Rob Garlick Keynote Speaker

AI, Work & Pro-Human Leadership Expert
Head of Research (EMEA) (2016–2021) & Head of Innovation, Technology & Future of Work (2021–2025), Citi
Led Citi Research EMEA to #1 Globally in Institutional Investor Rankings

Rob Garlick's Biography

Rob Garlick is a leading voice on artificial intelligence, the future of work, and pro-human leadership. He is the author of AI—Anarchy or Abundance? and a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey’s Future of Work Research Centre.

Rob spent over two decades at Citi in senior leadership roles, including Head of Innovation, Technology and the Future of Work, Head of Research for EMEA, and Managing Director overseeing global research products. He led top-ranked research teams and advised C-suite leaders, investors, and policymakers worldwide.

From the commercial birth of the internet in the 1990s, to being part of Google’s IPO in 2004, Rob brings deep expertise in investing and how innovation transforms businesses. Recognising early that AI would transform work, Rob has published 60+ papers and delivered 100+ talks worldwide.

Decades of experience and insight combines with behavioural science, holding a Master’s in Behavioural Change and accreditation as an EMCC Senior Practitioner executive coach. This rare blend allows him to help leaders not only understand AI – but change how their organisations think, lead and thrive.

AI - Anarchy or Abundance? Why the Future of Work Needs Pro-Human Leaders

The greatest transformation of work in history is underway. Drawing on his latest book, AI: Anarchy or Abundance?, Rob explores whether AI can unlock shared prosperity or we are already drifting toward backlash. As AI and robotics reshape work at speed, what solutions will be required - and demanded? If the future depends on leadership rather than technology, what does pro-human leadership actually require of you?

The AI Backlash - Is Your Business Ready?

Tipping points don't only happen in technology. They happen in society too. As AI adoption accelerates, Garlick examines how close we may be to a public and political backlash - what could trigger it, how quickly it could unfold, and why many organisations are more exposed than they realise. The leaders best positioned to navigate what comes next are already planning for it. The question is whether your organisation is.

How will Artificial Intelligence impact the Future of Leadership

AI doesn’t just change what organisations do - it changes what leaders need to be. Because AI isn't only about leading change. It is changing leadership itself. Garlick explores how the skills, behaviours, and judgement required of leaders will shift, what it means to lead when AI is a member of the team, and which black swan risks should Boards already be stress-testing for.

The Future of Work: What Leaders Must Prepare For

The transformation has started - faster and deeper than most organisations are prepared for. Garlick maps what lies ahead: from AI and robotics to digital labour and wage pressure. What will separate the winners from the losers? What forms could backlash take - and how quickly? And what policy shifts should leaders anticipate before they have no choice?

The Skills That Will Matter in an AI Age

As AI surpasses human performance across more activities, the question of what humans do best becomes urgent. Garlick examines which skills will endure - and grow - in value, and how the traditional path from apprentice to expert is being rewritten. What should organisations be doing now, and what policy changes in learning and development may be coming?

He has advised boards, C-suite leaders and global investors on how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping business models, leadership and competitive advantage, drawing on three decades at the intersection of finance, technology and strategy.
He translates complex developments in AI, innovation and the future of work into clear strategic priorities that help organisations align talent, culture and capital with long term value creation.
He combines senior operating experience at Citi with formal expertise in executive coaching and behavioural change to equip leaders to navigate disruption with confidence and clarity.
His briefings help executives anticipate risk, identify opportunity and lead organisational transformation in a way that resonates with employees, investors and clients alike.

Videos of Rob Garlick

Bloomberg: AI & The Labor Market Roundtable

CNBC: AI robots may outnumber the working human population in a few decades, former Citi executive says

Why humanoid robots are a $7 trillion growth opportunity

Humans Adapting in the Age of AI

What Machines Can’t Master – Human Skills to Thrive in the Age of AI

AI Time: AI Assistants Are Coming For You

Articles, Media & Podcasts

The future of Al and leadership - where to go from here?

The official podcast for the Future of Work Research Centre

How workers, young and old, can thrive amidst AI

The Business of Being Brilliant podcast

Al, Human Capital, and the Future of Work

The Unworking Podcast

The Rise of AI Robots

Citi

What Machines Can’t Master

Citi

Disruptive Innovations X Ten More Things to Stop and Think About

Citi

Books by Rob Garlick

AI - Anarchy or Abundance?

Comments & Testimonials

A Wake-Up Call for Every Leader Who Thinks They Have Time. Garlick shows, in plain language, how billions of non-human workers, AI agents, and robots will collide with our current systems—and what Pro-Human leaders must do now to grow profits and people. AI - Anarchy or Abundance? is the rare book that makes you both uneasy and deeply hopeful, then hands you a path forward.

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author

"What can you do to thrive in the AI revolution—and what should we, as a society, aim for? In tackling these urgent questions, Rob brings a rare mastery of both the ideas and realities shaping the future of work."

Carl Benedikt Frey Author of How Progress Ends

“Few possess Rob’s ability to see around corners—and map the path forward."

Alex Miller Head of Citi Institute

Required Reading for Any CEO Who Says, “People Are Our Greatest Asset”. If you’ve ever stood in front of your organisation and claimed that “people are our greatest asset,” this book quietly asks, Do your AI decisions prove it? Garlick draws a stark line between leaders who use AI to squeeze labour costs and those who use it to create better work and better organisations. This is a business book that will sit in your conscience as much as your strategy offsite.

Professor Ying Zhou Director of the Future of Work Research Centre at the University of Surrey

“Rob is a world-class authority on how innovation is reshaping business, work and leadership.”

Nell Montgomery CEO of Psychiatry UK

From “Weak Competition” to Strong Leadership. Garlick’s long history with technological change underpins his forecasts for what’s ahead. The point that humanity has entered a period of “weak competition” with AI is both chilling and clarifying. This book will unsettle some but also embolden leaders who want to win without breaking the social contract. It’s less about fear or hype and more about responsibility. It is timely, balanced, and very insightful.

Naveed Sultan Professor of Practice at Imperial College Business School and Former Global Chairman of Citigroup's Institutional Business Group

A Playbook for Pro-Human Capitalism. Leaders across private, public and social sectors are navigating extraordinary times. Decisions made over the next few years will have profound implications for how we live and work, and how our economies and societies evolve and transform. Garlick not only argues for a pro-human stance in an AI age, he explores realistic strategies to bend the power of capitalism towards more positive outcomes for people - all those who are alive today and those yet to be born. Anyone with decision-making responsibilities should read this book now to be more equipped to shape a better future for us all.

Sarah Gillard CEO of Blueprint for Better Business

The BESST Framework Is a Gift to Future-Facing Boards. The developments in artificial intelligence are game-changing for many businesses. For directors pulled between shorter-term shareholder returns and long-term system stability, this book gives boards a language and framework to hold that tension honestly. Garlick’s BESST framework turns a chaotic debate about the impact of AI on business and work into a simple, sticky tool that boards and C-suites need and can use.

Hitesh Thakrar Member of the Board of Trustees of Alan Turing Institute, Cancer Research UK, and STFC Council, and Partner at Syncona Limited

A Compass for Governments Standing at the AI Crossroads. Instead of peddling doom or fairy tales, Garlick offers what governments actually need: a grounded, data-rich guide to what happens to wages, jobs, tax bases, and social stability when AI and robots scale faster than our safety nets. His examination of the options provides a handbook on how societies can “vote” on the AI paths ahead.

Professor Ian Goldin Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford and Founding Director of the Oxford Martin Research Programmes