Ken Hughes Profile Picture

Keynote SpeakerKen Hughes

Leading Consumer & Shopper Behaviourist & Renowned Customer Experience Strategist

Ken Hughes is now acknowledged as being one of the world’s leading authorities on modern consumer and B2B culture. He is internationally renowned for helping his largely blue-chip client base to understand the future of consumerism, markets, society and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. With 20 years’ experience... Read more

Biography

Ken Hughes is now acknowledged as being one of the world’s leading authorities on modern consumer and B2B culture. He is internationally renowned for helping his largely blue-chip client base to understand the future of consumerism, markets, society and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

With 20 years’ experience as CEO of a consumer insight agency, he blends his understanding of consumer & cyber psychology, digital anthropology, behavioural economics, and retail futurology to explore the needs of the new consumer and predict the changes to come.

Ken advises some of the biggest brands in the world on customer experience, omnichannel strategy, artificial intelligence, shopper marketing, retail trends, the millennial / Gen Z shopper and the peer-to-peer economy. As an accomplished author, TED speaker, part-time university lecturer and actor, his performances are insightful and thought-provoking. His presentations are infamous for their sheer energy, entertainment and passion, not to mention his generous Irish wit.

Drawing on his history as an actor, while his live stage performances are infamous, he is also now considered one of the world’s top virtual speakers, as engaging on screen as he is live in person.

As a behaviouralist and life strategist, he is also passionate about change, leadership, disruption, success, innovation, personal development and motivation. He brings this to life in his work with high performance athletes and executives all over the world.

Every year, Ken Hughes shares his thought-disrupting insight with tens of thousands of delegates globally. He is one of the most popular keynote speakers booked on the international conference and webinar circuit relating to the future of consumerism.

Regularly voted ‘Best Speaker’ at the events where he is invited to perform, he believes in engaging and delighting event attendees at every opportunity, live or virtually.

"Ken was one of the most inspiring speakers we have ever booked. His presentation was so engaging, insightful and entertaining. The feedback from our delegates has been outstanding, ‘the best ever’ was what I kept hearing. He is one of the superstars, no doubt, and I can see why he was recommended to us. We were not disappointed." Merette Habberstad, NHO REISELIV
"A heartfelt thank you to the truly inspiring and energising speaker, Ken Hughes. He captivated us with a genuinely delightful speech. There are not enough words to describe the impact this session had on our employees and how personal and engaging it was. Simply magnificent." Ana Butylkina, ING
"I’d consider Ken to be among the rockstars of professional speakers. His unique combination of great content, practical insight and engaging, energetic performance style was outstanding. As an organiser, it was an absolute pleasure to work with him and his team, as his professionalism ranks high among top speakers in our long list of UBA Trendsday conferences." Luc Suykens, UBA TRENDSDAY
"Ken is an energetic, thought-provoking speaker. I’ve had Ken speak at two Google events now and Ken has scored higher than any other speaker I’ve ever had before, lasting a longtime in the memories of the delegates." Google EMEA
"I could listen to this guy all day. As always an amazing insight into customers and the essence of CX relationships." Paypal
"As a B2B brand we needed to stay relevant and connected with our customers during this time. Ken was the first person we thought about approaching and the webinar series he delivered has had such strong feedback. Sessions sold out way beyond our expectations and delegates stayed engaged far longer than we had ever hoped. It was entertaining, informative, and had all the usual magic and sparkle that Ken delivers onstage." Microsoft
"Ken delivered a thought provoking and entertaining speech on the needs and desires of younger generations. The talk was highly appreciated by all our coaches and the post-event feedback we received has been outstanding." UEFA

Popular Talks by Ken Hughes

  • Love is a Verb: Embedding Customer Connection in a Digital World
    As we emerge from the pandemic, consumers and employees are looking to reconnect, as indeed is society as a whole. The values around vulnerability, honesty, transparency, trust, empathy and connection are all strong driving forces for brand relevance today, and ones we need to reflect to our customers and prospects....
  • The blue dot consumer: Understanding the Modern New Consumer
    Every company and industry is resourcing for disruption, bending rules, breaking moulds and challenging norms. Preparing for change is difficult as by its very nature, change can be uncertain – that’s why they call it DISRUPTION and not PREDICTIVE CHANGE. The millennials were the warm up act, the generation that...
  • The Joy Of CX: Why Your Customer Experience Is Everything
    There is a reason everyone is talking about CX. Every article you read on Linked In, every congress you attend, every branding podcast you listen to. The Customer Experience is paramount to success. OK, we get it. Or do we? Some companies still see CX as a necessary part of...
  • 
Artificial intelligence: Where silicon meets soul
    Artificial Intelligence is one of those wide terms that covers an enormous amount of activity, from natural language consumer-to-machine conversation (think Alexa and Siri) through to robotics, automation, algorithms and machine learning. The AI machine has buried its way into your everyday already. Just look at how our lives are...
  • WORK 3.0: Why your Employee Experience is Everything
    How do we best inspire and motivate employees in today’s society? How do we manage their expectations about wanting to be the CEO within 24-months without crushing their desire to lead? How do we cope with their need for immediate continuous feedback? Simultaneously, they are a generation reared on collaboration...
  • The innovation engine: Fuelling Personal Success
    Every corporate organisation recognises that creativity and innovation are the fuel that will drive their engine to success. The problem is that most organisations fail in catalysing this creativity, and so the innovation funnel runs dry. If we are to push established boundaries, challenge norms and solve problems in new...