Everything an organiser needs.

Prof. Vikas Shah MBE DL is a multi-exited entrepreneur, investor, non-executive director and thought leader. He chairs the Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee of the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, is the founder of Thought Economics and author of the book of the same name, and speaks internationally on entrepreneurship, leadership, governance and the ideas shaping the next economy.

Prof. Vikas Shah MBE DL is a multi-exited entrepreneur, investor, non-executive director and thought leader. A founder-CEO for twenty-five years, he built and sold businesses to trade, private equity and listed groups and has personally led more than twenty-five M&A transactions. He is a Non-Executive Board Member of the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, where he chairs the Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee, and a Non-Executive Director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Institute of Directors. Since 2007 he has interviewed more than 600 of the world's most influential people for Thought Economics, including twenty Nobel laureates; his book of the same name was published by Michael O'Mara Books. He was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in 2018, is a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, and holds honorary professorships at the Alliance Manchester Business School and the University of Salford. His TEDx talk, How to Save Your Own Life, has been viewed more than 110,000 times.

A longer biography, timeline and press coverage are on the About page.

Our next speaker built his first business at fourteen, and went on to spend twenty-five years as a founder and chief executive, selling businesses to trade buyers, private equity and listed groups along the way. He now chairs the audit and risk committee of one of the UK's largest government departments, sits on the boards of regulators and scale-ups, and has interviewed more than six hundred of the world's most influential people, from Nobel laureates to heads of state, for his journal Thought Economics. He was awarded an MBE for services to business, and his TEDx talk on mental health has been watched more than a hundred thousand times. Please welcome Professor Vikas Shah.

Topics

• 01

  Building, scaling and exiting

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; or fireside, 45 minutes.

• 02

  Leadership under pressure

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; or workshop, 90 minutes.

• 03

  Governance, risk and the boardroom

  Keynote, 30 minutes; board briefing, 60 to 90 minutes.

• 04

  AI, deep tech and the future of work

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; panel or fireside.

• 05

  The economics of ideas

  Keynote, 30 to 60 minutes; ideal as a closing session.

• 06

  Mental health and how to save your own life

  Keynote, 20 to 40 minutes; or in-conversation.

Audiences and takeaways for each topic are on the Speaking page.