In 2026, businesses face unprecedented change driven by digital disruption and evolving workforce expectations, making high-impact learning and development (L&D) essential to organisational success. In 2025, 68% of employees said that training and development was their employer’s most important policy, highlighting how critical L&D is for engagement and retention.
Whether you’re looking to build resilience, develop leadership, integrate emerging technologies, or cultivate an inclusive workplace culture, the London Keynote Speakers Agency has put together the quintessential list of speakers who can transform your business strategy into incredible performance.
What is Learning and Development?
Learning and development (L&D) is the ongoing process of building the skills, knowledge, behaviours and mindsets people need to perform effectively and grow within an organisation. It goes beyond one-off training, focusing on continuous learning that supports both individual progression and business goals. Hiring a learning and development expert speaker allows businesses to accelerate this process by bringing external insight, proven frameworks and real-world expertise into the organisation. L&D speakers help align people with strategy, embed practical skills and inspire behavioural change, strengthening leadership capability, engagement, resilience and long-term performance across the workforce.
The Best Learning and Development Categories for 2026:
- Performance and Mindset
- Resilience and Mental Strength
- Leadership and Business
- Psychology and Inclusion
- Technology and Future of Work
Performance and Mindset
Jez Rose
Jez Rose is hired as a learning and development expert for his outstanding ability to unlock performance and mindset at both an individual and organisational level. Drawing on behavioural science, leadership psychology and over two decades of experience working with global brands, he helps teams reframe how they think, act and perform under pressure. As the founder of the global What if? movement and author of bestselling books including ‘Flip the Switch’ and ‘Leading Change’, Jez equips organisations with practical, memorable tools that drive lasting behavioural change, high performance and sustained engagement.
Derek Redmond
Derek Redmond has the powerful ability to translate elite sporting performance into practical lessons on mindset, resilience and sustained excellence at work. Drawing on his world-class athletics career and subsequent leadership roles in performance management, Derek helps organisations understand how mindset directly influences behaviour, motivation and results. His lived experience of overcoming adversity, combined with his work as a high-performance coach and former Group Performance Director of Thomas International, enables him to equip teams with actionable strategies to perform under pressure, adapt to challenge and build high-performing, resilient cultures.
Ben Hunt-Davis
Ben Hunt-Davis‘ Olympic-level performance is transformed into practical mindset and performance strategies for organisations. Drawing on his experience as an Olympic gold medallist and performance coach, Ben helps teams focus on the helping behaviours that genuinely drive results. As co-author of ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?’ and co-founder of the performance consultancy of the same name, his work has shaped how businesses define goals, build accountability and sustain high performance. His evidence-based approach makes elite performance achievable in everyday working environments.
Jamil Qureshi
Jamil Qureshi is hired as a learning and development expert for his unrivalled expertise in performance psychology and his proven ability to help individuals and teams reach the very top of their field. Drawing on his experience as the first-ever official psychologist of the European Ryder Cup team and his work with multiple world number one athletes, Jamil shows organisations how mindset, focus and behavioural discipline directly impact results. His evidence-based approach equips leaders and teams with practical tools to reduce procrastination, increase productivity and sustain elite performance in high-pressure environments.
Matthew Syed
Matthew Syed connects mindset with sustained high performance across teams and organisations. Drawing on his experience as an elite athlete and trusted adviser to global organisations, he helps leaders embed cultures of continuous improvement, learning and adaptability. Through his bestselling books, including ‘Black Box Thinking’, ‘Rebel Ideas’ and ‘Bounce’, Matthew demonstrates how growth mindsets, cognitive diversity and intelligent failure drive better decision-making and performance. His evidence-led approach equips organisations with practical frameworks to unlock potential and future-proof performance.
Resilience and Mental Strength
Harriet Beveridge
Harriet Beveridge translates resilience and mental strength into practical, engaging tools that drive real behavioural change. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and performance science, she helps individuals and teams build the mental habits needed to thrive under pressure, adapt to change and sustain high performance. As co-author of ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?’, Harriet has helped shape one of the UK’s most influential frameworks for personal and organisational improvement, reinforcing her credibility as an expert who blends evidence-based insight with memorable, motivating delivery that delivers lasting impact.
Backley Black
Backley Black are experts in resilience and mental strength, using their unique ability to translate Olympic-level adversity into practical, sustainable performance habits. Drawing on the lived experiences of Roger Black MBE and Steve Backley OBE, the duo helps organisations understand how resilience is built through mindset, behaviour and consistent values under pressure. Their work shows how elite athletes respond to setbacks, maintain focus and recover from disappointment, equipping teams with practical tools to stay mentally strong, motivated and adaptable. Their interactive approach embeds resilience as a daily performance discipline rather than a one-off intervention.
