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Vikas Shah MBE DL is a British entrepreneur, investor and board director with more than 25 years' experience building and leading businesses, including multiple exits. His board portfolio spans government, regulation and technology, including the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, the Institute of Directors and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. He founded Thought Economics in 2007 and has interviewed more than 600 influential figures across business, science, culture and public life. He speaks on entrepreneurship, leadership and the human side of achievement.

Vikas Shah MBE DL is a British entrepreneur, investor and board director with more than 25 years' experience building and leading businesses. His own companies have been acquired by trade, private-equity and listed groups, and his investment portfolio has produced multiple eight-figure exits. Today, he works across government, regulation and high-growth technology, bringing an operator's judgement to complex organisations and ambitious founders. Vikas serves on the Board of the Institute of Directors and as a Non-Executive Director of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Certo Aerospace. He sits on the Departmental Board of the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, where he chairs the Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee, and chairs the Advisory Board of Innovate UK ICURe. Alongside his board portfolio, Vikas is Partner at venture lab Endgame, Chairman of AI company Rdentify, and a Board Advisor to Enspec Power, Smart-IR and Red Flag Alert. He is also Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Manchester Innovation Factory. Since 2007, Vikas has interviewed more than 600 of the world's most influential figures through Thought Economics, his journal of ideas and leadership read in more than 120 countries. Thought Economics was named an Official Honoree for Best Writing (Editorial) at the Webby Awards in five consecutive years, 2012 to 2016, and his interview archive is held by the University of Salford. His book, Thought Economics, was published by Michael O'Mara Books in 2021. Vikas was awarded an MBE for services to business and the economy and serves as a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester. He is a Trustee of Chester Zoo, an Honorary Professor at the University of Salford and at Alliance Manchester Business School, holds an honorary appointment at Lancaster University Management School, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration by the University of Salford.

A linked biography, honours and press coverage are on the About page.

Our next speaker is an entrepreneur with multiple business exits, an investor and a board director whose work spans business, government and regulation. He is also the founder of Thought Economics, through which he has interviewed more than 600 remarkable people, from entrepreneurs and Nobel laureates to artists and public figures. He brings together the experience of building businesses and a deep curiosity about how people think, lead and achieve. Please welcome Vikas Shah.

Topics

• 01

  Building, scaling and exiting

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; or fireside, 45 minutes.

• 02

  Leadership when the stakes are high

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; or workshop, 90 minutes.

• 03

  What effective boards do differently

  Keynote, 30 minutes; board briefing, 60 to 90 minutes.

• 04

  AI, innovation and the decisions facing leaders

  Keynote, 30 to 45 minutes; panel or fireside.

• 05

  What remarkable people teach us about success

  Keynote, 30 to 60 minutes; ideal as a closing session.

• 06

  Success, pressure and mental health

  Keynote, 20 to 40 minutes; or in-conversation.

Audiences and takeaways for each topic are on the Speaking page.