Andrew McAfee
Co-Director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy | Principal Research Scientist, MIT Sloan | Bestselling Author, The Geek Way & The Second Machine Age | Futurist
Rory Sutherland
Vice Chairman, Ogilvy UK | Co-Founder, Ogilvy Behavioral Science Practice | Founder, Nudgestock | Bestselling Author, Alchemy | TED Speaker
Rory Sutherland shows leaders why the smartest answer is often the one that looks irrational on paper. Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, founder of Nudgestock, and author of Alchemy, he brings three decades of advertising practice and behavioral science to the stage. Senior audiences gain fresh, low-cost ways to rethink pricing, customer experience, and innovation, delivered with the wit that has made his TED talks favorites in boardrooms and business schools.
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Rory Sutherland biography
Rory Sutherland is Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK and one of the most original minds in modern marketing. Marketing speaker Rory Sutherland has spent more than three decades at Ogilvy, rising from graduate trainee to creative director before helping build the agency’s behavioral science practice. His central argument is simple and disruptive: people do not decide the way spreadsheets assume, and the organizations that understand this find value their competitors overlook.
Sutherland calls this “psycho-logic,” the reasoning people actually use, shaped by perception, context, trust, and status rather than pure utility. He co-founded Ogilvy’s behavioral science practice to put that idea to work, applying findings from psychology and behavioral economics to products, pricing, communications, and customer experience. He also founded Nudgestock, the annual festival of behavioral science and creativity that brings together practitioners from advertising, academia, and public policy.
Author, Columnist, and TED Speaker
His book Alchemy became a bestseller among executives and strategists for its case that the most effective solutions often look illogical at first. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, economics, and advertising history, it shows why a small change in framing can outperform an expensive change in substance. He later co-wrote Transport for Humans: Are We Nearly There Yet? with behavioral scientist Pete Dyson, applying the same thinking to how people travel. He writes “The Wiki Man” column for The Spectator, served as President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, and has given three talks on the main TED stage, including “Life Lessons from an Ad Man” and “Sweat the Small Stuff,” which together have drawn millions of views.
As a speaker, Rory Sutherland pairs sharp wit with rigorous behavioral insight. His keynotes challenge senior audiences to question the assumptions behind their strategies and to see where perception, not performance, decides the outcome. Attendees leave with practical mental models for pricing, customer experience, innovation, and brand building, many of which require no extra budget, only a different way of looking at the problem. He is an outstanding choice for marketing summits, leadership conferences, financial services events, and any gathering focused on how customers and employees really make decisions.
Rory Sutherland Speaking Videos
Rory Sutherland: Perspective is everything
The Lost Genius of Irrationality: Rory Sutherland at TEDxOxford
Rory Sutherland Keynote Topics
Based on the thinking behind his bestselling book, this keynote takes apart the idea of the purely rational customer. Sutherland explains how trust, context, and perceived value steer decisions in ways that standard analysis rarely captures, and why some of the most profitable ideas in business would never survive a conventional cost-benefit review. Leaders come away able to spot hidden value in their products, pricing, and brand by thinking like behavioral scientists instead of classical economists.
Status signals, perceived effort, social proof, and framing shape buying and loyalty far more reliably than features or price. Sutherland walks audiences through vivid examples of small, inexpensive changes in presentation and positioning that produced outsized shifts in behavior. The takeaway is a practical lens for finding the moments where meaning, rather than performance, moves the customer.
Organizations that optimize only for efficiency tend to squeeze out the experiments that lead to breakthroughs. Sutherland argues for good-enough solutions over narrow maximizing and shows why real innovation usually looks irrational until it works. This lively session helps leadership teams make room for ideas a spreadsheet would reject and move past incremental thinking.
Classic strategy assumes that people are rational and predictable, yet loss aversion, default effects, and trust shape nearly every real choice. Sutherland shows leaders how to use these forces to design better decisions, build more resilient strategies, and communicate change in ways people accept. Especially relevant for financial services, healthcare, government, and any organization that depends on shifting the behavior of customers, employees, or citizens.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Rory Sutherland
Why Rory Sutherland?
Rory Sutherland brings a rare combination to the stage: more than three decades inside Ogilvy, where he is Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and a deep command of behavioral science that he has turned into practical tools for business. The author of Alchemy and founder of Nudgestock, he helps audiences see why customers act on perception and context rather than pure logic, and where that insight creates value in pricing, products, and communication. His talks are funny, provocative, and immediately useful for senior leaders. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check his availability for your next event.
What is Rory Sutherland's book Alchemy about?
Alchemy argues that many of the most effective solutions in business and life appear irrational at first glance. Rory Sutherland draws on evolutionary psychology, behavioral economics, and his long career in advertising to explain why people respond more to meaning, perception, and context than to objective facts. The book shows how companies can use that understanding to build loyalty, drive growth, and create stronger brands, often at little cost.
What does Rory Sutherland mean by psycho-logic?
Psycho-logic is Rory Sutherland's term for the way people actually reason, as opposed to the way economic models say they should. It describes choices shaped by status, trust, context, and emotion that look illogical on paper but make sense to the person making them. For organizations, recognizing psycho-logic means designing products, prices, and messages around real human behavior, which often delivers bigger gains than improving the product itself.
What types of events are best suited to a Rory Sutherland keynote?
Rory Sutherland is a strong fit for marketing and advertising summits, leadership and strategy conferences, financial services and insurance events, customer experience forums, and innovation gatherings. He adapts his material on behavioral economics, consumer psychology, and creative problem solving to each audience, so the ideas land in the context of the sector in the room. Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you shape a keynote theme around your event's goals.
How to book Rory Sutherland as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Rory Sutherland as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Rory Sutherland'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 Rory Sutherland or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Rory Sutherland speaking fee?
Rory Sutherland 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 Rory Sutherland 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 Rory Sutherland.
How can I contact Rory Sutherland?
We only work with Rory Sutherland on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Rory Sutherland and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Rory Sutherland 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 Rory Sutherland for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Rory Sutherland for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Rory Sutherland is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Rory Sutherland for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
