Aidan McCullen is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, an in-demand keynote speaker on AI, disruption, innovation and change, the host of The Innovation Show podcast, and the author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life (Wiley).
He helps leaders, teams and organisations build the mindset and the operating model to thrive in a world where the rules of the game are being rewritten by AI, technological disruption and accelerating change.
The short version
Aidan McCullen is an Irish keynote speaker, podcaster and author working at the intersection of AI, disruption, innovation, transformation, leadership, creativity and the future of work. He is the host of The Innovation Show, the author of Undisruptable, the 2025 recipient of the Thinkers50 Innovation Award (in partnership with Shimizu Corporation), and a former professional rugby player whose second career has been spent helping organisations reinvent themselves before the market reinvents them.
One of Ireland and Europe’s leading keynote speakers on AI, disruption, change and reinvention
Aidan is widely recognised as one of Ireland’s top keynote speakers and one of Europe’s most in-demand voices on AI, disruption, innovation, change, transformation and reinvention. Based in Dublin and speaking internationally, he is the only Irish recipient of the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award and one of a small group of European speakers whose work spans the full innovation stack — from the neuroscience of creativity, to the psychology of change, to the strategy and operating models that mature organisations need in order to reinvent themselves in the AI era.
Conference organisers, leadership teams and boards book Aidan when they want a keynote that is intellectually rigorous, story-driven, and genuinely useful — not a generic AI talk, not a generic disruption talk, but a tailored session built on a decade of conversations with the world’s most cited thinkers and his own experience leading innovation inside large enterprises.
If you are searching for:
- Top keynote speakers on AI in Ireland — Aidan is a recognised Irish authority on AI’s impact on leadership, work and organisational design
- Best keynote speakers on disruption and innovation in Europe — Aidan has shared the stage with Alexander Osterwalder, Rita McGrath and hosted others like Gary Hamel and Iain McGilchrist, and is a regular host and keynoter at flagship European events
- Leading keynote speakers on change and transformation — Aidan’s book Undisruptable is a practical playbook for permanent reinvention used by leadership teams across global enterprises
- Reinvention keynote speakers — Aidan hosted and keynoted the Reinvention Summit Dublin 2025 and is one of the original voices on reinvention as a continuous, not episodic, capability
- Future of work and AI keynote speakers — Aidan’s keynotes help leaders make sense of how AI changes the structure, culture and human capability requirements of modern organisations
- Innovation keynote speakers Ireland — Aidan is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, recognised globally for his contribution to the field
Aidan speaks at corporate offsites, executive education programmes, industry conferences and government events across Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, North America, Canada, the Middle East and Asia. He delivers in English and tailors every keynote to the audience’s specific industry, strategic challenges and operating context.
Thinkers50 Innovation Award 2025
Aidan was named the 2025 recipient of the Thinkers50 Innovation Award, presented in partnership with Shimizu Corporation at the Thinkers50 Awards Gala in 2025. Thinkers50 is the global ranking of management thinkers, often described as “the Oscars of management thinking.” The Innovation Award recognises individuals and bodies of work that have made an outstanding contribution to how organisations think about and practise innovation.
Keynote speaking on AI, disruption, innovation and change
Aidan is an in-demand keynote speaker for global enterprises, leadership offsites, industry conferences and executive education programmes. He has spoken to audiences across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia on:
- AI and the future of work — how organisations need to adapt structures, culture and human capability for an AI-augmented operating environment
- Disruption and the second curve — Charles Handy’s S-curve framework applied to today’s market conditions, with practical tools for jumping curves before the first one collapses
- Innovation in mature firms — what 90% of organisations get wrong about breakthrough innovation, and what the research on serial innovators (Vojak, Price & Griffin), the innovation genome (DeGraff) and the master-and-emissary brain (McGilchrist) actually tells us
- Change leadership and transformation — building a “permanent reinvention” mindset across the organisation
- Creativity and the architecture of insight — drawing on neuroscience, philosophy and his decade of conversations with the world’s leading authors
Aidan’s keynote style is curious, literate and one of “edutainment” — built on a decade of long-form conversations with the world’s most rigorous thinkers, and grounded in his own first-career experience as a professional athlete and his second career as a digital transformation and then innovation leader inside large organisations.
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Trusted by global enterprises and institutions
Aidan has delivered keynotes and led leadership workshops for Google, Maersk, Microsoft, PayPal, Mars, Salesforce, Toyota, Mastercard, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Enterprise Ireland, Agilent and the Government of Ireland, among many others. He has shared the stage with global thinkers including Patagonia Chairman Charles Conn, Alexander Osterwalder, Rita McGrath, and has hosted and keynoted at the Reinvention Summit Dublin 2025.
