Keynote SpeakersAda Parris (pronounced Ad-der)is a strategic futurist and pattern navigation expert.
She helps leaders navigate AI transformation and create sustainable competitive advantage.
Forbes Brazil named her “one of the most important futurists.” She transforms complexity into immediate strategic clarity for C-suite executives and boards implementing AI strategy and managing digital transformation.
Her pioneering work in pattern navigation and strategic foresight enables organisations to spot emerging opportunities and create actionable transformation strategies.
Her unique methodology combines advanced pattern recognition with strategic presence, delivering immediate results for global organisations navigating AI implementation, market volatility, and systemic change.
Adah is dedicated to inspiring individuals and organisations to embrace new ways of thinking and doing.
She challenges individuals and organisations to think differently by asking, “What type of ancestor do you want to be?”
Ada has a unique blend of expertise in multiple fields, including living systems, technologies (digital and ecological) and systems design.
Her perspective on innovation, transformation, and technology is empathetic and subversive. She challenges the status quo and helps people recognise and bridge the gap between their external stories and internal behaviours.
Ada Parris is the Chair of Mental Health First Aid England and the advisory group for the Centre for Cultural Value. She has also been recognised as a TED Talks Global Emerging Innovator.
Her work explores the anatomy of transformation and innovation.
Why Book Ada as a Speaker:
Your technical experts have the AI strategy. Your cyber team has the risk framework. Your consultants have the transformation roadmap.
Ada is who you bring in when all of that is in place, and your people still aren’t moving together.
As Chair of one of the UK’s largest social enterprises, she understands governance, accountability, and measurable impact.
As a Forbes-recognised futurist, she sees the patterns others miss. Her talks don’t inspire and leave; they create shared language that teams use long after she’s gone.
Audiences describe her sessions as moments that “stay with them”, not because they were motivational, but because they were precise.
What Ada Addresses:
- Leaders who have the strategy but can’t get their people to cohere around it.
- Organisations navigating AI adoption where the human layer is the bottleneck.
- Boards asking long-term questions about legacy, ethics, and generational impact.
- Executive teams where mental health and resilience are now strategic priorities.
- Leadership cultures that need to shift from control to coherence
“What type of ancestor do you want to be?”
Her cutting-edge philosophy, Cyborg Shamanism™, merges ancient wisdom, living systems, traditional ecological knowledge and practices, and digital technologies. Through her consulting and her ancestors retreats, she provides individuals with the tools and practices to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Ada Parris has over 20 years of experience in transforming cultures to nurture decentralised innovation environments. She has worked with some of the world’s leading organisations and institutions, including Natwest Bank, Google, Unilever, Sainsbury’s, Ogilvy Labs, The British Council, The EU Council, The Tate Modern, the British Film Institute (BFI), ArabNet Dubai, Innovate Finance, Wayra UK, The University of The Underground, and Shambala Festival to name a few.
Her work with individuals and organisations helps them to expand their perspectives, develop a deeper understanding, and take action towards a more sustainable future.
“One of the most important futurists in the world”
Forbes Brazil
Ada Parris – Futurist, Innovator and Sustainable Growth Speaker
Do you need a keynote speaker who inspires innovative solutions to global and business challenges? Ada Parris can transform your approach to change, leadership, and culture.
Traditional speakers deliver insights. Adah develops insight capacity. After writing Leadership Legacy (Wiley, 2025), 26 strategic questions emerged that help leaders navigate technological complexity independently, rather than following frameworks that become obsolete.
Keynote titles include:
CYBORG SHAMANISM™: LEADING ALONGSIDE AI
Everyone’s talking AI implementation. Ada asks: What kind of relationship are you in with your machines? Technology isn’t separate from nature; it’s one of her children. And like all children, it becomes what it’s raised to be.
POWER IN THE AGE OF PRESENCE
Uncertainty is now CEOs’ top concern. The old playbook, more data, tighter control, faster decisions, isn’t working.
FEELING THE FUTURE
46% of CEOs say measuring AI ROI is their top priority, but they’re using the wrong instrument. The future arrives first as sensation, not data.
COHERENCE, NOT COMPLIANCE
Mental health is now a top-three CEO priority globally. As Chair of Mental Health First Aid England, Ada brings operational credibility to what others treat as soft skills.
WHAT TYPE OF ANCESTOR DO YOU WANT TO BE?
This question stops executives mid-sentence. It reframes leadership as legacy, not reputation, but the conditions you’re creating for those who come after.
