Dr. James Hewitt
Dr James Hewitt is a Human Performance Scientist and a leading expert in performance under pressure. He speaks globally on equipping leaders and teams to execute when the stakes are high and consults with elite sport organisations and Fortune 500 businesses worldwide.
Background
Dr. James Hewitt is a Human Performance Scientist with a passion for equipping leaders and teams to deliver when it matters, protecting focus, decision quality, and sustainable execution. Former Chief Innovation Officer at the high-performance coaching firm behind 19 Formula One World Championships, he turns what works in elite settings into practical, science-backed tools for modern organisations, including Fortune 500 leaders and executive programmes at IMD, Duke CE, and the University of St. Gallen. He continues to advise Formula One drivers and teams, bringing real-time insight into leadership and organisational performance.
In his earlier career, James was a full-time racing cyclist, competing at an international level before transitioning to performance science. He has since earned a PhD in Human Performance Science from Loughborough University, ranked #1 in the world for Sport, Exercise, and Health Science by the QS World University Rankings, where he remains a Visiting Fellow.
James has delivered keynotes in over 35 countries, including speaking at the Global Leadership Summit, the world’s largest leadership event, the Nordic Business Forum (alongside President Obama), and served as a delegate at three World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in Davos.
James is the author of the best-selling book Regenerative Performance: How To Thrive in an Always-On World Without Sacrificing Your Well-Being. He previously co-authored the book Exponential: Better life, better performance: from Formula 1 to Fortune 500 with the late Dr. Aki Hintsa, the key figure behind F1 champions such as Mika Häkkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. James’s work has been featured in CNN, USA Today, Fortune, and Nasdaq.
Style
James is driven by application, ensuring that every insight translates into practical tools audiences can use on Monday morning. But he knows that tools only stick if people are engaged first, so his keynotes are designed to be as entertaining as they are evidence-based.
James brings warmth, wit, and energy to the stage. He’s as comfortable riffing with an audience of 8,000 as he is in an intimate executive session, and he uses humour to make complex neuroscience accessible and memorable. Clients consistently describe his presentations as “captivating”, featuring gripping stories from F1, live brain-monitoring demonstrations, and moments of genuine laughter alongside the science.
Having spent his career moving between F1 and Fortune 500 boardrooms, James understands the importance of combining scientific rigour with commercial relevance and delivering it in a way that keeps people leaning in.
James is also a cancer survivor, experienced in facing high-stakes pressure personally, not just professionally. He brings a unique perspective on what pressure does to the mind and body, and how to train for moments that matter.
Expertise
- James’s area of expertise is performance under pressure in both elite sport and corporate settings.
- James has delivered over 1,000 keynotes and workshops globally and developed proprietary frameworks now used by F1 teams and Fortune 500 leadership.
- PhD Human Performance Science, Loughborough University (QS #1 ranked globally for Sport, Exercise, and Health Science).
- Visiting Fellow, Loughborough University.
- Author of best-selling book Regenerative Performance.
- Creator of Cognitive Gears™ framework.
- US O-1A visa holder for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences.
- Live EEG brain-monitoring demonstration capability (used by elite athletes and F1 teams).
Sector Expertise
- Elite & Professional Sport (incl. Motorsport / Formula One)
- Financial Services (banking, capital markets, asset management)
- Professional Services (consulting, legal, advisory)
- Technology & Digital Platforms (incl. gaming)
- Life Sciences & Healthcare (pharma + biotech)
- Aviation & Airlines
- Hospitality, Travel & Leisure
- Industrial, Manufacturing & Materials
- Automotive & Mobility (non-sport)
- Higher Education & Executive Education
- Global Forums, Conferences & Member Organisations
We were looking for an inspiring speaker that would be able to share new insights and a new perspective. What we didn’t expect was for a total experience. From the moment, James, stepped onto stage to his closing remarks, the audience was gripped. James is able to combine elements of his work in sport, science and the corporate world to provide an engaging presentation.
It was a real masterclass in turning something scientific and complex into something wonderfully accessible to everyone. It was everything I was hoping for… and more.
James received really high customer evaluations. He empowered the audience with takeaways that are easily put into practice. The message was all science-backed, and the presentation was exciting. On top of that, James was super nice and easy to work with.
When booking James we knew that we needed to find someone who can be educational yet engaging at the same time. James did not disappoint. He brought many interesting findings to light while engaging our MBA Alumni community. Through his story telling, presentation of data and personality, James was able to successfully tailor his message of sustainable high performance to a highly competitive crowd. If you are looking for someone who can captivate an audience and also bring forth evidence, James is the right person to call. We would gladly have James back on our campus in the future.
The more than 400 professionals from our firm felt that, first of all, each of them got something concrete to take away and implement in their daily lives. Second, I believe James succeeded in offering more theoretical take-aways, principles if you will, for the more senior people, like myself, that support acting in leadership roles in knowledge economy. Third, James has a truly engaging presence and made everyone feel like he genuinely cares about the improvement of each audience member’s experience. James’ message has longevity beyond the one session and, when shared across the firm, supports working smarter as individuals and as a team.
James’ talk was the perfect mix between leadership, motivation and technology. It was entertaining and relevant at the same time. Our team loved the practical take-aways that were dropped into the story and some of them will definitely help to boost our performance. I would definitely recommend James for any corporate event.
I have had an opportunity to benefit from James Hewitt’s teaching, workshops and keynotes – including his personal coaching insights on sustainable high performance – for a few years now. He has managed to take the pursuit of this vitally important leadership dimension to a wholly new level. Most importantly, the insights are broken into every day practical applications with immediate benefits for my self-leadership, and indeed the underlying performance culture of my leadership team. To change human performance to the better is, in many ways, the ultimate challenge for any leader – James is a true game changer, helping any leader or organisation to reach this ambitious goal.
James’ knowledge in performance science coupled with business acumen is something that companies and individuals can draw on in a wide variety of ways; anyone working with James will very quickly be able to implement and put his expertise to use. Needless to say, he is also a remarkable public speaker and I have seen him captivate rooms filled with 6000+ people. The world needs more people like James.
James was a keynote speaker during UBS Global Health Week. He captivated the audience from the first minute of his presentation till the very end. I found James a great speaker: as we all know it’s not that easy to keep attention of the audience the whole time of the presentation, but James did it. His speech was dynamic and passionate.
It was not only the speech that was amazing, but the fact that within an hour of his presentation, James managed to inspire a lot of people to make a change in their lives, or at least, to consider making a change. I highly recommend James Hewitt as a speaker if you want to bring a change and innovation in your business.
