2 November • Guildhall, London
Celebrating 25 Years of Thinkers50
At the heart of the Summit, a simple equation
For one extraordinary day, the Summit brings together the world’s foremost management thinkers and leaders to challenge assumptions, spark fresh ideas, and shape the future of leadership.
Insights from some of the world’s foremost management thinkers and business leaders, with practical applications built around the decisions you are actually facing. You’ll leave with fewer uncertainties and better answers.
Members of the Thinkers50 Ranking and Leaders50; recipients of Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards and broader Thinkers50 Community; bestselling authors, speakers, academics, and exceptional leaders. The audience is curated to just 700 seats, with tickets only via application.
The 2026 London Summit returns to the city’s iconic Guildhall for a special anniversary celebrating 25 years of Thinkers50, featuring an exciting new addition: the inaugural Leaders50 Awards Gala.
Financial Times
Member of the inaugural Leaders50; President/CEO, ONE Campaign; founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers.
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is President/CEO of the ONE Campaign. A leader in social innovation, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, she is the founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers, and co-founder of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd. and AACE Foods Processing & Distribution Ltd.
Formerly a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, Ndidi returned to Nigeria in 2000 as pioneer executive director of the FATE Foundation. She has over 25 years of international development experience and has been deeply involved in fostering impactful solutions in the global social innovation landscape, with a focus on Africa.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker and 2019 Leadership Award; author of Impact Players and Multipliers; lectures at Stanford University.
A Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker since 2013 and recipient of the 2019 Leadership Award, Liz Wiseman is CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and talent development firm, and lectures at Stanford University.
Liz is a prolific researcher into leadership. Her bestselling books include Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact (Harper Business 2021), and Multipliers; How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (Harper Business, 2017). A former executive at Oracle, where she served as VP of Oracle University, Liz teaches leadership to top organisations including tech giants, entertainment platforms, and global airlines.
Thinkers50 #1 Ranked Thinker; co-author of Net Positive with Andrew Winston; former CEO, Unilever.
Thinkers50 #1 Ranked Thinker and former CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman is a business leader, climate and equalities campaigner.
Paul is co-author (with Andrew Winston) of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take (HBR Press, 2021) – a Financial Times Business Book of the Year. As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), Paul demonstrated that business can profit through purpose, delivering shareholder returns of 290% while the company consistently ranked 1st in the world for sustainability. Today he works across a range of organisations to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which he helped develop.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker; New York Times Best Selling author of Hustle & Float; executive director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker and executive director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture, Rahaf Harfoush is a member of France’s National Digital Council. She formerly served on President Macron’s commission on the impact of AI and Democracy and was the associate director of the Technology Pioneer Program at the World Economic Forum.
Strategist and digital anthropologist, Rahaf is the author of Hustle & Float: Reclaim Your Creativity and Thrive in a World Obsessed with Work (Diversion Books, 2019) and Yes We Did: An Inside Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (New Riders Pub, 2009). She is also co-author of Gold Axiom Winner The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know Your Customers (Portfolio, 2014). Rahaf was recently named to the UN High Level Advisory for AI.
Senior advisor to the IKEA Foundation; former CEO/President of Ingka Group, IKEA.
Senior advisor to the IKEA Foundation, chair of The Earthshot Prize and The B Team, and vice chair of the UN Global Compact, Jesper Brodin is former CEO/President of Ingka Group, IKEA.
As CEO of Ingka Group, Jesper led two major transformations, driving its digital evolution and embedding sustainability at its core. A powerful voice for responsible business, he is passionate about contributing to people and planet-positive development and values-based leadership. Having joined IKEA in the mid-1990s, Jesper was appointed CEO in 2017, re-shaping the company into an omnichannel retailer with a conscience.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker; author of The Culture Map and No Rules Rules (with Reed Hastings); INSEAD professor.
A Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker and recipient of the 2021 Talent Award (with Reed Hastings) and the 2015 Radar Award, Erin Meyer is a professor of management practice at INSEAD.
Erin is the author of The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business (Public Affairs, 2014) and co-author with Reed Hastings of No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention (Penguin Press, 2020). She helps leaders navigate cultural differences, build more adaptable, innovative organisations, and collaborate effectively across borders.
SVP, CTO, and President, Honeywell Connected Enterprise.
As CTO of Honeywell, Suresh Venkatarayalu leads the core engines driving the company’s innovation agenda, overseeing its global technology strategy, connected solutions, and software business. As the president of Honeywell Connected Enterprise, he oversees the full software lifecycle. Suresh also leads Honeywell’s Software Transformation Initiative and spearheads ecosystem partnerships across AI platforms, cloud hyperscalers, and edge computing.
Thinkers50 #7 Ranked Thinker; co-author of Move Fast & Fix Things with Frances Frei; founder of The Leadership Consortium.
