Menu
Apply

From CBIT's team

Keynotes and masterclasses

This is for you if…

…you organise a conference or summit, plan a leadership day for your company, lead a research team, host a government delegation, or run a trade body.

A keynote or a masterclass from CBIT’s team, for leaders, teams or researchers, drawing on CBIT’s programmes: AI-powered business transformation, venture building, research commercialisation and interdisciplinary research.

Next step

Tell us the audience, the theme and the date, and which speaker you have in mind, or ask us to suggest one.

Email us about a keynote or masterclass

If your email app does not open, write to cbit@ntu.ac.uk

What you get

  • A keynote from one of CBIT’s speakers for your conference, summit or leadership day.
  • A masterclass for your leaders, teams or researchers.
  • Themes from CBIT’s programmes: AI-powered business transformation, venture building, research commercialisation and interdisciplinary research.

Speakers

CBIT’s whole team teaches and speaks. Choose the person whose work best fits your event, or ask us to suggest one.

  • Professor Xiao Ma

    Professor Xiao Ma

    Director of CBIT

    • Entrepreneurship and management
    • Management consulting

    Founding Director of CBIT and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at Nottingham Business School.

    Full profile

  • Georgi Iliev

    Georgi Iliev

    Head of Venture Builder

    • AI transformation for start-ups and SMEs
    • AI agents

    A co-founder of CBIT, Georgi advises start-ups and SMEs on AI transformation.

    Full profile

  • Dr Sönnich Dahl Sönnichsen

    Dr Sönnich Dahl Sönnichsen

    Education Lead and Associate Professor

    • Innovation and business transformation
    • The circular economy

    Associate Professor specialising in innovation, business transformation and the circular economy.

    Full profile

  • Takunda Chingonzo

    Takunda Chingonzo

    Lecturer in AI

    • Personal data and AI in business transformation
    • Digital skilling

    Lecturer in AI at Nottingham Business School, researching how personal data can drive business transformation while protecting privacy.

    Full profile

Professor Xiao Ma: track record

  • 60+

    keynotes since 2023

  • Career

    £55m+

    Over two decades Xiao has steered more than £55m of funded research and innovation, building the teams that delivered it

    career, 2004–2026

  • CBIT Venture Builder

    Technology Innovation Champion, 2024

    2024

Professor Xiao Ma, CBIT’s Director: BeefTwin £1.2m (Project Lead, Round 1) and EASE £1.2m (Project Co-Lead, Round 2) — the only UK researcher to have won awards in both rounds of UKRI's Cross-Research Council Responsive Mode. EASE is co-led with Dr Iryna Kuksa, NTU School of Art & Design.

Source: CBIT figures registry v1.8 (1 October 2026). Figures and sources

Professor Xiao Ma’s keynotes and talks

Professor Xiao Ma’s keynotes and talks, newest first: since CBIT was founded in April 2022, then earlier talks.

Since CBIT was founded (April 2022)

2026

  • The Best Design for Ageing Is Dumb

    Smart Design for Ageing Workshop (ABCP Monthly Talks Events) · Association of British Chinese Professors (ABCP); venue: Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art · London, United Kingdom Keynote

  • AI empowered Business Transformation masterclass

    J-StarX UK Programme for Japanese Researchers · Saïd Business School, University of Oxford · Oxford, United Kingdom Masterclass

2025

  • The Evolving Role of AI and Workforce Readiness in Driving Competitiveness

    Thailand National AI Skills Development and Education Platform Launch Event · Thailand's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) · Bangkok, Thailand Keynote

  • The Road Ahead (closing keynote)

    Transforming SMEs with AI 2025 conference · CBIT, Nottingham Business School (NTU), with Innovate UK Business Connect · Nottingham, United Kingdom Keynote

  • Business Process re-Design and Innovation in a Sprint with AI

    Oxford Venture Builder Workshop · Saïd Business School, University of Oxford · Oxford, United Kingdom Masterclass

  • More Sustainable and More Profitable Business Model Innovation

    MOSMOP Business Model Workshop · Shanghai University · Shanghai, China Keynote

  • More Sustainable and More Profitable Business Model Innovation

    MOSMOP Business Model Workshop (with the announcement of the MOSMOP white papers) · Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) · Shanghai, China Keynote

  • More Sustainable and More Profitable Business Model Innovation

    MOSMOP Business Model Workshop · Inner Mongolia University · Hohhot, China Keynote

2024

  • Fall in Love with problems and transform the industry norm

    2024 China-UK Technology Summit · China-UK Technology Summit Committee · London, United Kingdom Keynote

  • Expert Panel: Personal Data Economy Workshop

    Personal Data Economy Workshop (Shanghai Digital Economy Committee) · Tongji University · Shanghai, China Panel

  • Expert panel: Shanghai Big data exchange research network

    Shanghai Big Data Exchange research network · Shanghai University · Shanghai, China Panel

  • Falling in love with problems and transform the industry norms (invited talk)

    Sci&Tech Researcher to Entrepreneur event · Peking University · Beijing, China Lecture

  • Business Process Design (masterclass)

    Oxford Venture Builder (OVB) programme · Saïd Business School, University of Oxford · Oxford, United Kingdom Masterclass

