2026 Topics & Themes
AI in the Reward & Benefits Space
Financial Wellbeing Strategy
Inclusive Workplaces & Neurodiversity
Legislation & Strategic Workforce Planning
Employee Wellbeing & Engagement
Recruiting & Developing Early Career Talent
Pensions Strategy & Governance
Women’s Health in Reward & Benefits Strategy
For more information and live updates on our speaker programme, follow our Summit Events LinkedIn page.
If you are interested in a speaking opportunity, please contact [email protected]
John Peters is not a speaker who talks about resilience — he shows people what it looks like when everything is stripped away, and how it can be rebuilt.
In January 1991, John’s bruised and battered face was broadcast across the world, becoming an enduring symbol of Saddam Hussein’s aggression during the Gulf War. Shot down while flying a Tornado GR1, John was captured and subjected to seven weeks of brutal interrogation and torture — pushed to the edge of human endurance and close to death.
But this is not a story of victimhood.
It is a story of choice under pressure, leadership without authority, and how the human spirit adapts, endures and grows through adversity.
Today, John brings these lived lessons to audiences across business, government and the charitable sector — translating extreme experience into practical insight for everyday leadership challenges: uncertainty, volatility, performance pressure, mental health, and sustained resilience. Despite the gravity of his story, John speaks with an innate sense of humour, humility and warmth, making even the toughest subjects relatable, engaging and profoundly human.
What sets John apart is not just what he has survived — but how effectively he connects it to organisational outcomes. Having worked internationally as a consultant across all three sectors, and across generations and cultures, his messages resonate seamlessly from the boardroom to the frontline. Leaders leave not inspired alone, but clearer, steadier and better equipped.
John’s speaking credibility is matched by his professional authority. He has addressed audiences around the world, including following Nelson Mandela on stage in South Africa, representing the British Armed Forces at the National Gulf Memorial Service in front of Her Majesty, The Queen, and delivering the Sir James Martin Lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society in the presence of Prince Philip.
A former RAF Tornado pilot, John went on to lead Ministry of Defence programmes on leadership, safety and human error — experience that later shaped his work as a leadership consultant, coach and academic. He founded Monkey Business, a consultancy working with senior leadership teams on strategy, innovation and leadership, with clients including Capital One, Virgin Media and Lloyds Bank.
John is the author of two best-selling books, and the subject of the award-winning documentary Tornado Down, an Independent Documentary of the Year and BAFTA nominee. He is a former Chair of the Association of MBAs, Visiting Professor at Kingston Business School, Associate Professor at RANEPA in Moscow, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education in 2022.
Above all, John Peters leaves audiences with something rare: perspective under pressure, courage in uncertainty, and the confidence that even in the most testing conditions, growth is possible.
John Peters dramatic and sometimes harrowing experiences reach deep into our innermost minds, showing us how we can overcome even our worst fears and nightmares. By no means a doom and gloom story, his insights are powerful, passionate, emotive & challenging with an innate sense of humour. He explores vulnerability, the psychology of dealing with extreme pressure, mental health and finding balance in an uncertain world.
Matthew oversees all aspects of Howden’s proposition for Corporate clients. He has over 23 years’ experience in employee benefits, including a large portion of his career helping shape the flexible benefits market in the UK. Matthew has personally helped many large and complex employers introduce transformational change to their pension and benefits programmes, working with providers and partners in industry to innovate and maximise the value they bring to clients.
In this session, Howden will look at what it takes for reward teams to deliver a great benefits programme in 2026 and beyond.
Using its REBA Benefits Design Research as a backdrop to the session, Matthew will explore how to establish a truly effective benefits strategy, including:
• Setting the right KPIs, measures and objectives;
• Establishing the business processes that will provide the data;
• Building the right cadence and stakeholder engagement;
• How technology and A.I. help move up the maturity curve; and
• What true success looks like in the short and medium term
All attendees responsible for reward, benefits and wellbeing will walk away with the blue print you need for future success in making better decision, taking decisive action and generating business results.
Diana Fayad oversees various areas of compensation and benefits for GE Vernova.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company employs approximately 75,000 people across more than 100 countries. Building on over 130 years of GE’s legacy, GE Vernova is dedicated to electrifying and decarbonizing the world.
