Best Keynote Speakers Based in Switzerland

Dr Martin Gutmann

Martin is a professor at the Lucerne School of Business and a senior lecturer at ETH Zurich, and he uses history and organisational psychology to question how we decide who counts as a good leader. His TED Talk, "Are We Celebrating the Wrong Leaders?", has passed two million views, and his book The Unseen Leader drew praise from Adam Grant. He was named in the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026 and has keynoted for Google, UBS, Swiss Re, Zurich and Dow.

Watch his PepTalk webinar for a sense of how he works with a live audience.

Simon Hofer

Simon co-founded and runs the Swiss Academy, one of the country's main training providers for executive communication. He speaks on building trust through presence and leading change people actively support, including in organisations rolling out AI. His book The 95/5 Formula reached number two on Switzerland's business bestseller list, and he draws on 25 years in international business across SMEs, corporates and start-ups.

Kai Dahlhaus

Kai went from hobby swimmer to overall Triathlon World Champion in four years, training 35 hours a week alongside a dual degree in economics engineering. He turned the four-step World Champion Formula he built for himself into a method for leadership communication and energy management, and has since advised close to 1,000 executives at companies including Kärcher, Carglass and Landi. A strong fit for audiences dealing with burnout and depleted teams.

PepTalk Fact: Kai created the Triple Impact Communication Model with Simon Hofer, now funded by Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse. The two also co-host SPEAK DIFFERENT together 🎙️

Dame Inga Beale, DBE

Dame Inga was the first female CEO of Lloyd's of London in its 328-year history. Across five years she led the market's digitalisation, launched the Lloyd's Innovation Lab and opened access to China, Dubai and India. She now chairs Zurich-headquartered climate action company South Pole and is President of the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, which makes her a natural fit for Swiss boardroom and financial services audiences.

PepTalk Fact: In 2015 Dame Inga became the first woman and the first openly bisexual person to top the OUTstanding and FT Leading LGBT Executive Power List 🏆

Martina Fuchs

Martina spent over a decade as a business journalist and CNNMoney Switzerland TV anchor, and now reports for CGTN. She has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing and the G20 in Hangzhou, and hosted the United Nations launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking in New York. She speaks on international finance, emerging markets and Chinese business culture, and moderates, which makes her useful for panel-heavy agendas.

Kelly Vero

Kelly has spent more than 30 years in gaming and technology, including work on the Transformers franchise, and is now Chief Metaverse Officer at Aequaland. She takes an educational approach to Web 3.0, digital fashion, virtual commerce and AI, which suits audiences who need the practical version. Book her for innovation days and future-of-work agendas where leaders have real decisions to make about virtual platforms.

Susmita Maskey

Susmita has climbed Everest three times and is the first Nepali woman to complete the Seven Summits. She has delivered more than 200 keynotes for corporates, financial institutions and government bodies, including Amova Asset Management, the UIAA and the University of Fribourg. Her sessions focus on making confident decisions with incomplete information, adapting when plans change, and building team trust that holds under pressure.

Anja Blacha

Anja is the first German woman to climb K2, the youngest German to complete the Seven Summits, and the first woman to ski solo and unsupported from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. She climbed Broad Peak and K2 without bottled oxygen and holds a 100% success rate across her expeditions. Her talks cover risk management, teamwork and committing to goals most people would rule out. Past audiences include Deutsche Bank and Swisscom.

Evelyne Binsack

Evelyne was among the first women globally, and the youngest, to earn a Swiss federal mountain guide diploma, and became the first Swiss woman to summit Everest solo. She then reached the South Pole from Switzerland using only muscle power, cycling more than 25,000 kilometres across 16 countries over 484 days to complete a Three Poles trilogy no one else has matched. Since 2019 she has focused on coaching and consultancy in change management and leadership.

PepTalk Fact: In 2019 Evelyne became the first Swiss woman honoured with her own Barbie doll, marking the brand's 60th anniversary ✨

Squash Falconer

Squash rode her motorbike from the UK to Chamonix, climbed Mont Blanc and paraglided from the summit, becoming the first British woman to do it. She has since climbed Everest and Cho Oyu, holds the world record for the longest distance travelled on an elliptical bicycle at 3,000 miles, and was three-time European Women's ElliptiGO Champion. She works with teams on high-stakes decision making, adaptability and creative problem solving.

Sarah Hoefflin

Sarah is an Olympic freestyle skiing champion and the first woman to win the slopestyle Crystal Globe twice. She took a Neurosciences degree at Cardiff before turning professional, then tore her ACL in 2015 and missed what should have been her first World Cup season. She returned in 2017 and finished top of the FIS slopestyle ranking. She speaks on recovering from setbacks and peak performance, and as an ambassador for Protect Our Winters she also covers climate.