Thinkers50 #7 Ranked Thinker, Anne Morriss is founder of The Leadership Consortium, a first-of-its-kind leadership accelerator that works to build inclusive executive teams and prepare emerging leaders for leadership.
Together with her co-author, Frances Frei, Anne is author of Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems (HBR Press, 2023) – a Thinkers50 Best New
Management Book for 2024; Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone and You (HBR Press, 2020); and Uncommon Service (HBR Press, 2012). Anne and Frances are hosts of the Fixable podcast.
Senior VP and Chair for IBM Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific.
Senior VP and Chair for IBM Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific, Ana Paula Assis leads operations across more than 170 countries and is the brain behind IBM’s hybrid cloud.
An internationally recognised technology leader, Ana Paula champions initiatives focused on sustainable innovation, responsible AI, and large-scale skills development. As a committed advocate for diversity and inclusion, she promotes the impact of multicultural teams and equitable access to technology. Her leadership has also played a key role in strengthening ecosystem partnerships, scaling AI-driven offerings, and guiding clients through complex modernization efforts.
Member of the inaugural Leaders50; CEO, Visma.
A member of the inaugural Leaders50, Merete Hverven is CEO of Visma, one of Europe’s leading technology companies and among the world’s largest female-led tech firms.
At Visma, Merete champions a flat organisational culture, encouraging openness and transparency from leadership downwards, fostering a collaborative, inclusive environment. Under her leadership, Visma has achieved remarkable growth financially and as an employer, with employee engagement placing in the top 5% of the tech industry. Prior to her appointment as CEO in 2020, Merete was Deputy CEO and Chief HR Officer, a role she took on in 2011.
President & CEO, GE Appliances
President and CEO of GE Appliances, Kevin Nolan is a seasoned engineer with a career at GE and GE Appliances spanning 35 years, including 10 as Chief Technology Officer.
A passionate innovator, in 2014 he launched the open co-creation global community FirstBuild, based in Louisville, Kentucky and in 2023 he opened CoCreate in Stamford Connecticut, a manufacturing and design playground for the community. As CEO of GE since its acquisition by Haier in 2016, Kevin has led the company through a major transformation from traditional appliances manufacturer to an innovative, tech-driven, customer-focused business.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker, author of Proximity, Outthink the Competition, and Driving Innovation From Within; founder of Outthinker.
A Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker, Kaihan Krippendorff is the founder of global strategy and innovation think-tank Outthinker. A former McKinsey consultant and bestselling author, Kaihan’s books include Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-In-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life (with Robert C. Wolcott, 2024), Outthink the Competition: How Innovative Companies and Strategists See Options Others Ignore (2022), and Driving Innovation From Within: A Guide for Internal Entrepreneurs(2019). Kaihan is the host of the Outthinker podcast, the Chief Strategy Officer Podcast, and Strategy at Scale Podcast.
fast forward
The Thinkers50 London Summit returns to the city’s iconic Guildhall in November 2026 for a special 25th anniversary celebration featuring an exciting new addition: the inaugural Leaders50 Awards Gala.
For one extraordinary day, the Summit brings together the world’s foremost management thinkers and doers to challenge assumptions, spark fresh ideas, and shape the future of leadership.
Three questions run throughout the two days.
Purpose
How can leaders stay grounded in purpose when everything around them is shifting?
Technology
How can we harness the power of technology while keeping humanity at the centre?
Talent
Where will the next generation of talent come from and how can we nurture it?
Main Stage — 2 November
At a time of accelerating technological change and increasing fragmentation, leaders face a fundamental question: how do we make sense of a rapidly reshaping world — and act with clarity within it?
The Thinkers50 London Summit brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore three forces shaping the future of organisations: purpose, technology, and talent. Across a day of ideas, dialogue, and connection, the Summit creates space for leaders to challenge assumptions, exchange perspectives, and build new relationships.
Arrive, connect with fellow participants, and begin the day’s conversations over coffee or tea.
In a fragmented world, purpose provides direction and meaning, informing culture, shaping decisions, and fostering trust with employees, customers, and society. But only if the values it embodies go beyond simplistic platitudes. In our opening session, Jesper Brodin and Paul Polman discuss how companies like IKEA and Unilever use purpose to guide them through uncertainty and change; best-selling author Erin Meyer explores how real dilemmas challenge values to bring corporate culture to life; and CEO, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, explains how the ONE Campaign is operationalising purpose in Africa.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker; author of The Culture Map and No Rules Rules (with Reed Hastings); INSEAD professor.
Member of the inaugural Leaders50; President/CEO, ONE Campaign; founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers.
Senior advisor to the IKEA Foundation; former CEO/President of Ingka Group, IKEA.
Thinkers50 #1 Ranked Thinker; co-author of Net Positive with Andrew Winston; former CEO, Unilever.
An opportunity to continue the conversation and connect with fellow leaders and thinkers.
