The Unseen Power of Emotion in Driving Change

Data and Al leaders own the biggest driver of change in business today - Al. What does it take to be successful today and stay successful in the coming years? How can you lead effectively in an environment of constant change, pressure, and complexity?

In the world of digital transformation, we obsess over platforms, integrations, and roadmaps. We debate which tools to deploy, which systems to upgrade, and how to scale adoption. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: technology doesn’t fail because of bad code or weak infrastructure. It fails because we ignore emotion.

Every system upgrade, every new platform, every digital shift is, at its core, an emotional experience. Excitement, fear, frustration, hope—these are not side effects of technology change; they are the drivers of whether people embrace it or resist it. And yet, most organisations still treat emotion as something irrelevant to tech strategy.

This keynote draws from the core thesis of Jennifer’s upcoming book, exposing the critical blind spot that continues to derail digital change: our collective fear of engaging with the emotional side of transformation. Until we confront it, no tool, platform, or roadmap will ever deliver its full promise.

Audience Takeaways:

• A new lens for understanding how emotion drives change
• Tools to build emotional awareness in teams
• Strategies to transform emotional resistance into creative momentum
• Playful practices that balance logic and emotion in the change process

Jennifer Bryan's motto is - People first, task second! When you put people first you do 3 things: Increase employee satisfaction, Save money, Make money. Coming from a theatrical background, Jennifer has a unique perspective and a talent for connecting ideas and people together.

Jennifer is on a mission to put people at the heart of decision-making. With a rare blend of creativity, strategy, and empathy, she brings an “end-of-person-in-mind” perspective to organisational change ensuring transformation isn’t just implemented, but truly lived.

For over 25 years, Jennifer has guided a plethora of organisations across multiple industries through complex, high-stakes change helping leaders and teams not only survive disruption, but thrive in it. From Microsoft and Barclays to CBRE and Mott MacDonald, her track record spans global technology rollouts, digital transformations, workplace redesigns, and cultural shifts, always with people as the cornerstone of success.

A multi-award-winning Change Leader, published author, TEDx and key note speaker, Jennifer is also Chief Empowerment Officer of her own consultancy (named after her children), Vice President of the Association of Change Management Professionals UK, and a columnist for Workplace Insight magazine. Her philosophy “there is no learning without change, and no change without learning” runs through everything she does.