Passionate about shaping a compelling Employee Value Proposition within large, complex organizations, Diana is committed to positioning the company as a top employer in an ever-evolving landscape. She partners closely with business leaders to embed a “People First” culture and deliver a distinctive, meaningful employee experience.
Diana began her career at GE more than 18 years ago through one of its leadership programs. She has since built a diverse background across several operational roles in fast-paced, global, and multicultural environments, before transitioning into Human Resources, where she now plays a key role in aligning Total Rewards with business strategy and culture.
In today’s rapidly evolving workforce landscape, Total Rewards has moved beyond compensation and benefits to become a strategic lever for shaping leadership behavior and organizational culture.
The session will address how organizations can use Total Rewards not only to attract and retain talent, but to define what great leadership looks like, enable new leadership models and ensure it is consistently rewarded and sustained.
Natalie Quilter is the Head of Reward, Wellbeing and Benefits at Hyde Group. Having worked in the housing sector for 10 years, Natalie has established herself as a leader in the inclusion and HR space winning multiple awards, including Inspirational Woman of the Year by Women in Social Housing and most recently being recognised as the 4th most influential HR practitioner in the country by HR magazine. Also a passionate advocate for unpaid carers Natalie shares her expertise through talks and case studies within her sector and beyond supporting organisations including Microsoft, NHF, and Save the Children to ensure all carers can have the career they deserve.
Did you know there at least 5 million working carers in the UK? Despite this and the significant impact they have on society, too often workplaces do not know how to support this group and the importance of keeping them in the workplace. This session will provide practical examples of how you can support colleagues with caring responsibilities and provide insight on what might be coming next for the Carers Leave Act as it is being reviewed in Parliament this year. Join this session to learn more not just on the impact of caring but what you can implement when you get back to your organisations.
Simon is a senior Total Reward leader with extensive experience shaping global compensation, benefits, and HRIS strategies across technology, insurance, education, and professional services. As Group Head of Reward at Glory Global Solutions, he advises senior executives and Remuneration Committees while leading global reward governance and HRIS transformation. He has previously delivered large scale reward strategies across 23 international markets and driven significant cost efficiencies in multiple organisations. Simon is also an experienced voluntary leader, across the South and West Wales.
AI is rapidly reshaping the Reward and Benefits landscape—but not in the abstract, futuristic way many imagine. Let’s explores the real practical possibilities emerging right now, from intelligent pay modelling and automated benchmarking to predictive analytics, personalised benefits, and smarter decision‑support reporting tools.
We’ll break down how AI is transforming the Reward landscape by examining the experiences of the Stakeholder, the Practitioner, and the System itself. Together, we’ll explore how platforms can evolve from administrative engines into intelligent ecosystems—improving data integrity, strengthening governance, elevating strategic insight, and enabling a more transparent and personalised experience for both employees and Reward professionals.
You should come away with:
What AI is doing today in Reward and Benefits
How platforms and workflows will change over the next 3–5 years, or sooner.
The emerging capabilities required of Reward professionals
The risks, constraints, and governance considerations that must be addressed
How AI can enhance—not replace—human judgement in pay and benefits decisions
This is a practical, grounded exploration of the future of Reward—designed for professionals who want to move beyond the hype and understand what’s truly coming next.
Charlie spent 20 years in wealth management, looking after rich people and their money. Then he walked away from an industry fixated on selling products rather than solving problems, to answer a nagging question: why should everyday people be locked out of that expertise? Money Guided is the result: a digital financial assistant that gives everyone access to money smarts, without the price tag or the product-pushing. No commissions, no agenda. Just helping people become better-informed, more confident decision-makers when it comes to their money.
Rich is a Senior member of the Commercial team at Money Guided. He has 20 years of sales experience, with 7 years working for financial wellbeing providers. Now into his fourth year at MG, he understands the differences between sectors and is passionate about the core mission to change personal finance for the better.
Everyone's talking about financial wellbeing. Very few are doing it well. Can a cost-of-living crisis really be called a crisis if it's lasted over six years? If 41% of employees cite financial pressure as their top stressor, is anyone actually closing that gap, or are we just measuring it? In this session, we'll cut through the noise and ask the uncomfortable questions: Is financial wellbeing just a tick-box exercise? Can low-paid employees actually even achieve it? Do free products really work? Are reward leaders being set up to fail with the budgets they're given? And why are so many programmes failing to shift the dial? Whether you've got a fully embedded strategy or you're still figuring out where to start, this is an open and honest conversation about what's working, what isn't, and what reward leaders can do differently. Expect debate, expect challenge, and expect to leave asking better questions of your own organisation.
