Dave Coplin has spent over thirty years helping leaders understand what technology makes possible - and what we risk losing if we get it wrong. Former Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft UK, author of The Rise of the Humans, and a non-executive director accountable for the transformation he advocates, Dave makes one central argument: the machines were always going to rise. The only question is whether we rise with them.

Dave Coplin is one of the world's leading voices on the human future of AI - a former Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft UK, author, and non-executive director who has spent over three decades at the intersection of technology and human potential.

His two books, Business Reimagined and The Rise of the Humans, have shaped how organisations think about work, technology, and the choices that define both. A third book - The Rise of the Machines: Learning to Thrive in an AI World - is in development.

Unlike most commentators on AI, Dave speaks from inside the boardrooms where these decisions get made. As a non-executive director at Mitchells & Butlers, Vianet Group, and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, he doesn't just talk about this transformation - he's accountable for it. That foundation underpins a client practice spanning virtually every sector, on both sides of the Atlantic.

His central argument: the machines were always going to rise. The only question is whether we rise with them.

Dave Coplin is Chief Envisioning Officer, keynote speaker, and author - one of the world's most distinctive voices on what it means to thrive alongside intelligent machines.

Over more than thirty years, Dave has worked at the highest levels of technology and business. During twelve years at Microsoft UK he created the role of Chief Envisioning Officer: a deliberate provocation designed to help leaders reimagine what technology made possible, rather than simply digitise what they already had. Before Microsoft, he spent years at KPMG working across the full breadth of global business. Since leaving Microsoft in 2017 he has operated independently - advising governments, parliaments, and academic institutions including Oxford and Cambridge, and working with leaders across virtually every industry on the questions that actually matter about AI.

His two published books - Business Reimagined and The Rise of the Humans - have shaped thinking on collaborative work and the human-AI relationship across a generation of leaders. A third book, The Rise of the Machines: Learning to Thrive in an AI World, is in development and sets out the argument Dave considers the most urgent of his career: that we are applying 19th-century efficiency thinking to 21st-century cognitive technology, and that the cost of that mistake is not just commercial - it is civilisational.

What sets Dave apart is where he speaks from. As a non-executive director at Mitchells & Butlers plc, Vianet Group plc, and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, he has genuine skin in the transformation he advocates - accountable for outcomes, not just opinions. That foundation underpins a client practice spanning virtually every sector: from global financial services and professional services firms to healthcare, education, manufacturing, and public institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. The stories he tells are not case studies. They are testimony.

His audiences leave with one question they cannot stop asking: when AI gives you time back, what will you choose to do with it?

Please welcome Dave Coplin - global keynote speaker, former Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft UK, and author of The Rise of the Humans. With over thirty years of experience advising global organisations, governments, and public institutions on the strategic implications of technology, Dave brings both the technical depth and the boardroom perspective that this conversation deserves. He is going to challenge us today to think about artificial intelligence not as a technology question, but as a leadership one - and to ask what we will choose to do with the extraordinary opportunity it puts in front of us. Please join me in welcoming Dave Coplin.

• The Rise of the Humans - rethinking human potential in an age of intelligent machines
• From Efficiency to Effectiveness - why the AI age demands a new measure of success
• The Opportunity Cost of Automation - what will you do with the time AI gives back?
• IT as Growth Engine - repositioning technology leadership for the AI age
• Machines as Colleagues - a new framework for human-AI relationships
• Outside-In Thinking - designing for human outcomes, not organisational processes

• Lapel or headset microphone (preference: lapel)
• Confidence monitor (where available)
• Clicker for slide advancement
• HDMI connectivity to house system
• Sound and slide check minimum 30 minutes before session
• Slides provided in PowerPoint format.

Full virtual technical specifications are available on request and will be provided to your production team on confirmation of booking. Dave's studio setup is broadcast-grade and compatible with all major conference platforms. For hybrid events, his team works directly with your production company to confirm technical compatibility in advance.

For interview requests, podcast appearances, media commentary, and press enquiries:

Diana Boulter  |  DBA Speakers

diana@dbaspeakers.com  |  +44 7554 440537

All production team and agency enquiries should be coordinated through DBA Speakers.

Published by Harriman House. The argument for flexible, human-centred work - written nearly a decade before the pandemic demonstrated the point. Available from all major booksellers.

Published by Harriman House. The landmark account of the human-AI relationship: what machines can do, what they can't, and what that means for every organisation navigating this transition. Available from all major booksellers.

In development. The third book in the trilogy - which asks what humans are truly for in a world where the machines can do everything - and makes the case for a more optimistic answer than most people expect. Contact DBA Speakers for interview opportunities ahead of publication.