AI, platforms, and digital ecosystems are transforming how organisations operate. But how can leaders deploy new technologies at pace, whilst mitigating the risks, and rethinking the organisational architecture? In this session, we hear first-hand from Chief Technology Officer Suresh Venkatarayalu how AI has transformed Honeywell; and from digital anthropologist and best-selling author Rahaf Harfoush on the unexpected ways technology changes the human experience, with profound impacts on organisational life and working relationships.
SVP, CTO, and President, Honeywell Connected Enterprise.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker; New York Times Best Selling author of Hustle & Float; executive director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture.
A relaxed setting to deepen connections, exchange ideas, and continue the Summit conversations.
Purpose and technology matter. But it is talented people who fix problems and turn strategy into reality. In our final session, we look at the challenges facing the next generation of leaders as they strive to simultaneously optimise and operationalise human and machine learning. Joining Anne Morriss, best-selling author of Move Fast & Fix Things, leading CEOs discuss openly how they are rethinking their talent strategies to find new ways to unlock human potential in an era of intelligent machines; and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Liz Wiseman explains how organisations are unleashing the power of ‘multipliers’ and ‘impact players’ as never before.
Thinkers50 #7 Ranked Thinker; co-author of Move Fast & Fix Things with Frances Frei; founder of The Leadership Consortium.
Thinkers50 Ranked Thinker and 2019 Leadership Award; author of Impact Players and Multipliers; lectures at Stanford University.
Senior advisor to the IKEA Foundation; former CEO/President of Ingka Group, IKEA.
Thinkers50 #1 Ranked Thinker; co-author of Net Positive with Andrew Winston; former CEO, Unilever.
Continue the dialogue with speakers, leaders, and members of the Thinkers50 Community.
Thinkers50 Studio: Celebrating the Thinkers50 Best New Management Books for 2026
New to the Thinkers50 London Summit this year is an exciting new addition: the Thinkers50 Studio.
Featuring interviews and discussions with select authors, the Studio will come to life in the Livery Hall during breaks from the main program and will provide a more informal setting for debate, discussion, and learning.
There will also be opportunities to collect signed copies!
Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World
Our Best Work: Break Free from the 24 Invisible Norms That Limit Us
How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage
Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation
Hone: How Purposeful Leaders Defy Drift
Deep Dives — 3 November
Taking place Tuesday 3 November, our three deep Dive sessions will expand on conversations from the Main Stage the previous day. Each session will explore in greater depth one of the event’s core themes:
Purpose – Technology – Talent
Designed as a more intimate extension of the Summit experience, the three Deep Dive Sessions will bring together speakers, practitioners, partners, and attendees for facilitated discussions, collaborative conversations, and audience engagement in smaller group settings.
Hosted across London Tuesday afternoon, participation is complimentary for all Thinkers50 London Summit ticket holders (subject to capacity).
Attendees will be invited to indicate their preferred Deep Dive Session in advance, with further details shared closer to the event.
Deep Dive Purpose
Tuesday 3 November 2026
Hosted at London Business School
Deep Dive Talent
Tuesday 3 November 2026
Hosted at ESCP Business School London Campus
Deep Dive Technology
Tuesday 3 November 2026
Hosted at UCL London Campus
for Awards Gala ticket holders
The evening celebrates Leaders50, Thinkers50’s biennial recognition of outstanding leadership in practice.
Selected by the world’s leading management thinkers, the Leaders50 highlights 50 exceptional leaders whose ideas, decisions, and actions are shaping organisations and society.
At the London Gala, the new Leaders50 list will be revealed, alongside the presentation of the Leaders50 Awards, recognising individuals whose leadership stands out for its impact, innovation, and influence.
An opportunity to continue the celebration, connect with fellow guests, and close the evening in conversation.
Tickets are available only by application. Curating the audience is how we shape the quality of the conversation at Guildhall and in the breaks around it, and it’s why the person beside you is worth knowing.
To guarantee the intimacy and exclusivity Thinkers50 London Summit & Leaders50 Awards Gala attendees have come to expect in one of the most iconic venues in London, tickets are available only by application. Curating the audience in this way will help to shape the nature of the conversation and provide the best networking opportunities for participants.
£1,200.00 + VAT per person
Daytime London Summit access only. Excludes the evening Leaders50 Awards Gala.
£1,500.00 + VAT per person
Daytime London Summit access plus the evening Leaders50 Awards Gala.
Tickets may be cancelled within 30 days of application, up until 30 September 2026. All cancellations must be in writing to events@thinkers50.com. Tickets may be transferred upon request, providing the new name and contact details are emailed to Thinkers50 no later than 30 September. However, the person or organisation liable for payment of the ticket may not be changed. All tickets are strictly non-refundable and non-transferable within 30 days of the event.
Address: 71 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 7HH
Nearest tube: Bank, Moorgate, St Paul’s
Doors: arrive by 08:45
Dress: business casual, black tie for the Gala
Our Partners
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