Annette Franz
Founder & CEO, CX Journey™ | CCXP | Customer Experience Strategist | Bestselling Author of Customer Understanding
Steve Cadigan
Founder, Cadigan Talent Ventures | Architect of LinkedIn's Culture & First VP Talent | Bestselling Author of Workquake | Future of Work & Talent Strategy Expert
Steve Cadigan scaled LinkedIn from 400 to 4,000 employees in 3.5 years and built the culture now considered Silicon Valley's gold standard. As a speaker and author of the bestseller Workquake, he gives leaders a clear-eyed, optimistic roadmap for competing for talent, navigating AI, and building organizations that thrive when nothing stays the same.
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Steve Cadigan biography
Steve Cadigan is one of the world’s most sought-after authorities on the future of work, talent strategy, and organizational culture — a distinction earned through more than three decades of building and leading world-class teams inside some of the most consequential companies in modern business. As founder of Cadigan Talent Ventures LLC, he advises organizations globally on how to attract, develop, and retain talent in an era where the rules of work are being rewritten in real time. His client roster spans high-growth technology companies, Fortune 500 corporations, and leading venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia, as well as organizations such as Google, Salesforce, Airbnb, Twitter, McKinsey, Manchester United, and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Future of work speaker Steve Cadigan is best known for one of the most remarkable talent-scaling stories in Silicon Valley history. As LinkedIn’s first VP of Talent — joining when the company had just 400 employees — he architected the culture, hiring systems, and organizational structure that enabled LinkedIn to grow to over 4,000 employees across 17 countries in just three and a half years, and guided the company through its IPO. The culture he built at LinkedIn is now widely regarded as a gold standard, studied in business schools around the world and cited by the Wall Street Journal and Fortune as among the most compelling examples of culture driving competitive advantage. Stanford University uses his work there as a case study for its business students.
Before LinkedIn, Cadigan built an equally impressive track record in HR leadership. At Cisco, he served as Director of HR for the Asia-Pacific region and Director of HR M&A, leading more than 60 acquisitions and developing talent-integration practices that continue to shape the industry. He subsequently served as Global VP of HR at PMC-Sierra and VP of HR at Electronic Arts. He holds a BA in History from Wesleyan University and an MA in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco. In 2017, he co-founded ISDI Digital University, which offers a pioneering Master’s Degree in Internet Business aimed at bridging the digital talent gap.
Workquake and the New Era of Work
In 2021, Cadigan published Workquake: Embracing the Aftershocks of COVID-19 to Create a Better Model of Working, which became a #1 Amazon Hot New Release and has since been recognized as one of the most clear-eyed and optimistic roadmaps for navigating the transformation of work. Where most commentary on the future of work leans on fear and disruption, Workquake makes the affirmative case for a fundamentally better employer-employee relationship — one built on trust, learning agility, and honest acknowledgment that neither side can predict the future. The book has been praised by CEOs, university deans, and HR leaders alike as essential reading for anyone navigating today’s workforce reality. Cadigan is also a regular contributor to Forbes through his column, Talent Hacking, and appears frequently on Bloomberg West and CNBC as a go-to voice on talent and the workplace.
As a speaker, Steve Cadigan commands the stage with a rare combination of Silicon Valley credibility, hard-won practitioner insight, and genuine optimism about what is possible when organizations get talent right. He tailors every session to the specific challenges of his audience — whether a leadership team navigating rapid growth, an HR function rethinking its entire approach, or executives grappling with AI’s impact on their workforce. Audiences consistently describe his keynotes as both intellectually provocative and immediately actionable, leaving with new frameworks for competing for talent, building culture, and leading in a world that refuses to hold still.
Steve Cadigan Speaking Videos
The Future of Work with Steve Cadigan
Steve Cadigan - State of the Union
Steve Cadigan Keynote Topics
The old contract of work is broken. Employees no longer stay, loyalty can no longer be assumed, and the skills organizations need today may be obsolete in three years. In this keynote based on his bestselling book, Steve Cadigan makes the compelling case that this moment of disruption is also the greatest opportunity in a generation to build something better — a more honest, more human, and more sustainable relationship between employers and employees. Drawing on his LinkedIn experience, decades of global HR leadership, and the research behind Workquake, he offers leaders a concrete framework for designing organizations that attract and grow talent even in the most volatile conditions. Audiences leave with a new mindset and a practical action plan.
