Leading through transformation is difficult. Doing it with hundreds of thousands of people is something else entirely. Kathryn McLay knows what that takes.

As former President and CEO of Walmart International and Sam's Club, McLay led one of the world's largest and most complex organizations through a defining period of change. Responsible for operations across 18 countries, more than 500,000 associates, and millions of customers each week, she helped align global teams behind a shared strategy while navigating disruption, accelerating growth, and driving execution at extraordinary scale.

On stage, McLay makes transformation tangible. Rather than offering theories, she shares the leadership principles she relied on to align hundreds of thousands of people around a common goal, execute through uncertainty, and sustain performance at extraordinary scale. Audiences leave better equipped to lead change inside their own organizations—whether they're responsible for fifty people or fifty thousand.

Suzy Welch brings a rare combination of rigorous business expertise and deeply human insight — as an award-winning professor at NYU Stern School of Business, acclaimed management researcher, and New York Times bestselling author (most recently with Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career, which debuted as a #1 bestseller on Amazon). A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, she’s a frequent guest on the Today Show, an op-ed contributor to The Wall Street Journal, and now leads the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing. Her groundbreaking “Becoming You” methodology — and related tools such as The Values Bridge and PIE360  — gives audiences an actionable framework for aligning purpose and performance, helping individuals and teams stop asking “What should I do?” and start living the life they want at home and work.

Alex Spiro is the lawyer people call when the stakes are sky-high and the spotlight is unforgiving. A former Manhattan prosecutor and former coordinator of an autism children’s program Harvard’s psychiatric hospital, he brings behavioral insight to every decision, tactic, and read of the room. He has represented Jay-Z in cases that tested the limits of brand protection, defended Alec Baldwin in the “Rust” matter, and navigated legal firestorms for clients who make headlines by simply walking into a room. Spiro teaches at Harvard Law School, is Chairman of Glassbridge Enterprises, and advises companies operating at the frontier of innovation and risk.

As a speaker, Spiro uncovers what really happens when pressure closes in. Drawing on trials that dominated the news cycle and boardrooms that demand absolute precision, he shows how risk is read, narratives are shaped, and decisions made at the edge hold steady. Audiences leave with a sharper sense of how to read people, manage conflict, and perform when the margin for error is nearly zero.

Cynthia Rowley built a global consumer brand by trusting instinct where others waited for proof. She started as a painter at the Art Institute of Chicago, landed in New York with barely enough money to stay afloat, and turned a creative point of view into a company with real cultural and commercial weight that continues to evolve.

Her label broke through traditional categories, introducing surf-leisure before the market had language for it and moving early into e-commerce to build direct relationships with customers. From cereal boxes to Band-Aids for Johnson & Johnson and Barbies for Mattel, Rowley consistently pushes beyond narrow ideas of what her brand is “allowed” to be. Along the way, Rowley became a bestselling author of the Swell books, dressed celebrities like Julianne Moore, Kim Kardashian, Alan Cumming, and became a familiar face on television, including guest judging on Project Runway and appearances on late-night talk shows.

As a speaker, Rowley explores what it really takes to build and sustain a business without a roadmap. She speaks about judgment under pressure, embracing fear, and pushing boundaries when playing it safe can stall progress. Audiences gain access to the thinking behind a brand that learned how to move early and keep its edge.

DeMaurice Smith spent fifteen years negotiating against the most powerful owners in sports and walked away having delivered more than $100 billion to players.

As Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, he took on what ESPN called the toughest job in sports and turned it into a platform for leverage. Smith led high-stakes labor battles, navigated public crises from "Deflategate" to player protests, and built a business engine that reshaped how athletes generate value beyond the field.

In his recent book, Turf Wars: The Fight for America’s Game, Smith pulls back the curtain on those moments, offering a clear look at how power, money, and influence actually operate behind closed doors. The same dynamics shaping the NFL are playing out across business and leadership today, which makes his perspective feel less like sports commentary and more like a real-time playbook.

