Dr Kate Barker’s doctorate examined what generative artificial intelligence does to organisational trust. That is the question underneath every institutional deployment of these systems. She advises boards, chief executives and governments on the effect of artificial intelligence on leadership, corporate governance and the future of work, as a global executive advisor and the world’s first Chief Futurist, and holds a TIME100 AI Impact Award. She has lived and worked in Moscow, has keynoted the BRICS Urban Future Forum in Moscow across three consecutive editions and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, and her career spans New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Riyadh, Doha and Dubai.
That question travels. Every institution deploying these systems is making a judgement about what it is willing to hand over.
Her work is anchored in the Executive Cognitive Advantage Index, her diagnostic for the human capabilities that become more valuable as AI scales: judgement and discernment, cognitive agency, relationship capital, executive alignment, and human + AI decision performance. Her research across six thousand executive leaders put a number on the gap: 82% of leaders say AI has made their decisions faster, while 54% believe it has made them better.
That finding is where the doctoral question bites. Faster is measurable and immediate. Better is a judgement, and it depends on whether anyone in the organisation still trusts their own.
Dr Barker has spoken at our forum in three consecutive years, which is not something we extend lightly. She addresses the questions our international delegations actually arrive with — how a city governs technology it did not build, where accountability sits, and what its institutions and workforce will need to be good at a decade from now. She is substantive, she is direct, and she is equally effective with a government audience and a commercial one.
St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2025 · BRICS Urban Future Forum, Moscow, 2023, 2024 and 2025 · World Economic Forum, Davos · Bloomberg New Economy Forum · Fortune Global Forum · UN Global Futures Forum · World Government Summit, Dubai · The Economist Impact Summit
The governance structures, questions and disciplines that keep human judgement in charge of the machine.
How judgement, influence and performance shift when machines enter the decision room.
How AI, human judgement and institutional trust will reshape work, power and performance over the next generation.
Delivered as mainstage keynotes, closed-door board briefings or full board retreats.
A short FAQ. For longer conversations, please write directly.
An Australian-born futurist, board adviser, keynote speaker and author. The world’s first Chief Futurist and Strategic Board Advisor at NEOM, strategic advisor to the office of the UAE Prime Minister, TIME100 AI Impact Award honouree, and author of Hidden Power, publishing November 2026 with Amplify in association with Thinkers50.
Dr Kate Barker’s executive diagnostic for the human capabilities senior leaders need in the AI era: judgement and discernment, cognitive agency, relationship capital, executive alignment, and human + AI decision performance. It establishes where AI is strengthening leadership capability and where over-reliance on intelligent systems is weakening it. Set out in Hidden Power and applied in executive and sovereign engagements.
Through the speaking intake form. Twelve weeks minimum lead time. Fees and availability on request.
Twelve weeks minimum lead time. Eighty bookings a year. Every enquiry is read personally.