The business leaders' AI summit

AltitudeX is back.

Join us at the National Football Museum on 10 October and learn how to reach new heights.

Extraordinary people. Candid conversations. Inspiring ideas.

AltitudeX is the annual summit for candid conversations with extraordinary business people, where leaders learn how to reach new heights. Now in its fourth year, we’re taking over an iconic Manchester venue for a reimagined AltitudeX experience.

Thursday 10 October 2024

09:00 – 19:00 BST

National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Manchester

Your AltitudeX 2024 line-up

Take a look at some of the first names to be confirmed for this year’s summit. Watch this space for more announcements coming soon!

Steve Parry

Director and Olympic medal-winning swimmer

Steve has spent the last 30 years either in the pool, or campaigning for children across the UK to have access to one. In his career as an international swimmer, Steve won a bronze medal at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. After retiring from competitive swimming in 2005, Steve was on a mission to use his platform for good and co-founded his first business, Total Swimming. Now a group of Olympian-led businesses, Sporting House consists of Total Swimming Academies, Beth Tweddle Gymnastics, Becky Adlington’s SwimStars, Becky Adlington Training, swim! and ReCreation. As a group, Sporting House is committed to breaking down the barriers for kids to reach their true potential. Separate to this, Steve occasionally works across television and radio as a sports commentator.

Mark Lawson

Broadcast Journalist and Writer

Mark Lawson is one of Britain's most esteemed journalists and arts presenters. Perhaps best known for his work with the BBC, which includes his interview series "Mark Lawson talks to" where has interviewed some of the world's most fascinating people, including Noel Gallagher, Stephen Fry and Succession's Brian Cox. Mark currently writes for The Guardian on various topics including arts, politics, and literature.

Janet Hadley

Head of Supplier Engagement at Co-op

Janet Hadley boasts over 20 years in grocery, delivering in senior category roles at Asda and Co-op Food. For the past eight years, Janet has been responsible for Co-op’s supplier engagement strategy, leading the organisation and its suppliers through major transformational and regulatory changes like Brexit. Janet is passionate about achieving high performance through empathetic leadership. Most recently Janet has launched a social enterprise that helps businesses create Alcohol Safe workplaces.

Hans Thalbauer

Global Supply Chain Executive at UiPath

Hans is globally responsible for solution management and the go-to-market functions for UiPath’s supply chain solutions. In this role, he is engaged in creative dialogues with businesses and operations worldwide, addressing customer needs and introducing innovative business processes, including the vision of creating an autonomous supply chain by leveraging Artificial Intelligence. Hans was more than 20 years with SAP, and he recently worked at Google Cloud. He is based out of San Francisco, USA. He held positions in product management, go-to-market and sales organizations. Hans holds a degree in Business Information Systems from the University Vienna, Austria.

Simon Clarke

Consultant and former director at Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard

Simon Clarke has led commercial and marketing teams in some of the most dynamic drinks companies in the world over the last 25 years. Including several leadership roles at Coca-Cola. He now runs a learning and development consultancy focused on optimizing team and individual performance.

Richard Potter

CEO and co-founder at Peak

Richard Potter is the CEO and co-founder of Peak, the AI platform that optimizes product inventory and pricing for companies like Speedy Hire, Nike, Pepsico and PrettyLittleThing. Last year, Peak was listed on Bloomberg’s “Top 25 Start Ups to Watch” list. Prior to Peak, Richard worked for the high-growth semiconductor company Wolfson Microelectronics (now Cirrus Logic), where he ran a product line that supplied chips to Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Sony.

Holly Clarke

Product Manager at Peak and AltitudeX host

Holly Clarke is a Product Manager at AI company, Peak. She joined the business in 2019 as an AI Consultant, before running strategic initiatives, special projects and championing Peak’s world-class culture as Chief of Staff. Holly has a keen interest in how technology can shape society and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering.

Agenda

Here’s what we’ve got planned for this year’s business leaders’ AI summit

09:00 – 10:00

Registration and breakfast

Get settled in and grab a bite to it.

10:05 – 10:40

Opening keynote: Richard Potter

Session info coming soon.

Richard Potter

CEO and co-founder at Peak

10:40 – 11:15

The power of none

We’re born with seemingly endless curiosity, but as the years go by, we tend to lose that curiosity, with a creeping feeling that we’ve seen it all before. Simon Clarke has worked for some of the world’s biggest drinks brands, including Coca-Cola. He believes that keeping hold of that curiosity is key to innovation, to success as a leader and a business more broadly. At AltitudeX, you’ll learn how to hold on to your curiosity and the incredible impact this can have.

Simon Clarke

Consultant and former director at Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard

11:30 – 12:00

UiPath: Hans Thalbauer

Session info coming soon.

Hans Thalbauer

Global Supply Chain Executive at UiPath

12:00 – 13:00

⏸️ Half-time

Grab some food on us. Enjoy a half-time pie, explore the National Football Museum and check out our generative AI workshop with our in-house expert, Abhinav Singh.

Abhinav Singh

Senior AI Product Manager at Peak

13:00 – 13:50

The questions that change everything

In Mark Lawson’s incredible career, he’s talked to some of the most fascinating people in the world. Whether he’s interviewing Noel Gallagher, Stephen Fry or Miriam Margolyes, Mark has mastered the power of asking the questions that cut through. In this session, we're reversing the roles. We're sitting down with Mark Lawson to explore the questions and answers that changed his life — and could change yours, too.

Mark Lawson

Broadcast Journalist and Writer

Helen Craven

Data Scientist at Peak

13:50 – 14:25

Janet Hadley: Co-op

Session info coming soon.

Janet Hadley

Head of Supplier Engagement at Co-op

14:25 – 15:00

Talk details coming soon

Session info coming soon.

15:00 – 15:35

The value of impatience

Session info coming soon.

15:50 – 16:40

Closing keynote: Steve Parry

2024 was an extraordinary year for British sport. We watched as British Olympic athletes won medal-after-medal, reaching new heights in their career. But what does it take to become an Olympic medalist? And what could business leaders learn from their stories? Steve Parry has the answer. An Olympic bronze medal-winning swimmer at Athens 2004, Steve has since gone on to launch his own business. He’ll be explaining what it takes to win an Olympic medal and how to translate those learnings into business success. He’ll give insight into how to succeed at both work and in life through the power of a strong mindset, and by taking individual responsibility while also building the right team around you.

Steve Parry

Director and Olympic medal-winning swimmer

What to expect from AltitudeX 2024

This year, we’re putting a spotlight on business leaders. Gathering inspirational people from across industries and disciplines, we'll be hearing their stories; the big ideas that helped them reach new heights, personally or professionally.