Brett King
Top-10 Global Futurist | Founder of Moven, the First Mobile Neo-Bank | Bestselling Author of Bank 4.0 & Augmented | Host of Breaking Banks
Rachel Botsman
World's Leading Trust Expert | Oxford Trust Fellow & Thinkers50 Top 30 | 3x Bestselling Author | TED Speaker, 5M+ Views
Rachel Botsman is the world's leading authority on trust — how it is built, broken, and weaponized in an era of AI and institutional uncertainty. Oxford Trust Fellow, Thinkers50 top-30 thinker, and author of three bestselling books, she gives leaders the frameworks to navigate a world where credibility is the scarcest resource. Her talks don't just provoke thinking — they change how organizations lead and decide.
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Rachel Botsman biography
Rachel Botsman is the world’s foremost authority on trust — how it is built, broken, and repaired in an age of rapid technological and social change. A bestselling author, Oxford academic, and celebrated keynote speaker, she has spent over fifteen years translating rigorous research on trust into frameworks that leaders across every sector can immediately apply. Her work has shaped how organizations from Goldman Sachs to the Bank of England think about credibility, risk, and the conditions under which people commit to something new.
Trust speaker Rachel Botsman is the author of three critically acclaimed books: What’s Mine Is Yours, which defined the theory of collaborative consumption and was named one of TIME’s Ten Ideas That Will Change the World; Who Can You Trust?, a landmark examination of how digital technology is rewriting the rules of human trust, translated into 14 languages; and How To Trust & Be Trusted, a practical guide distilling fifteen years of teaching into five clear principles for building trust in personal and professional life. Her TED talks have surpassed five million views, and she writes regularly for the Financial Times, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Wired.
Botsman was the first Trust Fellow at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, where she teaches leaders and entrepreneurs how to lead with trust in a changing world. Recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s thirty most influential management thinkers and honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, she has worked on every continent and spoken on stages from TED to the Lincoln Center to Davos. She is also the host and writer of the BBC Radio 4 series The Trust Shift, and her Rethink newsletter engages more than 92,000 subscribers worldwide.
Trust in the Age of AI
As AI accelerates decision-making across business and society, Botsman has become one of the most sought-after voices on what it means to trust — and design — AI systems responsibly. Her Roots of Trust installation at the 2025 London Design Biennale challenged audiences to experience trust not as an abstraction but as a living, tangible system — a signature example of her ability to make complex ideas visceral and memorable. In 2025, she was named one of the world’s fifteen best AI speakers, reflecting her unique position at the intersection of technology, human behaviour, and institutional credibility.
As a speaker, Rachel Botsman brings extraordinary clarity and warmth to questions that keep senior leaders awake at night: how to earn trust when institutions are under pressure, how to lead through uncertainty without losing credibility, and how to build the conditions in which people are willing to take the leaps that real innovation demands. Audiences consistently rate her among their favourite speakers — not just for the depth of her ideas, but for the rare ability to make them feel both urgent and actionable.
Rachel Botsman Speaking Videos
Rachel Botsman - The Currency Of Trust
Rachel Botsman - We've stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers
Rachel Botsman Keynote Topics
Every major innovation — from the first credit card to AI-powered decision-making — requires people to take a trust leap: to act before they have certainty. Yet most organizations obsess over features and functionality while overlooking the trust conditions that truly determine adoption. Drawing on fifteen years of research and her Trust Leap framework, Botsman reveals why designing for trust is as essential as designing for usability, and how leaders can identify and remove the hidden barriers that stop good ideas from taking hold. A sharp, evidence-rich keynote for organizations leading change and needing their people and customers to follow.
In volatile, fast-moving environments, trust is not a soft value — it is a strategic asset. Leaders who earn it move faster, retain better, and make bolder decisions with their teams. Those who lose it face friction at every turn. Using her Risk-Trust Lens framework, Botsman deconstructs the four traits that consistently build trustworthy leadership cultures and shows why counterintuitive qualities — embracing doubt, tolerating ambiguity, admitting limits — are the hallmarks of leaders people actually follow. A keynote that resonates powerfully with executive audiences navigating transformation, restructuring, or cultural change.
The real challenge of AI is not whether people should trust it — it is whether AI systems are genuinely designed to be trustworthy. Botsman uses her Trust Shift framework to show how every major technological revolution has required new forms of trust, and why AI marks a fundamentally different moment that demands we redesign the rules. Drawing on her Oxford research and work with global enterprises, she offers leaders a clear-eyed map for building AI systems and cultures where trust is earned, not assumed — and where humans remain intelligently in the loop.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Rachel Botsman
Why Rachel Botsman?
Booking Rachel Botsman means bringing the world's most authoritative voice on trust to your stage — and there is no topic more strategically urgent right now. As organizations navigate AI adoption, workforce transformation, and a profound erosion of institutional credibility, Botsman gives senior audiences the frameworks and language they need to lead with clarity. She is a Thinkers50 top-30 management thinker, Oxford Trust Fellow, three-time bestselling author, and one of the world's most consistently top-rated keynote speakers. Her sessions don't just inspire — they change how leaders think and act. Through Aurum Speakers Bureau, she is available for executive summits, leadership conferences, and high-impact corporate events worldwide.
What is Rachel Botsman's definition of trust?
Botsman's most cited definition of trust is "a confident relationship with the unknown." This deceptively simple formulation captures why trust is not passive or automatic — it is a deliberate decision to take a risk on something or someone you cannot fully verify. It explains why trust is foundational to innovation (people must leap before they can see), to leadership (teams follow those they believe in, not those they can surveil), and to the adoption of new technology. This definition underpins all three of her books and is the conceptual backbone of her keynote frameworks including the Trust Leap, the Risk-Trust Lens, and the Trust Shift.
How many TED talks has Rachel Botsman given, and what are they about?
Botsman has delivered three TED talks, which together have accumulated more than five million views. The first, "The Currency of the New Economy Is Trust," introduced the concept of collaborative consumption and distributed trust. The second, "We've Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers," examined how trust is shifting from top-down institutions to peer-to-peer networks powered by technology. The third explored why transparency does not automatically create trust — and can even undermine it. Together, they form one of the most cohesive bodies of TED work on a single theme in the platform's history.
What topics does trust speaker Rachel Botsman cover in her keynotes?
Available through Aurum Speakers Bureau, Rachel Botsman speaks on trust and leadership, the Trust Leap framework for innovation adoption, building and repairing trust in the age of AI, creating high-trust organizational cultures, and leading confidently through uncertainty. Her keynotes are tailored to each audience and delivered as high-impact talks, interactive Q&As, or fireside conversations. Clients include Adobe, Google, Goldman Sachs, PwC, Salesforce, Barclays, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago — organizations that demand both intellectual rigor and genuine audience engagement.
How to book Rachel Botsman as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Rachel Botsman as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Rachel Botsman's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Rachel Botsman or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Rachel Botsman speaking fee?
Rachel Botsman speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Rachel Botsman to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Rachel Botsman.
How can I contact Rachel Botsman?
We only work with Rachel Botsman on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Rachel Botsman and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Rachel Botsman speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Rachel Botsman for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Rachel Botsman for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Rachel Botsman is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Rachel Botsman for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
