Ada Parris | Background and Expertise

With over twenty years of experience in systems design, digital technology, and living systems, Ada is a pioneer in transforming cultures to create “human blockchains”—her term for decentralised human ecosystems of trust and transparency.

Her signature work revolves around the philosophical question: “What type of ancestor do you want to be?” – the title of her influential 2022 TED Talk. This query urges business leaders and audiences to prioritise long-term thinking, ethical responsibility, and sustainability, emphasising the importance of inclusive and diverse organisational cultures.

Ada founded the philosophy Cyborg Shamanism™, which seamlessly merges ancient wisdom, indigenous community practices, and digital technologies. Through consulting and her Ancestors Retreats, she provides individuals and organisations with the tools to develop deeper self-understanding and expand their perspectives for positive action.

See Ada Parris giving her talk ‘What type of ancestor do you want to be’ at TEDx Amsterdam below:

Ada Parris | Leadership and Accolades

Ada holds significant leadership roles, including:

• Chair of Mental Health First Aid England (since 2020), a social enterprise focused on workplace mental health support.
• Chair of the Centre for Cultural Values Advisory Group.

Her career achievements have earned her global recognition:

• 2018: Recognised as one of the UK’s Top 100 Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Leaders in Technology.
• 2019: Noted as one of TED Talks’ Global Emerging Innovators.
• 2020: Long-listed as one of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology.
• 2023: Participated in the Afrofuturism Festival in Salvador, Brazil, cementing her status as a leading global futurist.

As an artist, Ada is the co-founder of Ism.Earth and has held multiple residencies, including those at the Santa Barbara Centre for Art Science and Technology and the Design Science Studio.

Ada Parris | Speaking Topics

• Technology vs Nature
• AI
• Innovation
• Ecology
• Art
• Identity, Culture, Ecosystems

Ada Parris | Keynotes

Cyborg Shamanism™: Leading Alongside AI: The relationship question no-on else is asking. 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.

Ideal For: AI/Tech summits, innovation conferences, digital transformation programmes, ethics panels.

Outcomes: Reframe AI from tool to relationship, navigate human-machine dynamics, build ethical technology cultures.

Power in the Age of Presence: Why Coherence Beats Control in an Age of Uncertainty: Uncertainty is now CEOs’ top concern. The old playbook, more data, tighter control, faster decisions, isn’t working. This keynote names what leaders are feeling and offers a different kind of power: the capacity to become still enough that others can organise around you.

Ideal For: C-Suite retreats, leadership summits, board away days, transformation programmes.

Outcomes: Develop embodied decision-making, build relational authority, lead through volatility without burning out.

Feeling the Future: The Intelligence Your Dashboards Can’t Give You: 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. This keynote legitimises the felt sense that senior leaders have learned to hide, and shows why it’s now their competitive advantage.

Ideal For: Strategy conferences, foresight teams, executive development, innovation labs.

Outcomes: Develop somatic foresight skills, balance intuition with data, turn uncertainty into strategic advantage.

Coherence, Not Compliance: Building Cultures That Hold Differences Without Fragmenting: 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. This keynote reframes inclusion as organisational capacity, the ability to metabolise difference without collapsing. That’s structural. That’s harder to dismantle.

Ideal For: HR/People conferences, culture transformation, wellbeing summits, leadership development.

Outcomes: Build psychological safety as infrastructure, navigate the inclusion backlist, create cultures that regenerate.

What Type of Ancestor Do You Want To Be: The Question Beneath Every Strategy, System, and Decision: This question stops executives mid-sentence. It reframes leadership as legacy, not reputation, but the conditions you’re creating for those who come after. Drawing from her Wiley book, Ada invites leaders to consider their work as an act of ancestorship. Boards are increasingly asked to demonstrate long-term thinking. This talk makes it visceral.

Ideal For: Leadership conferences, board retreats, purpose-driven organisations, ESG/sustainability events.

Outcomes: Connect daily decisions to generational impact, lead with intention beyond quarterly metrics, create shared language for legacy.

Ada Parris | Why Book Ada?

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.

Ada Parris | What Does Ada Address?

• 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 ethics, legacy, and generational impact
• Executive teams where mental health and resilience are now strategic priorities
• Leadership cultures that need to shift from control to coherence

Ada Parris | Who Benefits From Ada’s Talks?

• C-Suite and senior leadership teams navigating transformation
• Organisations where AI adoption requires human/cultural alignment
• Boards seeking frameworks for long-term, ethical decision-making
• Companies prioritising mental health, resilience, and sustainable leadership
• Purpose-driven organisations ready to move from compliance to coherence

Below: Ada Parris takes part in a Scania-sponsored debate about Future Cities:

Ada Parris | Past Clients – Speaker, Host, Presenter, Moderator, Judge

BIMA Awards, The British Film Institute (BFI), the British Interactive Media Association Emerging Technology Showcase, CogX, CPA, Creative Conscious Awards, Drum Network CEO Club, Emirates Airlines, the EU Council, The Fourth Group Political Summit, the Geraty Awards, Google, The House of Beautiful Business, IAB Italia, Lloyds Banking Group, Medicine Festival, Meta, NatWest, Ogilvy Labs, Omniwomen UK, Oxford Inspires Conference, Rolex, RSA Student Design Awards, SheSays Action Against Racism, STEP Conference, Tate Modern, TEDx, Unilever, Uniqlo, VCCP Network, WARC Awards for Effectiveness, World Indigenous Forum, World Trade Centre Amsterdam.

A Chat with Ada Parris

As part of our ‘Chat with…’ podcast series at Great British Speakers, our director Jane Farnham sat down with Ada to discuss her many titles, as a futurist, cultural strategist, keynote speaker, STEM innovator and mental health advocate. Find out more HERE.

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers today to book Ada Parris for your corporate event. 

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