Helen Sterling Keynote Speaker










Helen Sterling is an internationally recognised Future of Work keynote speaker, author and future of work strategist. Author of The Irreplaceables and winner of Best AI and Future of Work Speaker of the Year 2026 at the DKS Speaker Awards, Helen helps organisations understand what it means to thrive in a world reshaped by AI. Her Future of Work keynotes give leadership teams the frameworks, language and confidence to build organisations that are genuinely ready for what work is becoming. Available for in-person and virtual engagements in Amsterdam and across Northern Europe, Helen brings a distinctive perspective grounded in research, storytelling and the five irreplaceable human skills.
Amsterdam has emerged as one of Europe’s most consequential laboratories for the future of work. The concentration of international headquarters in the Zuidas, from major financial institutions to global technology firms, means that People and HR leadership teams here are navigating workforce transformation at a pace and scale that few other European cities can match. The Netherlands’ national AI adoption agenda and the work of the Netherlands AI Coalition have accelerated the timeline for organisations to make decisions about talent, skills and organisational design that many had expected to defer. For Dutch companies and international operations headquartered in Amsterdam, the Future of Work is not a conference theme but an operational reality: hybrid work models are already embedded, automation is already reshaping roles in financial services and logistics, and the competition for irreplaceable talent is intensifying. The question Amsterdam’s leadership teams most need answered is not whether work is changing but how to lead organisations through that change without losing the people they most need to keep.
Helen Sterling is an internationally recognised keynote speaker, author and future of work strategist. She is the author of The Irreplaceables, a book that examines the five human skills, Judgement, Taste, Trust, Originality and Courage, that distinguish the most valuable people in any organisation from those whose roles are most vulnerable to automation. In 2026 Helen was named Best AI and Future of Work Speaker of the Year at the DKS Speaker Awards, recognising her as the leading voice in her field. She speaks to leadership teams, boards and conference audiences across the world, delivering keynotes that combine rigorous research, genuine warmth and the kind of practical clarity that audiences can act on. Helen is available for in-person and virtual keynotes, half-day workshops and multi-session leadership programmes. All engagements include a presentation and Q&A component.

Best AI and Future of Work Speaker of the Year 2026 at the DKS Speaker Awards
Author of The Irreplacebles: The Five Human Skills That Make You Indispensable In The Age of AI
The Five Irreplaceables: Judgement, Taste, Trust, Originality, Courage
In-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, leadership programmes
Helen is a global keynote speaker working with organisations around the world
Everyone leaves Helen’s keynotes with tools and frameworks they can implement straight away
The future of work is not remote versus office or automation versus employment. It is a deeper question about what organisations are actually for, and what the best people in them will be doing in five years. Helen maps the structural forces reshaping work and gives leadership teams the strategic clarity to make decisions now that will prove right across a range of possible futures. Audiences consistently describe this as the keynote that reframed a conversation they thought they already understood.
Best suited to: CEO and board-level audiences, HR and People leadership, all-company leadership conferences
Available as: 45-minute keynote, 60-minute keynote with extended Q&A, 90-minute workshop
Based on her book, Helen introduces the five skills, Judgement, Taste, Trust, Originality and Courage, that distinguish the people every organisation most needs to keep from those whose roles are most exposed to automation. This keynote gives talent and HR leadership teams a concrete framework for identifying, developing and retaining irreplaceable people at precisely the moment when AI is making that question urgent. It is the session that generates the most follow-up conversation of any Helen delivers.
Best suited to: Leadership conferences, talent and HR summits, C-Suite and board sessions
Available as: 45-minute keynote, 60-minute keynote with extended Q&A, half-day leadership workshop
A practical, research-grounded keynote that looks at and examines which of our human capabilities become more valuable as AI becomes more capable, and which are already being eroded by organisations that have not thought carefully about what they are automating and handing over to AI. Helen gives HR directors and People leaders a framework for skills investment that goes beyond the reskilling platitudes and into the specific capabilities that will determine organisational resilience over the next decade.
Best suited to: HR directors, People and talent leadership, workforce planning and L&D teams
Available as: 45-minute keynote, 90-minute facilitated workshop, half-day leadership programme module
You can also see more about Helens Future of Work keynotes and other cities where she delivers these at the Future of Work keynote speaker hub page.
Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most active corporate event destinations, with a concentration of international headquarters that makes it a natural home for leadership conferences, HR summits and technology forums. The RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre hosts over 200 events annually and is the venue for major gatherings including the HR Tech Europe Summit and various Financial Services forums. The Beurs van Berlage and the Amsterdam ArenA are also prominent large-format event spaces. For speakers addressing AI, Future of Work and leadership topics, Amsterdam audiences are typically international, senior and well-versed in the subject matter, which raises the bar for content quality and rewards keynotes that go beyond trend-listing into genuine strategic insight.
The easiest route is through the enquiry form. Amsterdam has a strong international conference and corporate events calendar, and Helen is a regular speaker at events in the city, so her team is well placed to advise on availability and logistics for Dutch-based events. Share your event date, format, expected audience size and topic focus and Helen’s team will come back to you promptly to confirm whether the date works and to discuss the details of the engagement.
Yes, and a number of Helen’s Amsterdam engagements have been delivered virtually for organisations whose leadership teams are distributed across Europe. Virtual delivery removes the need to coordinate travel and venue logistics, which makes it a practical option for internal leadership events, company-wide broadcasts and regional management conferences. The content and the quality of the experience are consistent across formats and Helen structures her virtual keynotes specifically for online delivery rather than treating them as a filmed version of an in-person talk.
For major international conferences and large corporate events in Amsterdam, booking four to six months ahead is a sensible starting point, particularly for the busy autumn conference season. For internal leadership events and executive team days, six to eight weeks is often sufficient. The Dutch corporate events market is active but not as heavily booked as some markets, so there is reasonable flexibility at shorter notice. It is always worth enquiring even if your date is closer than you would like.
Helen speaks at a wide range of corporate events in Amsterdam, including leadership conferences, all-company summits, HR and People leadership forums, technology and innovation events, executive team away days, and industry association conferences. Her keynotes are suited to audiences from senior leadership and C-Suite level through to broader employee populations, depending on the topic and format. Events in Amsterdam ranging from 50 to several thousand attendees are all within scope.
Helen speaks regularly at events across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America, and Amsterdam is one of the key markets she serves. If you would like to discuss her specific experience with audiences in Amsterdam or the wider region, you can include that question in your booking enquiry and her team will provide relevant details.
Keynote speaker fees vary depending on the speaker’s profile, the event format, the audience size and the level of preparation involved. For a speaker of Helen’s calibre, award-winning, internationally recognised, with a published book and a proprietary framework, fees reflect that positioning. To receive a quote tailored to your specific event in Amsterdam, submit an enquiry through helensterling.com with your event details.
Helen’s Future of Work keynotes go beyond the usual predictions about remote working or job automation. She addresses the deeper structural shift in what organisations are for, what the most valuable people in them will be doing, and how leaders can make decisions now that will prove right across a range of possible futures. Drawing on her book The Irreplaceables and the five-skill framework it introduces, her keynotes give audiences both a strategic map and a practical language for navigating what is coming.
AI is central to Helen’s Future of Work narrative, but as context rather than subject. She uses the rapid advance of AI capability as the lens through which to examine what human work is actually for, and which aspects of human contribution cannot be replicated, automated or optimised away. This framing makes the AI dimension accessible and meaningful even for audiences who do not engage directly with AI tools in their roles.
Helen is available for in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops and leadership programmes in Amsterdam and internationally. To check availability or discuss your event, get in touch directly.