Bonita Norris
Bonita Norris is hired as a learning and development expert in resilience and mental strength for her extraordinary ability to show how mindset sustains performance in the most extreme conditions imaginable. Drawing on her experiences summiting the world’s highest and most dangerous mountains, Bonita helps organisations understand how self-belief, preparation and adaptability enable people to push through fear, uncertainty and pressure. By translating lessons from life in the death zone into practical workplace strategies, she equips teams with tools to remain focused, resilient and motivated when facing their own high-stakes challenges.
Pete Cohen
Pete Cohen helps individuals and organisations move from survival to sustained performance. Drawing on more than three decades of experience in behavioural change, Pete equips teams with practical tools to manage stress, overcome burnout and build lasting mental resilience. Through his Survival-to-Thriving Framework and deeply personal storytelling, he translates psychological insight into everyday habits that support wellbeing, focus and emotional strength. His approach enables people to respond to pressure with intention, adaptability and renewed confidence rather than exhaustion or disengagement.
Dr Andy Cope
Dr Andy Cope uses an evidence-based approach to wellbeing and positive psychology. Known as the “Doctor of Happiness”, Andy helps organisations understand how mental resilience, engagement and optimism can be deliberately developed rather than left to chance. Drawing on his PhD in Positive Psychology and his work through Art of Brilliance Ltd, he equips teams with practical tools to improve energy, motivation and emotional resilience. His engaging, accessible style ensures that complex psychological insight is translated into everyday behaviours that support sustained wellbeing and performance.
Ollie Ollerton
Ollie Ollerton possesses the rare ability to translate extreme military experience into practical lessons for everyday life and work. Drawing on his career in the Special Forces, alongside his personal journey through addiction, depression and recovery, Ollie shows how mental robustness is built under sustained pressure. His work through BreakPoint combines mindfulness, mindset training and teamwork to help organisations develop calm decision-making, emotional control and collective resilience. Ollie equips teams with tools to face adversity, manage stress and perform when it matters most.
Leadership and Business
Steven Bartlett
Steven Bartlett is a highly sought-after learning and development speaker, known for delivering powerful insights into business growth, leadership and modern workplace culture. As a founder, investor and host of The Diary of a CEO, Steven brings real-world insight into scaling businesses, leading with authenticity and navigating uncertainty. His talks focus on self-awareness, decision-making, culture and resilience, helping leaders understand the mindset required to build high-performing teams. Combining commercial credibility with honesty and vulnerability, Steven equips organisations with relevant leadership principles that resonate across generations and drive sustainable business growth.
Katy Leeson
Katy Leeson‘s proven ability to scale organisations while building high-performing, human-centred cultures underscores her as an incredible L&D mentor. Drawing on her experience as Managing Director of Social Chain, where she helped grow the business from a start-up into a global marketing leader, Katy equips leaders with practical strategies for growth, decision-making and modern management. Her straight-talking, peer-to-peer approach blends commercial insight with emotional intelligence, enabling organisations to develop confident leaders, navigate change and create purposeful, inclusive workplaces that perform at scale.
Richard Mullender
Richard Mullender is hired as a learning and development expert in leadership and business for his unparalleled ability to teach calm, effective decision-making under extreme pressure. Drawing on his experience as Lead Trainer for Scotland Yard’s National Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit, Richard shows leaders how listening, empathy and clarity drive better outcomes in high-stakes environments. By translating lessons from life-or-death negotiations into practical workplace strategies, he equips organisations with tools to improve leadership communication, build trust, manage conflict and make sound decisions when the pressure is on.
Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek holds the unrivalled ability to help organisations lead with clarity, purpose and trust. As the visionary behind the concept of ‘Why’, Simon shows leaders how purpose-driven thinking fuels motivation, engagement and long-term performance. Drawing on his globally influential work, including Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, he equips organisations with future-proofed leadership frameworks that strengthen culture, inspire loyalty and enable teams to perform at their best in times of change and uncertainty.
Bianca Miller-Cole
Bianca Miller-Cole is hired as a learning and development expert in leadership and business for her ability to unlock workforce potential and develop confident, future-ready leaders. Drawing on her entrepreneurial journey and the success of The Be Group, Bianca equips organisations with practical strategies around intrapreneurship, personal branding and high-impact leadership. Her experience working with leading global organisations enables her to translate business insight into actionable development frameworks, empowering individuals at every career stage to take ownership, think commercially and perform with confidence in fast-paced, competitive environments.