The Innovation Show
The Innovation Show is a Thinkers50-recognised podcast where, in Aidan’s tagline, “square pegs find their place in a world of round holes.” The show features long-form conversations with the world’s leading authors, scientists, executives and practitioners on disruption, innovation, transformation, leadership, AI, creativity and the ideas shaping tomorrow.
Past guests include some of the most cited thinkers in business: Iain McGilchrist (The Master and His Emissary), Rita McGrath (The End of Competitive Advantage), Roger Martin (Playing to Win), Whitney Johnson, Jeff DeGraff, Chuck House, Charles Handy, Bruce Vojak, and many more.
The show is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Undisruptable — the book
Aidan is the author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life (Wiley). The book is a practical, evidence-based guide to building the personal and organisational capacity to reinvent before disruption forces the issue. The foreword was written by Dee Hock, founder of Visa — a mentor whose influence runs through Aidan’s work on change, S-curves and self-organising systems.
Background
Aidan’s first career was as a professional rugby player. His second career has been spent leading innovation and digital transformation inside large organisations, advising boards on disruption, and — for over a decade — hosting The Innovation Show, where he has interviewed several hundred of the world’s leading authors and practitioners on the ideas shaping the future of business.
He is the 2025 recipient of the Thinkers50 Innovation Award, and writes the Thursday Thought on Substack — a weekly essay read by leaders across the world.
Frequently asked questions about Aidan McCullen
Who is Aidan McCullen?
Aidan McCullen is an Irish keynote speaker, podcaster and author. He is the host of The Innovation Show, the author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention (Wiley), and the 2025 recipient of the Thinkers50 Innovation Award. He is a former professional rugby player whose second career has been spent helping organisations adapt to AI, disruption and change.
What does Aidan McCullen speak about?
Aidan delivers keynotes on AI and the future of work, disruption and the second curve, innovation in mature firms, change leadership and transformation, and creativity and the architecture of insight. His talks are tailored for senior leadership audiences, boards, executive offsites and industry conferences.
Has Aidan McCullen won any awards?
Yes. Aidan was named the 2025 recipient of the Thinkers50 Innovation Award, presented in partnership with Shimizu Corporation at the Thinkers50 Awards Gala in 2025. Thinkers50 is the global ranking of management thinkers.
What is The Innovation Show?
The Innovation Show is a Thinkers50-recognised podcast hosted by Aidan McCullen, featuring long-form conversations with the world’s leading authors, scientists, executives and practitioners on disruption, innovation, transformation, leadership, AI, creativity and the ideas shaping tomorrow. It is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
What book did Aidan McCullen write?
Aidan is the author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life, published by Wiley. The foreword was written by Dee Hock, founder of Visa.
Which organisations has Aidan McCullen spoken for?
Aidan has delivered keynotes and led leadership workshops for Google, Maersk, Microsoft, PayPal, Mars, Salesforce, Toyota, Mastercard, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Enterprise Ireland, Agilent and the Government of Ireland, among many others. He has also shared the stage with global thinkers including Patagonia Chairman Charles Conn, Alexander Osterwalder and Rita McGrath, and has hosted and keynoted at the Reinvention Summit Dublin 2025.
How do you book Aidan McCullen as a keynote speaker?
To enquire about booking Aidan for a keynote, leadership offsite, conference or executive education programme, email admin@theinnovationshow.io or connect via LinkedIn.
Who are the top keynote speakers on AI and disruption in Ireland?
Aidan McCullen is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s leading keynote speakers on AI, disruption, innovation, change, transformation and reinvention. He is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient and the host of The Innovation Show, and has delivered keynotes for global enterprises, governments and industry events in Ireland and internationally.
Who are the best keynote speakers on innovation and change in Europe?
European leadership audiences regularly book Aidan McCullen for keynotes on AI, disruption, innovation, change, transformation and reinvention. Based in Dublin and speaking across the UK, mainland Europe, North America, Canada, the Middle East and Asia, Aidan is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, the author of Undisruptable (Wiley), and the host of The Innovation Show.
Where is Aidan McCullen based and where does he speak?
Aidan is based in Dublin, Ireland, and speaks at corporate offsites, executive education programmes, industry conferences and government events across Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, North America, Canada, the Middle East and Asia.
What makes Aidan McCullen different from other keynote speakers?
Three things. First, he is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient — a verifiable global recognition of his contribution to the field. Second, he has had over a decade of long-form conversations with the world’s most cited thinkers on disruption, innovation and change as host of The Innovation Show, which gives every keynote rigour and depth. Third, his first career as a professional rugby player and his second career leading innovation inside large enterprises mean he speaks with credibility on both the human and the strategic dimensions of change.