PERFORM
UNDER
PRESSURE
IN THE
AGE OF AI
Dr. James Hewitt equips leaders and teams to build capacity, think clearly, and deliver together when the stakes are high.
Dr. James Hewitt has delivered high-impact keynotes in 35+ countries for sectors including:
Does this sound familiar? You have no time to focus and even less to recharge. AI makes output faster and more polished, but not always better. And when high-stakes moments arrive, people are too often expected to rise to the occasion without being prepared for it.
It Doesn't Have To Be This Way
It Doesn't Have To
Be This Way
HELLO, IâM
DR. JAMES
HEWITT
I equip leaders and teams to perform under pressure, without burning out.
I've spent two decades studying what separates people who thrive under pressure from those who struggle, first as a full-time racing cyclist (not the most talented, but the most curious), then as a PhD performance scientist studying how elite performers think and execute when the stakes are high.
That work took me to Formula 1, where, as Chief Innovation Officer for the coaching company behind 19 F1 World Championships, I helped develop methods to support clarity and execution in environments where the technology is advanced, the data are constant, and the decisions still have to be made by a human, in seconds, under real pressure. Today, I apply lessons from those experiences to the questions every business is asking:
How can we prepare our teams to deliver their highest performance under pressure? How can we use AI where it accelerates performance, while keeping human thinking and judgment where it counts? How can we protect focus, resist distraction and maintain our energy in the face of this intensity, and build a performance rhythm people can sustain?
I continue to advise F1 teams and elite performers today, working with organizations from elite sport to Fortune 500 corporations in over 35 countries, through my consultancy, the Knowledge Work Lab, so you can be confident that my insights come from the cutting edge, not the archive.
And my understanding of pressure isn't just professional. When I faced and fought back from cancer, I learned firsthand what high-stakes moments do to the mind and body.
In 20 years working with racing cyclists, Formula 1 teams and business leaders, I've rarely seen people struggle under pressure for lack of talent. More often, they were expected to rise to the occasion without being prepared for it. That's the work I do now, because:
âPressure is inevitable. Performance is trainable.â
My keynotes combine science, storytelling, and practical frameworks that make the message stick. I bring energy to the room and tools you can use on Monday.
Clients book me as a speaker for annual conferences, leadership summits, sales kick-offs, and executive retreats;Â events where the audience wants a keynote that's entertaining and actionable.
I've spoken in 35+ countries, for audiences of 8,000+, on some of the world's  biggest stages:
- Three World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in Davos.
- The Global Leadership Summit and Nordic Business Forum, where I was one of 12 speakers, including former President Barack Obama.
- Top-ranked International Business Schools, including Duke and IMD.
MY KEYNOTES DO MORE THAN INSPIRE
Every keynote is tailored to your audience and the event outcomes you're aiming for.
Your people will recognize how pressure shows up in their own work, and leave knowing what to do next.
IF YOU NEED YOUR TEAM TO PERFORM WHEN IT MATTERS MOST, I'D LOVE TO HELP.
âJamesâ knowledge in performance science coupled with business acumen is something that companies and individuals can draw on in a wide variety of ways; anyone working with James will very quickly be able to implement and put his expertise to use.
Needless to say, he is also a remarkable public speaker and I have seen him captivate rooms filled with 6000+ people. The world needs more people like James.â
â Johan Brear,
Chairman of the Board at Aito Ventures
Dr. James Hewittâs keynotes equip leaders and teams to perform under pressure without turning intensity into burnout. Hereâs what changes:
A Formula 1 crew needs just 1.8 seconds to change four tires, and does it hundreds of times a season with the race on the line. Leaders learn what makes that possible, and how to build it into their own teams with the 3C Resource Mapâ˘: Capacity, Control and Coordination.
53% of leaders say productivity must increase, yet 80% of the global workforce say they lack the time or energy to do their job.â´ Regenerative Performance treats knowledge work as a cognitive endurance activity, combining deliberate effort with effective recovery, so teams sustain high performance without burning out or checking out.
In the US alone, an estimated US$468 billion is lost to distraction each year.7 With Cognitive Gearsâ˘, people learn to protect time for demanding High Gear work, contain the meetings, messages and switching of Middle Gear, and recharge in Low Gear.
40% of surveyed US knowledge workers had received AI-generated âworkslopâ in the previous month, and the clean-up took about two hours per incident. With the AI Integration Matrixâ˘, leaders and teams see how they are adopting AI, then learn to use it where it accelerates performance while keeping ownership of the thinking that makes their work valuable.
Audiences leave seeing performance differently, with tools to build their capacity, use AI while keeping ownership of their thinking, and perform together when it counts.
SUSTAINABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE IS A SKILL.
BUILD THE CAPACITY TO PERFORM WHEN IT MATTERS.
âJames has a truly engaging presence and made everyone feel like he genuinely cares about the improvement of each audience member's experience.
âMikko Manner,
Managing Partner, Roschier
âJamesâ insights are broken into everyday practical applications with immediate benefits for my self-leadership, and indeed the underlying performance culture of my leadership team.
âHarri Sundvik,
Chair at ICS Oy OY and ex. Vice Chairman, Global Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
âWe were looking for an inspiring speaker that would be able to share new insights and a new perspective. What we didnât expect was a total experience.
âKatherine Shenton,
Global Head of Marketing & Communications, QuantumBlack, a McKinsey company
Our team loved the practical take-aways that were dropped into the story and some of them will definitely help to boost our performance."
âFloor Bleeker,
Group Chief Information Officer, Accor Hotels
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