  • Human-Centric Financial Data Sharing Regulatory Seminar (expert panel and invited talk)

    Human-Centric Financial Data Sharing Regulatory Seminar · Tongji University · Shanghai, China Panel

2023

  • Future of Digital Economy

    Opportunity Insights Challenges (OIC) event series · Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University · Nottingham, United Kingdom Masterclass

  • Entrepreneurship: A Critical Perspective (invited talk)

    Guest talk on the University of Warwick IATL module 'Entrepreneurship: A Critical Perspective' · University of Warwick · Coventry, United Kingdom Lecture

  • Disruptive Innovation and Industry Transformation

    IMU International Keynotes · Inner Mongolia University · Hohhot, China Keynote

  • Fall in Love with problems and create the new “Norm”

    SHU Masterclass · Shanghai University · Shanghai, China Masterclass

  • Fall in Love with problems and Create the new “Norm”

    PKU Masterclass Series · Peking University · Beijing, China Masterclass

  • More Sustainable and More Profitable Business Model Innovation

    MOSMOP project launch · Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) · Shanghai, China Keynote

  • Expert panel: Digital Twin

    Sustainability workshop · The Alan Turing Institute · Online, United Kingdom Panel

  • Expert panel: Generative AI and ChatGPT

    ABCP Expert Workshop · Association of British Chinese Professors (ABCP) · Manchester, United Kingdom Panel

2022

  • Personal Data Economy and opportunities in transforming businesses

    Warwick Accelerator Annual Event · University of Warwick · Coventry, United Kingdom Keynote

Before CBIT: earlier talks

Talks given before CBIT was founded in April 2022.

2021

  • Embrace the Personal Data Economy powered by us

    BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT · United Kingdom Keynote Before CBIT

  • Expert panel: Business Transformation and Venture Building

    Digital Transformation Expert Panel · Xi'an Jiaotong University · Xi'an, China Panel Before CBIT

  • Expert panel: Business Transformation for corporate entrepreneurs

    Durham University Business School · Durham, United Kingdom Panel Before CBIT

  • Expert panel: Personal Data and Corporate Data Exchange

    Shanghai University, Shanghai municipal government and Shanghai Data Exchange · Shanghai, China Panel Before CBIT

2019

  • Business Incubation and Acceleration through university programmes

    Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) · Shanghai, China Keynote Before CBIT · Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  • Business Transformation in the digital economy through entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship (with an expert panel on digital economy and disruption from personal data economy)

    Vietnamese Government · Vietnam Keynote Before CBIT

  • Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in personal data economy

    Imperial College London · London, United Kingdom Keynote Before CBIT

  • Expert forum: person-controlled personal data economy

    The Future of Data (Barclays Rise) · Barclays · United Kingdom Panel Before CBIT

  • GDPR vs Chinese regulations, opportunities & challenges (with an expert panel on personal data legislation and personal data economy practices)

    Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) · China Keynote Before CBIT · Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

2018

  • AI and ML for Fintech? Not the way you may think of!

    Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Wealth Management · Westminster and City · United Kingdom Keynote Before CBIT

  • Entrepreneurship in personal data economy

    University College London (UCL) · London, United Kingdom Keynote Before CBIT · University College London

  • Person-controlled personal data and shift of power in personal data economy (with an expert panel on data trust and privacy regulation for fintech)

    Metafinance Keynote Before CBIT

  • Regional business cloud and business transformation

    Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) · Hong Kong, Hong Kong Keynote Before CBIT · Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong

  • The future of digital economy, getting personal?

    12th iCAN International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition · Peking University · China Keynote Before CBIT

2015

  • International Business Benchmarking Platform

    Beihang University · Beijing, China Keynote Before CBIT

2014

  • Regional Business Cloud, Business Benchmarking, and emerging opportunities

    Inner Mongolia University · Hohhot, China Keynote Before CBIT

Yesterday, AI assisted; today, AI is prioritised; tomorrow, workers in every industry will be AI natives.

Professor Xiao Ma, Director, CBITAmbition, AMBA & BGA, Issue 3, 2026, p. 32

A conference keynote

Keynotes and masterclasses

Professor Xiao Ma closed CBIT’s own conference on AI for smaller businesses

Read the story

Who: Owners and leaders of small and medium-sized businesses, at the Innovate UK AI for SME Conference in Nottingham.

The challenge
Smaller businesses want practical, affordable ways to put AI to work, not just big-company case studies.
What CBIT did
On 20 November 2025, Professor Xiao Ma gave the closing keynote, “The Road Ahead”, at Transforming SMEs with AI, the Innovate UK AI for SME Conference that CBIT co-hosted with Innovate UK Business Connect.
What happened
The conference’s practical AI-adoption stories, sessions and resources continue at ai4smes.co.uk, hosted by CBIT and supported by Innovate UK.
Track record
CBIT runs Nottingham Global Entrepreneurship Week — the only GEW activity in the East Midlands — and co-hosts the annual Innovate UK AI for SME Conference.
Where it can lead
A first step: invite Professor Xiao Ma to your own conference, summit or team.

ai4smes.co.uk, hosted by CBIT, supported by Innovate UK

Where this can lead

More about the speakers