Finding Top Tech Speakers
Our roster is now at the size where we can start to curate lists of speakers to better meet our clients’ needs. We’ve got great speakers across a range of areas: leadership, entrepreneurship, communications. But perhaps our biggest roster right now is in tech. So we’ve created a list of our top tech speakers here.
What do you want from a tech keynote?
Of course ‘tech’ is a broad term and covers all sorts of domains and possibilities. And I’ll break our speakers down into some smaller groups below. But I do think there is a general trait that you want in a speaker on technology.
Bridges: Translating Tech for a Broader Audience
For me, the best speakers in tech are people who can act as bridges. People who span the gap between those doing the most fascinating research and innovation, and the rest of the world. This is what you need for audiences who maybe don’t have the deep knowledge to understand what’s happening, or to apply new technologies and ideas, without someone to translate on their behalf.
Martin SFP Bryant is a great example of this. His background as a journalist gives him all the skills to interrogate new technologies and translate their features into meaningful value for any audience. It also makes Martin a fantastic host for tech events, able to maintain a flow of conversation between panellists or multiple speakers.
Futurists: Seeing Incoming Tech
Martin’s relationships with some of the hottest start-ups also give him some great insight into what’s coming down the pipeline. And some of our other speakers make this their goal.
Paul Armstrong is another of our speakers with huge journalistic output, keeping a watchful eye on the major players in tech and using that analysis to get a headstart on what’s coming. Paul is a hugely accomplished speaker with a global audience who really makes an impact.
Ant Morse is another of our incredible futurists, but coming from a very different background: the application of technology. Ant spent many years leading innovation for one of the world’s foremost telecommunications companies, putting him right at the heart of hundreds of innovation projects with the world’s largest businesses. Ant knows how to see what’s coming and turn it into value.
From Foresight to Value
The ability to translate technology from idea to application is also an incredibly powerful attribute in a speaker on tech. Two of our speakers tackle this in very different fashion.
Vimla Appadoo is a design thinkers, someone who has operated in a huge range of environments to realise the possibilities of new technologies and do so in a way that is equitable. Drawing on the value of diverse teams to ensure the final product meets the audience’s needs. Vimla is a hugely affecting speaker who talks with honesty and passion about the design process when implementing new technologies, and the risks to that process from poor corporate culture.
Dan Sodergren is a futurist who puts his money where is mouth is. Dan is a serial experimenter, someone who learns through applying new technologies and shares the lessons he learns with his audiences. His rapid adoption of the latest AI technologies is a great example. Always at the forefront of the latest releases, Dan uses his understanding of what’s possible to inform clients about how they can leverage value - and how these technologies will transform the future of work.
A Critical Eye
Of course you always want multiple perspectives on tech, and it’s always worthwhile having someone knowledgeable to check the persistent positivity from the tech industry itself. An insider who knows how to ask the important questions.
Theo Priestley is a former CTO of a major global tech corporation who uses the tools of futurism to understand the real path of new releases and incoming innovations. Learning lessons from the past, he helps audiences to get a balanced view of the latest tech, something that is often hard to find. That he does so in an always-witty and entertaining fashion makes Theo a hugely valued part of any line-up, and someone always appreciated by the audience.
Sarah Clarke is right at the bleeding edge of the most challenging question in tech today: the ethical considerations of AI. Present on the committees determining the global response to this new tech challenge, Sarah is able to present ‘war stories’ from the front line of privacy, information security and the dilemmas presented by new technology.
Alexander Bell takes this challenge right to the other end of the spectrum: what can consumers of technology do to protect themselves, their teams, and their families from tech’s worst effects? With his Tech Rules®, Alexander helps audiences to restore lost focus, boost productivity, and live a healthier lifestyle with technology.
Explaining The Business of Tech
The final group of tech speakers in our roster is perhaps the most important: those who understand the application of technology in business.
Naomi Timperley is consistently ranked as one of the most influential women in UK tech. An advisor, mentor, and consultant, she has worked with countless companies to help them to translate their technologies into successful businesses. An ideal speaker for start-up and corporate audiences alike, Naomi has a unique perspective on the route to realising success from novel ideas.
As CEO of Tech Returners, Beckie Taylor has huge insight into the human challenges of running and growing a tech business, and into the needs of those working inside them. Particularly those later in their careers, returning to tech after a break. Beckie is hugely insightful on the continuing problems for the female workforce in tech, and how new technologies like AI risk amplifying rather than ameliorating these issues.
Finally, the newest speaker added to the Pomona Partners roster is someone who has very successfully applied tech, recently exiting his digital business with a sale to one of the world’s leading hip hop record labels. Amman Ahmed is the breakout entrepreneur who took his Manchester-based Music For Pets all the way to LA, and is now sharing his story - including all the mistakes he made along the way - with audiences of entrepreneurs, investors, and media professionals.
Need a Tech Speaker? Call Pomona Partners
Our favourite briefs come when someone calls and doesn’t know what they need to make their event fly. We love to curate speakers on your behalf. If you’re looking for a speaker in tech, whether it’s for a keynote, an after dinner event, or a fireside chat - or for that matter, for a media-facing campaign - give us a call. We’ll be happy to spend the time helping you to find the right expert for your audience.