Áine Kerr

Áine Kerr is a highly trusted MC for senior business and policy audiences, valued for her credibility, preparation and ability to elevate the quality of conversation.

• Proven track record and stellar reputation
• Credibility with senior audiences
• Brings a strong understanding of business, politics and human potential
• Creates natural flow and joins the dots
• Engaging, professional style
• Trusted by speakers and organisers

In this keynote, Áine distils ten practical leadership principles drawn from a career shaped by change, reinvention and complex decision-making.

The framework was first shared in a keynote address delivered to graduates at DCU on the occasion of her conferring as an Honorary Doctorate. Since then, the principles have been expanded and reframed for organisational leaders navigating disruption, talent challenges and increasing complexity in the workplace.

Rather than focusing on personal motivation, Áine examines how clarity of purpose operates as a leadership capability — enabling better decision-making, stronger alignment between individual values and organisational goals, and more effective leadership through change.

The talk directly addresses challenges that matter to organisations today, including:

• Decision-making under pressure
• Retaining and engaging talent in times of uncertainty
• Supporting meaningful career progression and internal mobility
• Creating environments where people can perform, adapt and stay

Each principle is grounded in real-world leadership experience and translated into practical, commercially relevant takeaways that leaders and teams can apply immediately to improve focus, performance and outcomes.

In this keynote, Áine draws on her leadership experience to make a clear, evidence-led case for why organisations must do more than talk about gender balance — they must actively recognise and mobilise the full female talent pool.

Rather than focusing on individual resilience or personal stories, Áine examines how unconscious bias, outdated leadership norms and narrow definitions of “readiness” continue to limit access to senior roles — at significant cost to organisational performance.

She challenges leaders to reassess how talent is identified, developed and promoted, highlighting the strategic strengths women consistently bring to senior teams: strong decision-making under pressure, systems thinking, people leadership and long-term value creation.

This talk is practical, commercially grounded and future-focused. It equips organisations to:

• Identify and address structural and cultural gender bias
• Broaden leadership pipelines without lowering standards
• Build more effective, diverse senior teams
• Improve engagement, retention and ultimately profitability

Áine’s ongoing commitment is clear: helping women reach their potential and helping organisations build leadership teams that are better equipped to lead in complexity and change.

In this keynote, Áine examines what effective leadership looks like in organisations facing constant change, competing priorities and rising expectations from employees.

Drawing on her experience as a leader and observing other leaders across multiple organisations, she explores why today’s most successful leaders are not defined by a single leadership style, but by their ability to balance seemingly opposing demands — clarity and flexibility, empathy and accountability, long-term vision and short-term delivery.

The talk focuses on how leaders can:

• Make sound decisions in complex, ambiguous environments
• Lead with authenticity while maintaining high performance standards
• Develop a growth mindset that supports learning, innovation and adaptability
• Build trust and engagement through human-centric leadership
• Create conditions that improve staff retention and attract high-quality talent

Áine connects leadership behaviour directly to business outcomes, showing how strong leadership capability drives execution, supports innovation and creates workplaces where people choose to stay and perform.

This is a practical, grounded talk for leaders at all levels who want to lead well — not perfectly — and who understand that how they lead has a measurable impact on the success of the business.

In this keynote, Áine shares first-hand leadership lessons from building and scaling two fast-growth digital organisations from seed stage through to successful acquisition — while remaining anchored to clear values and purpose.

Drawing on her experience leading through rapid growth, complexity and constant pressure, Áine explores how purpose and values are not “nice to have” ideals, but critical decision-making tools when scaling organisations.

She shows how clarity of purpose helps leaders:

• Make better trade-offs as complexity increases
• Scale teams and culture without dilution
• Maintain customer trust during rapid growth
• Navigate ethical, people and governance decisions under pressure
• Build organisations that are attractive to talent, customers and acquirers

The talk examines the inflection points where values are most tested — hyper-growth, leadership transitions, investor expectations and acquisition preparation — and how leaders can use purpose as a stabilising force rather than a constraint.

Áine is candid about the realities of scaling businesses, offering practical frameworks and reflections that help founders and executives grow organisations that perform commercially and stand up to scrutiny at exit.