On stage, Smith breaks down how power actually works. He shows how to negotiate when the other side has more resources, how to manage risk when every decision is public, and how to build systems that hold under pressure. His perspective is grounded in experience where the consequences were immediate and the stakes could not be higher.

Simu Liu built his career by walking away from the future that had been mapped out for him. The son of Chinese immigrants, he left a conventional career in business at 23 to pursue acting, eventually becoming the face of a history-making Marvel franchise and one of the most recognizable Asian stars in the world.

But Liu has never treated success in Hollywood as the finish line. From Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the cultural phenomenon Barbie to Broadway and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, he has continued to push into new territory. Off screen, he is building just as deliberately. As a partner at Markham Valley Ventures, Liu backs AAPI leaders across business and culture, and as Chief Content Officer of MìLà, he is helping grow a modern Chinese food brand with cultural identity at its core.

His New York Times bestselling memoir, We Were Dreamers, tells the story underneath that trajectory: immigrant expectations, a failed accounting career, and the decision to pursue a life that looked nothing like the one he was expected to lead.

Funny, candid, and relentlessly ambitious, Liu brings audiences inside what it takes to forge your own path, expand the possibilities of representation, and keep building long after the breakthrough.

Trajan Langdon is President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons and a decisive leader who changes outcomes fast. In his first year in the role, he engineered one of the NBA’s most dramatic turnarounds, transforming a 14-win team into a 44–38 playoff contender and earning top-three recognition for NBA Executive of the Year. The impact was immediate and unmistakable.

Drawing on his experience as a Duke standout shaped by championship standards, Langdon moved quickly to reset the organization. The result was a franchise with clearer direction, stronger belief, and a culture built to win.

As a speaker, Langdon takes audiences inside what real transformation looks like when the clock is ticking and scrutiny is high. He speaks candidly about making consequential decisions early, rebuilding trust, and creating environments where people perform at their best. Leaders bring him in when they want a grounded, modern perspective on how winning cultures are actually built and sustained.

The AI race won't be won by the companies building the models. It will be won by the companies that know how to put them to work. Few leaders understand that better than Bill McDermott.

As Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, Bill leads one of the Fortune 500's fastest-growing technology companies and is helping define how the world's largest organizations put AI to work. Under his leadership, ServiceNow has become a leader in enterprise AI, connecting people, data, and workflows to drive transformation at scale. Previously, as CEO of SAP, he led one of the most successful chapters in the company's history, cementing his reputation as one of the technology industry's most admired executives.

On stage, Bill offers a CEO's perspective on the biggest technology shift of our time. Drawing on decades leading global software companies, he shares how organizations can harness AI to accelerate growth, lead through disruption, and build businesses prepared for what's next.

Michael Bosstick is the Founder and CEO of Dear Media, the largest podcast network for women, leveraging its shows as springboards for talent to build broader brand ecosystems across commerce, live events, national tours and publishing. Dear Media pioneered the 360 model in the audio space, from audio and video production to distribution, monetization, live events and consumer brand extensions. It hosts 100 top-rated entertainment and pop culture shows led by talent like Khloé Kardashian, Amanda Hirsch and Jordin Sparks. 

Glenn Youngkin served as the 74th Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2020, Governor Youngkin took a bold step and left his role as Co-CEO of one of the largest investments firms in the world, The Carlyle Group, to win the 2021 historic race in Virginia and ignite the Great Virginia Renaissance during his term-limited four years as Governor. Business investment soared to $157 billion - more than the previous six governors combined. His pro-growth policies spurred record job growth with over 270,000 more Virginians working. With over 200,000 open and available jobs and 85,000 more jobs on the way, he drove unprecedented business investment in the Commonwealth.