Most organizations believe they cannot win against companies with stronger employer brands, bigger budgets, and more famous names. Steve Cadigan's experience at LinkedIn — which beat Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter for top talent while being a fraction of their size — proves otherwise. In this keynote, he reveals the talent strategies that allowed LinkedIn to attract the best people in the world by leading with culture, purpose, and growth opportunity rather than compensation. The lessons are timeless and immediately applicable: how to define and communicate what makes your organization distinctive, how to turn constraints into advantages, and how to build a talent brand that attracts people who will drive your next phase of growth.
No technology in history has arrived with such speed, such expectation, and such uncertainty about what it actually means for the people inside organizations. In this keynote, Steve Cadigan cuts through the noise to offer leaders a five-step framework for building an AI talent strategy that is grounded, human-centered, and executable. He addresses the real questions executives are facing: which roles will change, how to reskill at scale, what AI means for culture and engagement, and how to move from anxiety to agency. Cadigan's message is neither alarmist nor naive — it is the perspective of someone who has navigated every major technological shift in the workplace for thirty years and emerged with clear principles for what leaders should do next.
In a world of rising turnover and falling engagement, culture has become the single most powerful differentiator in the competition for talent. Steve Cadigan — who architected LinkedIn's culture from the ground up and has advised organizations from Airbnb to Manchester United on theirs — makes the case that great culture is not a perk or a poster on the wall: it is a strategic weapon. This keynote explores what high-performing cultures actually look like from the inside, how to build them intentionally rather than by accident, how to sustain them through rapid growth and disruption, and how to turn them into a magnet for the people who will define your organization's next chapter.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Steve Cadigan
Why Steve Cadigan?
Booking Steve Cadigan for your event means bringing in someone who has not just studied the future of work — he has lived it at the highest possible level. He scaled LinkedIn from 400 to 4,000 employees in three and a half years, architected a culture that became a global benchmark, led the company through its IPO, and has since advised some of the world's fastest-growing organizations and most influential venture capital firms on talent strategy. What makes him exceptional on stage is that his insights are not theoretical: every framework he shares is drawn from real decisions made under real pressure at companies that were defining the future in real time. He brings that experience to bear on the specific challenges facing your audience — whether it's competing for talent against better-known brands, rebuilding culture after disruption, navigating AI's workforce implications, or rethinking the employer-employee relationship from the ground up. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and book Steve Cadigan for your next event.
What is the book Workquake about?
Workquake: Embracing the Aftershocks of COVID-19 to Create a Better Model of Working is Steve Cadigan's bestselling 2021 book that makes the case for a fundamental reimagining of the employer-employee relationship. The title captures Cadigan's central argument: that the workplace has been hit by a seismic shift — not just from COVID-19, but from decades of accelerating change in technology, demographics, and employee expectations — and that organizations clinging to old models of loyalty and tenure are ill-equipped for what comes next. The book is structured for both employers and employees, and offers concrete strategies for building organizations around trust, learning agility, and honest acknowledgment that the future is unpredictable. It became a #1 Amazon Hot New Release and has been praised by leaders at Glassdoor, Cornell University, Xerox PARC, and dozens of other major organizations.
What topics does future of work speaker Steve Cadigan cover?
Steve Cadigan's keynotes address the most pressing talent, culture, and leadership challenges of the moment. His core topics include the future of work and what it means for organizations and professionals, how to build and leverage culture as a competitive advantage in the war for talent, the AI revolution and how to build a practical AI talent strategy, winning the competition for top talent against larger and better-known brands, redefining leadership for a digital and data-driven economy, and the new employer-employee contract in a world where loyalty and tenure no longer define the relationship. Every session is tailored to the specific industry, audience, and challenges of the event. To discuss a programme for your organization, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Did Steve Cadigan work with companies beyond LinkedIn?
Yes — while LinkedIn remains the defining chapter of his career, Steve Cadigan's advisory and consulting work spans a remarkably broad range of organizations. He has advised high-growth technology companies including Twitter, Google, Eventbrite, and Airbnb, as well as venture capital powerhouses Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. His corporate advisory clients have included Salesforce, McKinsey, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Manchester United, and the BBC, among many others. He currently sits on the board of directors of three companies and on the advisory boards of several organizations in the talent and HR technology space. In 2017, he also co-founded ISDI Digital University, which offers a Master's Degree in Internet Business to help professionals bridge the digital skills divide.
How to book Steve Cadigan as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Steve Cadigan as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Steve Cadigan'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 Steve Cadigan or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Steve Cadigan speaking fee?
Steve Cadigan 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 Steve Cadigan 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 Steve Cadigan.
How can I contact Steve Cadigan?
We only work with Steve Cadigan on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Steve Cadigan and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Steve Cadigan 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 Steve Cadigan for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Steve Cadigan for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Steve Cadigan is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Steve Cadigan for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