Dr Jo Salter OBE
Jo Salter uses her profound ability to unite frontline military decision-making with modern organisational leadership. Drawing on her experience as Britain’s first female fast jet pilot and her senior leadership roles at PwC, Jo shows how leaders can perform calmly under pressure, navigate risk and lead through complexity. Her work spans transformation, resilience, innovation and GenAI, equipping organisations with practical frameworks to lead change at scale. Jo’s grounded, human approach helps leaders build confidence, clarity and trust in fast-moving, high-stakes environments.
Psychology and Inclusion
Dr Julia Shaw
Dr Julia Shaw helps organisations understand human behaviour, bias and the complexities of memory in shaping workplace culture. Drawing on her pioneering research in cognitive and criminal psychology, Julia equips leaders with evidence-based insight into how perceptions, assumptions and social dynamics influence inclusion, decision-making and accountability. Through her work on harassment, discrimination and identity, including founding Spot, she helps organisations build safer, more inclusive environments rooted in empathy, fairness and psychological understanding.
Belinda Parmar
Belinda Parmar is an expert in psychology and inclusion for her pioneering, science-based approach to building empathetic and inclusive workplace cultures. As the founding CEO of The Empathy Business, Belinda helps organisations embed empathy into leadership, decision-making and everyday processes to improve wellbeing, engagement and performance. Drawing on behavioural science, nudge theory and her work creating the Global Empathy Index, she equips leaders with practical tools to create healthier, more inclusive environments where people feel valued, understood and able to thrive.
John Amaechi
John Amaechi uses his evidence-based approach to building ethical, high-performing and inclusive organisations. As the Founder of APS Intelligence, John helps leaders understand how behaviour, systems and culture shape performance, accountability and belonging. Drawing on his work across global boards, public institutions and academia, he equips organisations with practical frameworks for inclusive leadership, decision-making and organisational design. His insight enables leaders to create environments where people feel safe to contribute, challenge and perform at their best.
Steve Peters
Steve Peters helps individuals and organisations understand, manage and optimise the human mind. Drawing on decades of clinical psychiatry and behavioural science, Steve equips teams with practical tools to regulate emotion, reduce stress and improve decision-making under pressure. Through his Chimp Management model, he helps leaders create psychologically safe environments where people can think clearly, perform consistently and thrive. His evidence-based approach enables organisations to support mental well-being while unlocking sustainable high performance across diverse teams.
Technology and Future of Work
Sarah Armstrong-Smith
Sarah Armstrong-Smith is hired as a learning and development expert in technology and the future of work for her deep expertise in cyber security, resilience and digital risk leadership. Drawing on senior roles including Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft EMEA and leadership positions at the London Stock Exchange Group and Fujitsu, Sarah helps organisations understand how technology, people and process intersect in a digitally dependent world. She equips leaders with practical frameworks for cyber resilience, crisis management and secure transformation, enabling organisations to adapt confidently, protect their people and thrive amid constant technological change.
Mary Aiken
Mary Aiken is known for her world-leading insight into how digital environments shape human behaviour. As a pioneer of cyberpsychology, Mary helps organisations understand the human factors behind cyber risk, trust, safety and online harm. Drawing on her advisory work with governments, law enforcement and global institutions, she equips leaders with evidence-based frameworks to design safer systems, strengthen cyber resilience and navigate the psychological challenges of an increasingly technology-driven workplace.
Cassie Kozrykov
Cassie Kozyrkov is revered for her unmatched ability to help leaders make better decisions in an AI-driven world. As the founder of Decision Intelligence and Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist, Cassie equips organisations with practical frameworks to adopt AI responsibly, confidently and at scale. Blending machine learning with behavioural science, she helps leaders cut through hype, reduce risk and embed data-driven thinking into everyday decisions, enabling organisations to future-proof strategy, culture and performance in an era of rapid technological change.
Penny Power
Penny Power‘s pioneering insight into how digital connection shapes modern business culture highlights her skill as an incredible learning and development leader. As the founder of one of the world’s first online business communities, Penny helps organisations understand how technology can be used to build trust, belonging and meaningful collaboration at scale. Drawing on decades of experience in digital innovation and community building, she equips leaders with practical strategies to humanise technology, strengthen workplace connection and support wellbeing in an increasingly digital, networked world.
Book an official learning and development expert speaker today for your 2026 event!
If you are interested in hiring an expert learning and development speaker for your business, contact the London Keynote Speakers Agency today! Give our booking agents a call on 0203 9580 428 or complete our online contact form.
