Rain Newton-Smith, economist and CEO of the Confederation of British Industry, talks about sustainability, AI, and restoring business confidence in this Distinguished Speaker Seminar organised in partnership with the Oxford Martin School.
Distinguished speaker seminar series
Our distinguished speakers are invited from all industry sectors and reflect the career aspirations and interests of our MBA class and wider University.
Speakers are founders, chairman, CEOs and other senior management and are drawn from all over the world.
Previous speakers
Rain Newton-Smith
Yemi Osinbajo
Professor Yemi Osinbajo, former Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, gave the keynote address at an extended Distinguished Speaker Seminar to celebrate the 60th birthday of Arunma Oteh, the global finance and development trailblazer and an Executive in Residence at Saïd Business School.
Warren East
Warren East, Executive in Residence at Oxford Saïd and former CEO, Rolls-Royce and ARM, discusses a promising future but some inconvenient truths in the first event of a series hosted jointly by Saïd Business School and the Oxford Martin School.
Graham Love
Graham Love, Chairman of the Royal Mint, shares this Distinguished Speaker Seminar with Canada-based Aaron Logan, CEO of clean tech company Excir. The two discuss their partnership to extract precious metals from e-waste.
Stéphane Bancel
Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, talks about the future of healthcare.
Sergio Ermotti
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti inspires and challenges at the launch of MBA 2024, covering careers, the future of banking and leading the integration between UBS and Credit Suisse.
Barbara Oakley
In this insightful lecture, Dr Barbara Oakley, creator of the popular 'Learning how to learn' MOOC and a leading expert on the neuroscience of learning, will explore how understanding the brain's learning processes can help learners effectively leverage generative AI to enhance skill acquisition and drive innovation.
Sarah Kent
Journalist Sarah Kent discusses the fashion industry’s long and winding road to sustainability.
Professor Daron Acemoglu
Professor Daron Acemoglu delivered the 2024 Sanjaya Lall Memorial Lecture, arguing that the choices we make now will determine how AI affects our jobs and future prosperity.
Professor Helen Margetts, Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides
These two distinguished speakers joined Sanjaya Lall Visiting Professor Daron Acemoglu in a panel discussion on AI and the future of work, chaired by Professor Sir John Vickers.
Bill Browder
Join international financier, political activist and bestselling author Bill Browder as he discusses his new book in conversation with Rupert Younger, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation.
Dr Albert Bourla
The Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc focuses on fairness and the future in the pharmaceutical industry.
Manal Al Madi
Manal Al Madi, Deputy Governor of Strategic Partnerships and Communication at the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). She spoke about Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 development plan includes major policy changes designed to provide greater opportunities for women.
Vivienne Cox
Vivienne Cox, Vice-Chair of the Saïd Business School Board and formerly head of oil giant BP’s alternative energy division. She spoke about the future of energy in the context of the climate emergency.
Hiro Mizuno
Hiro Mizuno, Chief Investment Officer and Executive Managing Director of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). He shared his vision on key ideas that help create more sustainable capital markets.
Muhtar Kent
Former chairman of Coca-Cola and CEO Muhtar Kent offers a distinguished speaker seminar. Kent focused his talk on the ‘Three Ws programme he initiated - focusing on water, women and wellbeing.
John Mahama
Ghana’s former president John Mahama shared his thoughts on democracy and elections in contemporary Africa.