Barbara Nicholls
Speaking Invitations

Talks,
panels, boardrooms.

Barbs speaks to boards, leadership teams and founder rooms about data, AI, systems and what it actually takes to make change stick. A handful of invitations each year, in person or online.

I · Themes
  • What boards should actually do about AI

    Past the headlines: what to fund, what to ignore, and the few questions a board needs to be asking this year.

  • Why systems break as you scale

    What goes wrong with data, tools and operating models between £5m and £50m, and the calls that keep things moving.

  • Founders: when to hire, what to buy

    For founder rooms. The early calls on team, tools and which technology bets are worth taking seriously.

II · The Invitation

Tell me
about the room.

Availability is held a few quarters out. The more you can share about the audience, format and what a good outcome looks like, the faster I can come back with a clear yes, no, or a sharper shape for the session.

About you
Availability

Pick a date between today and 2029.

Audience
The brief

Goes directly to the speaking desk. A personal reply follows within a few working days.

VI · What People Say

Words from the room.

A handful of notes from leaders, founders and chairs I've worked alongside.

Barbs walked into a programme that had been stuck for nine months and had us all reading off the same page inside a fortnight. The plan we left with was the one we actually ran.
Helena Marsh
COOFolio & Field
She tells you what she thinks. No fluff, no vendor agenda. Our board got a read on our data we could finally act on, and a short list of fixes we could start on Monday.
James Okafor
ChairNorthstone Group
Having Barbs in the room changed how we made the call. She knew the context from month two and saved us from at least one expensive mistake on the systems side.
Priya Shah
Founder & CEOLoomwork