An international, cross-industry career that has moved from corporate management to extensive research, advisory and capability development services to public, private and third sector organisations. Tim has lived and worked in the UK, France (3 years) and United States (20 years), building an impressive research and entrepreneurial record, with demonstrated commitment to delivering social benefit.

As Founder and President, World Commerce & Contracting (formerly International Association for Contract & Commercial Management), Tim has built a 72,000 member worldwide non-profit association which increasingly influences commercial policies and contracting practices in major corporations and governments. In September 2019, he was presented with the Financial Times ‘Market Shaper of the Year’ Award.

Tim was until recently Professor and Chair, International Commercial & Contract Management, University of Leeds, School of Law, where he taught and led development of inter-disciplinary commercial programs.

Prior to founding World Commerce & Contracting, Tim was on the Chairman’s staff at IBM Corporation and led the development of worldwide commercial processes and skills. His early career included management roles in banking, automotive and aerospace industries, where he led negotiations up to $1.5 billion in value. He has served in advisory roles for government departments in various countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Adrian Furner has over 25 years’ experience in the design, implementation, and delivery of complex commercial transactions through novel business models. He has worked in a variety of sectors including defence and security, aviation, technology and is Managing Director of Kommercialize.

Kommercialize is a practitioner-led organization focused on ‘Commercial Excellence’, supporting organizations in developing and leveraging their ‘commercial acumen’ to gain better business outcomes. This includes: raising their commercial awareness; designing and implementing innovation models; and deploying relational contracting to enhance business performance.

Prior to founding Kommercialize, Adrian held a number of Director level commercial, procurement, and operations roles within BAE Systems, giving him significant experience including: multi-billion £, long-term Private Finance Initiative (PFI) bids; joint venture creation and management; outsourced training management; portfolio management; asset financing; civil aircraft sale, leasing and broking; and fully financed naval ship reactivations.

Adrian is a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), and a Fellow of the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM), where he is a former member elected Board Director. Adrian has contributed to a number of books on commercial and contract management and co-authored the recently published Professional Services Leadership Handbook (www.koganpage.com/pslh).

With two decades of experience in leading and coaching agile teams and organizations, Stijn Follet is currently focusing on the context for agility through contracting, culture, leadership and teamwork. He is co-author of the Agile Contract Manifesto.

At Capgemini, he is the Global Leader of the Agile & DevOps Movement, instigator of the Agile & DevOps Playbook, and global content owner of the agile training curriculum.