As America's Education Governor, Youngkin delivered record education investment, lead in recovering learning loss after the pandemic, set a national standard for bell-to-bell cellphone-free education, expanded choice, and put parents at the head of the table. Governor Youngkin’s Back-the-Blue pro law enforcement policies led to a 30% reduction in the murder rate and a nationally leading 60% reduction in fentanyl overdoses. Governor Youngkin brought a business mindset to government - reducing wait times at the DMV from 35 minutes to 6 minutes, transforming the behavioral health system and delivering $10 billion in budget surpluses. Governor Youngkin's commonsense conservative leadership delivered on his frequent refrain that "results matter."

Today, Governor Youngkin serves as Chairman of venture firm, Red Cell Partners, in addition to providing board and advisory services to several companies and non-profits.

Allison Ellsworth is the visionary behind poppi, the modern soda brand that reinvented an entire category and reshaped how the next generation thinks about better-for-you beverages. She went from experimenting in her kitchen to creating one of the fastest-growing drinks in the country, turning a farmers-market side project into a cultural staple with a Shark Tank deal and a landmark sale to PepsiCo. Ellsworth built poppi’s unmistakable presence online and in pop culture, cultivating a massive community, billions of views, and celebrity fans who turned the brand into a phenomenon. Her work has earned recognition from TIME, Inc., Modern Retail, and the broader consumer world as a blueprint for how modern brands break through.

As a speaker, Ellsworth talks about trusting ideas before they make sense on paper and navigating the pressure of the public eye. Her story shows people how to stay grounded, take smart risks, and keep pushing forward even when the path is unpredictable.

Artificial intelligence is moving faster than most organizations realize, and Matt Shumer is one of the people closest to the shift.

As the former CEO of OthersideAI, the company behind the widely used AI writing assistant HyperWrite, Shumer buillt the kinds of tools that are quietly reshaping how millions of professionals write, code, and work.

His perspective broke into the mainstream with his viral essay, Something Big Is Happening published in Fortune, where he argued that the current AI moment resembles February 2020, when early warnings about COVID were still easy to dismiss. Shumer’s message was blunt: the transformation is already underway, and most people have not caught up yet.

On stage, Shumer brings audiences inside the front lines of AI development. Rather than relying on abstract predictions, he draws on what he and other builders are already seeing in their work, helping leaders understand what matters now as AI begins to reshape industries and how knowledge work gets done.

Anna Wintour is one of the most influential leaders in modern media. For more than thirty years, she has led Vogue and Condé Nast, demonstrating an uncommon ability to read the cultural and commercial moment. As a speaker, Ms. Wintour talks from the vantage point of someone who has spent decades making consequential decisions and steadying institutions through disruption.

Her name signals authority and discernment. That judgment extended beyond publishing, transforming the Met Gala into a global philanthropic engine and raising more than $400 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work also spans public health and philanthropy, including long-standing advocacy in the fight against HIV and AIDS, recognized by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and her role as Co-Founder of the Center for Youth Mental Health.

Wintour’s influence has been recognized at the highest levels internationally. She has received a damehood from Queen Elizabeth II, been appointed a Companion of Honour by King Charles III, awarded France’s Légion d’Honneur by President Nicolas Sarkozy, and honored with the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Audiences hear from a voice whose experience is singular and whose influence has defined how modern media operates at scale.

Dexter Fowler is a World Series champion and MLB All-Star whose leadership helped propel the Chicago Cubs to their historic 2016 title. Known throughout his 14-year career as a dynamic switch-hitter and clubhouse catalyst, Fowler has since redefined himself as a broadcaster, entrepreneur, and investor. He’s a studio analyst for MLB on FOX, TBS, and MLB Network, co-founder of 400 Ventures, and part of the ownership group of Premier League club AFC Bournemouth.

Now one of sports’ most engaging new voices, Fowler brings the same energy and insight to audiences that he once brought to the field. He shares lessons on resilience, teamwork, and building a winning culture, weaving in his own story of reinvention: earning a college degree after retirement, competing in high-profile golf tournaments, and embracing life as a proud dance dad. Blending the wisdom of a champion with the perspective of someone navigating family, business, and life after the game, Fowler leaves audiences with lessons that resonate far beyond sports.