Four workshops. One leadership journey.
The Eden Smith LAB - Leaders Advisory Board - is launching a new People, Data & AI Leadership Series for 2026. This is a collaboration between Eden Smith & our community of experts - helping business leaders build confidence, innovate and embed transformation. Join one of our free half day workshops or combine multiple sessions for deeper impact.
LAB: People, Data & AI Transformation
Leadership Series
Who is this for?
Audience:
- CEOs & Founders
- Chief Data & AI Officers
- CIOs & CTOs
- HR & People Directors
- Transformation & Strategy Leaders
Duration: 9am - 1pm
Format: Half-day workshop & networking
Location: The Chamberlain Hotel, Tower Hill
Date: Wednesday 18th March
Delivery: This event is in-person with active and collaborative learning opportunities. We will create a safe space with a non-technical, strategic & human-first approach.
Facilitators: Global leaders from across the functions offer modernist & forward-thinking perspectives.
See HOW this workshop will help you plus register to reserve your space!
People, Data & AI Transformation
Leadership Series - session 1:
"Transformational Leadership in the Age of AI"
The Programme
Transformational Leadership in the Age of AI:
Aligning People, Decisions & Delivery
Wednesday 18th March | The Chamberlain Hotel, Tower Hill | 9am-1pm | Arrival drinks at 9am for a 9:20 start
What You’ll Leave With
- A practical diagnostic lens for stalled transformation
- A human-centred AI execution framework
- A coaching model to remove bottlenecks
- Clear leadership behaviours that scale performance
- A network of cross-functional leaders navigating similar challenges
WORKSHOP 1:
Leading AI Transformation: Building Intelligence with Human Capability at the Core
Sonia Aslam
Most AI programmes fail - not technically, but organisationally.
This executive session explores:
- Why AI initiatives break down at the human layer
- How to link AI capability to decision-making and accountability
- The impact of operating model, incentives and behaviour on AI ROI
- Moving from experimentation to scaled impact
- One immediate action to strengthen your AI transformation
A clear framework for turning AI ambition into measurable value.
WORKSHOP 2:
Your Best Problem-Solvers Are Holding Your Business Back
Alex Patient
High-performing leaders often become bottlenecks.
In this hands-on session, you will:
- Practise a simple coaching framework live
- Experience the shift from fixing problems to building ownership
- Understand how senior leadership behaviour cascades through organisations
- Learn how to reduce escalations and protect high performers
For CEOs and executive teams, this is about regaining leverage and modelling scalable leadership.
WORKSHOP 3:
3D Transformation – Discipline, Decisions & Delivery
Darren Minshall
A practical framework drawn from leading large-scale transformation across global and private equity-backed organisations.
You will explore:
- Why change programmes stall despite strong strategy
- How to diagnose breakdowns across Discipline, Decisions or Delivery
- The leadership behaviours that accelerate execution
- How to drive sustainable performance under pressure
This interactive session will prompt reflection on your own transformation challenges.
PANEL Q&A:
Aligning People, Data & AI at Scale
We conclude with an interactive executive panel connecting the themes:
- Why transformation slows
- Where leadership behaviour creates drag
- How to align operating models, incentives and accountability
- What scalable leadership looks like in practice
Note: Spaces are limited and your place isn’t guaranteed. We will be in touch to confirm your space.
Speakers
Every session is led by a diverse range of insight leaders who want to share their voice, insights and experiences with the community. Our guest speakers talk around key themes that impact business leaders encouraging shared knowledge and topical debate.
If you have a story to share, please get in touch.
Sonia Aslam
Sonia Aslam is an AI Transformation Strategist and Human-Centric AI Leader with over 15 years’ experience driving enterprise data and digital transformation across Virgin Media O2, EY, Vodafone and Apple.
She specialises in turning AI ambition into measurable organisational impact, aligning technology investment with operating model design, leadership capability and behavioural change. Sonia’s work focuses on the often-overlooked reality that AI success is less about algorithms and more about how organisations adapt.
Currently undergoing, executive study at MIT Sloan in AI-driven business transformation, she brings a structured, practical lens to responsible AI adoption, data-led strategy and scalable intelligence. She is known for bridging board-level strategy with execution, ensuring AI becomes embedded capability, not isolated experimentation.
Alex Patient
Alex Patient is a former NatWest Commercial Bank analytics leader turned leadership coach.
Alex teaches coaching to enhance leadership skills, refine effective management styles, and develop mindsets to purposefully take on the challenges they face.
This helps to build trust in teams, create authentic communication capabilities, and tackle the inner critic that many leaders quietly carry.
As leaders learn to coach - not solve - and gain more insight about themselves, they are then able to deliver on their fullest potential.
Alex helps technical managers become confident, effective leaders – the kind that lift their teams, grow their impact, and create real breathing space to do the work that matters.
Darren Minshall
Darren Minshall is a commercially focused Chief People Officer and transformation leader with over 25 years of global experience across private equity-backed, founder-led and multinational businesses.
He has held senior HR leadership roles at organisations including Amazon, Saatchi & Saatchi, DNEG and Havas, and has led enterprise-wide restructuring, executive reshaping and operating model transformation programmes in complex, high-growth and high-pressure environments.
As Founder of GrowthScope, Darren partners with boards and executive teams to simplify complexity, align people strategy to enterprise value and embed disciplined execution that drives measurable commercial impact.
Four workshops. One leadership journey.
This is the first of four quarterly sessions across 2026, culminating in an end of year:
- ½ Day Cross-Functional Leadership Conference
- Winter Leadership Party & Networking Reception
Each session builds toward a practical playbook for transformational leadership in the age of AI.
Take action today
Note: Spaces are limited and your place isn’t guaranteed. We will be in touch to confirm your space.
