedical innovation. Under his leadership:

• The Cancer Moonshot Initiative was launched to advance cancer research and treatment.

• The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative pushed the frontiers of neuroscience.

• The All of Us Research Program paved the way for precision medicine by collecting diverse genetic and health data to drive personalized treatment strategies.

• NIH-led COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research played a crucial role in the rapid development of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.

A Lifelong Commitment to Science and Innovation

Following his tenure as Acting Science Advisor and Special Projects Advisor to President Biden (2022-2023), Collins returned to his NIH research laboratory to continue investigating genetic factors in diabetes and premature aging. His research remains at the forefront of translating genetic discoveries into real-world medical applications.

Conor Grennan is Chief AI Architect at NYU Stern School of Business, where he builds generative AI fluency across the institution, including MBAs, faculty, and administration. Prior to that role, he served as Dean of Students for the past 10 years. Outside of NYU, Grennan is the CEO and Founder of AI Mindset, an AI consulting company that trains professionals, leaders, and organizations on a new and effective framework for generative AI. Grennan is also the Head GenAI Trainer for the Chief Executive Group and LinkedIn Learning’s instructor for AI for Business. He has keynoted on generative AI at the Generative AI World Conference, Generative AI Week, PWC’s Trust Leadership Academy, MetTel’s Innovation Conference, Correlation One’s CHRO Insights event, the Franchise CEO Summit, the Chief Executive Annual Summit, and many other large-scale events.

Grennan is also a New York Times #1 bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and executive coach.  His AI insights have been featured in Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Vox, and other media outlets. He co-hosts the AI Applied podcast (top 20 in Business News) and is a Top Voice in Public Speaking on LinkedIn, where he has over 65k followers that track his generative AI insights. Grennan is singularly primed to bring audiences insights on AI usage and applications.

Jennifer Granholm is an American lawyer, educator, author and politician who served most recently as the 16^th United States Secretary of Energy, and previously as the two-term governor of Michigan. As governor, she spearheaded Michigan’s economic recovery after the Great Recession by diversifying the state’s economy to focus on clean energy and revitalizing the auto industry to build electric vehicles. 

As Secretary of Energy (2021-2025), Granholm restructured the U.S. Department of Energy to focus on research and development of advanced clean energy solutions and, importantly, deployment of zero-carbon technologies. She oversaw $200 billion of U.S. DOE investments into companies and projects to accelerate the clean energy transition. During her tenure as Secretary, thanks to the policies and laws that she helped to shape, the country saw record deployment of clean energy — adding the equivalent of 30 Hoover Dams of zero-carbon energy to the nation’s electricity grid in 2024, more than twice as much solar power deployed as ever before. Due to incentives to manufacture in America, businesses announced almost 1,000 factories were coming or expanding in the U.S. to build clean energy products -- solar panels, EVs, batteries, small nuclear reactors, clean hydrogen, geothermal and more. Thanks to DOE’s work, the nation’s transmission grid is seeing an 11X expansion of new transmission miles.

During her tenure as Secretary, DOE with its 110,000 employees was ranked among the Top 10 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government. Secretary Granholm was named in 2024 to the "TIME 100 Most Influential People" list, and Forbes’ list of "Top Climate Leaders."

Secretary Granholm taught law and public policy at UC Berkeley from 2011-2020, specializing in clean energy and public leadership. A former Attorney General of Michigan (1998-2002) and an honors graduate of Harvard Law School (1987), she is the author of A Governor's Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future, has penned scores of articles and opinion pieces on clean energy, and continues to play a leading role in shaping America’s energy future. Heralded for her forward-looking insight, Granholm brings a balanced and nuanced perspective sorely needed in today's divisive times. 

Deborah E. Lipstadt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 30, 2022, as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, with the rank of Ambassador.  In that position, from 2022-2025, Ambassador Lipstadt lead efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy to counter antisemitism throughout the world. Ambassador Lipstadt has had a storied career as a historian, academic, and author. Prior to joining the State Department, she served as the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, which she helped to found. At Emory University, where she has taught for 30 years, she currently holds the position of Distinguished University Professor. Her messages are grounded in fighting hate, ensuring justice, and standing up to those who distort history for ideological purposes. With years of experience as a public speaker, Ambassador Lipstadt's ability to blend scholarship with compelling narratives makes her speeches engaging and impactful.

She has written seven books including: Golda Meir: Israel’s Matriarch; The Eichmann Trial; Denial: Holocaust History on Trial; Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory; Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933-1945. She received the National Jewish Book Award three times, most recently in 2019 for Antisemitism: Here and Now.

Ambassador Lipstadt is known for having been sued for libel by David Irving, one of the world’s leading Holocaust deniers. The case, which lasted for six years and was heard in court in a twelve-week trial, resulted in Irving being declared by the court to be “a right-wing polemicist,” who engages in antisemitism, racism, and misogyny. That trial was depicted in the 2016 film Denial, which was based on her book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.