Senior HR executive with deep expertise in global Compensation & Benefits strategy, currently serving as Director of Compensation and Benefits at Akamai Technologies, leading reward across EMEA and APAC. Proven track record in M&A integration, executive compensation, and large-scale transformation across complex, multinational organizations. Former senior leader at Oil & Gas and Pharmaceutical sectors, with experience managing programs for workforces exceeding 10,000 employees. Recognized for aligning reward strategy with business objectives while navigating diverse regulatory environments. Brings a unique leadership foundation as a former military pilot, combining strategic insight with disciplined execution.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive introduces new rules to ensure equal pay for equal work, building on principles in Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It requires employers to be more transparent about pay by sharing salary ranges with candidates, providing employees with access to pay information for comparable roles, and reporting gender pay gaps (with stricter obligations for larger organisations). This presentation will look at our journey and interpretation of the current and upcoming requirements of the directive.
Steve Cottle is a renowned mobility leader with 20 years of experience in global mental health and currently holds the position of Global Employer Solutions at Lyra Health. A Bachelor of Business, Steve has spoken at international conferences around the world, highlighting the cultural differences and associated stigma of mental health.
Join Lyra Health to learn about the results from their 2026 Global State of Workforce Mental Health report and how addressing higher acuity needs—such as alcohol and substance addiction, neurodiversity, and support for teens—as well as tackling the access to care crisis around the world, are fundamental challenges HR and benefit leaders need to solve for.
With over 43 years’ in business, Tony has a wealth of experience from working in a broad range of sectors and functions. This enables him to bring a unique perspective to his reward role. As a business disrupter and innovator, he has driven change in the businesses he has worked for or with. He has worked for some of the most innovative businesses in the UK and been at forefront of some of the most significant changes in the market.
With now over 8 years working in Reward leadership, driving global transformations in companies including ECB (Cricket board) Marshall Aerospace & Defence Group, Carnival plc, dentsu Group, Cambridge Press & Assessment and Aristocrat, Tony has developed a deep understanding how compensation and benefits impact the big picture and has developed reward strategies for future success. He brings a commercial mindset to drive innovation and transformation, delivering impactful results.
Prior to this, he spent decades as a benefits consultant and advisor, building strong connected programmes to deliver cost savings and employee engagement. An early joiner to the Darwin team 25 years ago he helping them carve out the new world of online flexible benefits.
Running his own consultancy firm for 7 years he created online platforms, reward branding and propositions for some of the largest business names in the world including: McGraw Hill Group of Companies (Standard & Poor's), Charles Stanley, Weil Gotshal & Manages, Swiss re, H J Heinz, The Telegraph Media Group, Waterman plc, Toshiba, Bernard Matthews and Chanel.
As a consultancy director for Benefex, he managed clients including Bank of England, LSEG, Bank of America, E.on, EDF, Centrica, M&S, Coke Cola Enterprises, CAA and Plusnet (part of BT Group)
As an administrator, salesperson, adviser, manager, director, consultant, business owner or VP Tony has gained a vast knowledge of the reward landscape.
Managing the increasing cost of Health & wellbeing by engaging employees
• The case for engagement
• Triaging your employees
• Managing your providers
• Effective communication
• User case example
• What's next
Speaker Programme
The Rewards, Benefits, & Wellbeing Summit programme consists of Strategy Group sessions – case study led presentations followed by Q&A and Action Learning workshops – key topic roundtable discussions.
If you have any recommendations for speakers or topics please email [email protected]
Register your interest for the 12th Rewards, Benefits & Wellbeing Summit
12th-14th May 2027
Eurostars Hotel Sitges, Spain
Submit your name and email address and a member of the Summit team will send you further details including:
- the confirmed list of attendees
- instructions on how to apply for a delegate place
- sponsorship options
“As always the Reward & Benefits Summit never disappoints - 2 days of engaging thought provoking conversations with likeminded individuals as well as great seminars. Well worth the time spent!”
“This was my first Summit and I found the whole experience invaluable. Everyone I met, whether other delegates, guest speakers or suppliers provided different insights and experiences that I can use in the shaping of our future strategies. The event was exceptionally well organised and thoroughly enjoyable.”