She was named as one of TIME 100’s "Most Influential People" of 2023. In April 2024, Ambassador Lipstadt was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies in United States. Ambassador Lipstadt inspires deep reflection on the importance of preserving historical truth and fostering a more just and inclusive world. Her message encourages action, making her not only a speaker but a catalyst for meaningful change.

Tracee Ellis Ross is an award-winning actress, producer, founder, and CEO.  

For eight seasons, Ross starred in ABC’s SAG and Critics Choice Award-nominated and Emmy, Golden Globe, NAACP Image Award, and Peabody-winning comedy series “black-ish.”  She also starred in the Emmy and GLAAD Award-nominated and NAACP Image Award-winning series “Girlfriends” for eight seasons. Ross has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including a Golden Globe Award, nine NAACP Image Awards, and the 2020 People’s Choice Awards “Fashion Icon Award.” She was also named a Disney Legend for making an extraordinary contribution to The Walt Disney Company. 

Ross is the owner, founder, and co-CEO of PATTERN Beauty, the global multi-million dollar brand she created for the curly, coily & tight-textured community in 2019. PATTERN is the #1 BIPOC brand and #2 curl brand sold at ULTA Beauty. PATTERN is also sold at Sephora, Nordstrom, Target, Macy’s, and Amazon, in the US; Sephora in Canada; and Boots, Look Fantastic and Cult Beauty in the UK. With PATTERN, Ross is changing the paradigm of how the textured hair community is marketed to and supported. The company's content and messaging are a celebration of Black beauty & joy. PATTERN proudly supports organizations and programs that empower women and people of color. 

Ross will next be seen in season 7 of the critically acclaimed Netflix series “Black Mirror.” In addition to Ross, the new season also features Paul Giamatti, Jesse Plemons, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd and Emma Corrin, among other returning cast favorites. The new season will stream on April 10th. 

Ross is currently in post-production on her Roku original series “Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross.” The series will chronicle Ross as she meticulously, laboriously, and sometimes ridiculously prepares for and travels solo to spectacular locations. Ross will serve as an Executive Producer on the docu-series under her banner Joy Mill Entertainment. Joy Mill Entertainment has a deal with 20^th and is dedicated to telling joyful, fun, and grounded stories exploring how we see ourselves and how we connect to one another. “Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross” will premiere later this year. 

Ross recently wrapped production on “Blow The Horn,” an indie psychological drama from Nacho Arenas. The project is an adaptation of “Bajo Terapia,” the acclaimed Argentinian play by Matias del Federico, which has previously been adapted by Spanish filmmaker Gerado Herrero. Others in the cast include Lake Bell, Wrenn Schmidt, Dallas Roberts, Joshua Boone and Ken Leung. In addition to starring in the film, Ross also serves as an Executive Producer. 

Ross was last seen opposite Jeffrey Wright in the Oscar-winning drama “American Fiction,” directed by Cord Jefferson. It was nominated for Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards, and was named one of AFI’s movies of the year. Last December, Ross was seen starring opposite Eddie Murphy in Amazon’s holiday film, “Candy Cane Lane.” The film became the most-watched Amazon movie debut in the U.S. and among the top 10 worldwide film debuts ever on the service.  

Earlier this year, Ross starred in the thriller “Cold Copy” and is currently lending her voice to Amazon’s animated comedy “The Second Best Hospital in The Galaxy,” alongside Keke Palmer, Kieran Culkin, Maya Rudolph, and Natasha Lyonne. 

Ross advocates for joy, self-acceptance, inclusivity, and equity. In 2017, Ross gave a powerful speech about claiming your own life at Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit that went viral. In 2018, Ross opened the TED Conference, the first Black woman to do so, with a speech about the wisdom of women’s fury. 

In 2022, Ross was given the “Racial Justice Trailblazer” Award by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for her demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice and upholding values that promote an inclusive democracy. She has also moderated stops on both of Michelle Obama’s book tours. Ross recently received a 2023 Webby Special Achievement Award for her ingenious use of the Internet to share multidimensional stories of belonging, increasing Black representation in the beauty industry, and serving as a constant, positive force on the Internet, and was named a 2023 Cosmetic Executive Women Female Founder honoree. She was recently honored with the Trailblazer Award by 15 Percent Pledge, as a 2024 CNBC Changemaker, and was given the 2024 Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts by the National Museum of Women in the Arts for being a leader in the entertainment industry and a passionate advocate for gender equity. 

Ross received honorary Doctorate degrees from Spelman College in 2023 and Brown University, her alma mater, in 2015. 

Harvard University professor of philosophy Michael Sandel has been described as a “philosopher with the global profile of a rock star,” known across the globe for his lively Socratic debates that aim to restore the lost art of respectful discussion. Sandel is the bestselling author of books on justice, ethics, democracy, and markets that have been translated into over 30 languages. Sandel has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford, served on the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A graduate of Brandeis University, he received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sandel’s books—on justice, democracy, ethics, technology, and markets—have been translated into more than 30 languages. They include Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?; What Money Can’t Buy, and The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good?, which seeks a way beyond our polarized politics. A new edition of his classic book Democracy’s Discontent has been described as “essential--and ultimately hopeful--reading for all those who wonder if our democratic experiment will survive in the twenty-first century.”

Sandel’s legendary course “Justice,” one of the most popular in Harvard’s history, is freely available online and has been viewed by tens of millions. His BBC series The Global Philosopher engages participants from around the world in discussing the ethical issues lying behind the headlines. In this and other television, radio, and online programs, Sandel explores tech ethics, robots and AI, markets and morals, climate change, free speech, and other topical issues.

Sandel’s renowned interactive public lectures on the big civic questions of the day show how reasoned debate, leavened with humor and mutual respect, can produce dialogue across our differences.

A “master of life’s big questions” (Guardian), Sandel’s live events have packed St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park, and an outdoor stadium in Seoul (S. Korea), where 14,000 came to hear him speak. 

Renowned conductor James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire and is one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors and educators. Mr. Conlon has spoken internationally about the power of creativity, the enduring importance of classical music, and leadership insights that resonate across industries.

Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Conlon has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra. He is Music Director of LA Opera, with whom he has won four Grammy Awards and led more performances than any other conductor in the company’s history, and also serves as Artistic Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous writings, television appearances and guest speaking engagements, he is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures.

Mr. Conlon is an enthusiastic advocate of the role music plays in our shared humanity and civic life. He has worked to call attention to the works of composers silenced by the Nazi regime – which led to the creation of The OREL Foundation, the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices, and his popular TEDx Talk “Resurrecting Forbidden Music.” Mr. Conlon has received numerous honorary doctorates and accolades including the Legion d’Honneur – France’s highest honor – and was personally inducted by then-President Jacques Chirac.

Dr. Daniel Amen is a pioneer in optimizing mental health for longevity and peak performance. As a physician, adult and child psychiatrist, and founder of Amen Clinics—with 11 locations across the U.S.—he has dedicated his career to helping people achieve sharper cognition, enhanced mental resilience, and overall vitality. Amen Clinics houses the world’s largest database of brain scans for psychiatry, with more than 260,000 SPECT scans from patients in 155 countries, providing unparalleled insights into brain function and aging.

Dr. Amen is also the founder of BrainMD, a rapidly growing, science-backed nutraceutical company focused on cognitive enhancement and long-term wellness, and Amen University, which has trained thousands of medical and mental health professionals in his brain optimization methods.

Dr. Amen has built a global following, using cutting-edge science to help high performers—including Olympic and professional athletes, top executives, and entertainers—sustain peak cognitive and physical performance. His podcast, Change Your Brain Every Day, is a top-rated Health Show in the US with over 16M streams. Additionally, he has produced 18 national public television specials on brain health. Dr. Amen is the most-followed expert in mental health. His online content has been viewed over a billion times.

A 12-time New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Amen has written groundbreaking books, including Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, You, Happier, and The Brain Warrior’s Way, offering actionable strategies to enhance focus, memory, energy, and longevity. His mission is clear: to empower people to take charge of their brain health, extend their lifespan, and live with purpose and vitality.

MIT-trained engineer and tech entrepreneur Krisztina “Z” Holly, curator of the first ever TEDx event, has been at the forefront of innovation throughout her career. She started her career as a serial tech entrepreneur in Boston and Silicon Valley before spending over a decade building pioneering innovation centers at MIT and USC. The White House subsequently invited her to help spread her novel model across the United States. Today, she invests in early-stage complex science and technology startups as an operating partner at Good Growth Capital and is a sought-after advisor and speaker to organizations around the world. She has been recognized by Rolling Stone, Forbes, WIRED, and Entrepreneur Mag for her ability to scout and cultivate talent and catalyze global initiatives. With a proven track record of fostering innovation, Z’s insights come from real-world experience.

Z has spoken at Davos, the White House, YPO Entrepreneurial Energy, NBC Universal, and the National Academy of Sciences Innovation Summit; she has facilitated numerous sessions for the World Economic Forum with heads of state and CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. She regularly appears as a public expert and interviewer, leading conversations with tech “rockstars” such as Biz Stone and Tim O'Reilly, interviewing world-famous extreme athletes, and facilitating panels with university presidents and global leaders. Z’s authentic style and tailored messages resonate with a wide range of audiences, from students and aspiring entrepreneurs to academics and top executives.