Nathalie Nahai is a bestselling author, lecturer, advisor and expert in psychology, human behaviour, and persuasive tech. Her unique background in human behaviour, web design, and the arts all band together to help in examining complex challenges that we face in today's world. Described as ‘a rare polymath of deep expertise in tech, marketing and psychology’, Nathalie’s ability to leave audiences energised, excited, and inspired has made her a sought-after keynote speaker.
With a BSc in Psychology, her expertise in web design comes from the initial stages of her career when she worked in tech design. She wanted to map out a comprehensive framework through which to understand online behaviour. Most recently, Nathalie has become a lecturer on the “Transversal vision of artificial intelligence” for ELISAVA’s Masters programme in Human Interaction and AI. She is also the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon - intimate, curated evenings where 12 strangers gather over locally sourced food and wine to explore how we might orient towards life, beauty and meaning in difficult times.
An international bestselling author, Nathalie is the author of “Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion”, “Website Branding for Small Businesses” and “Business Unusual”, the latter underpinning her work for big-name clients such as Google, Allianz, Unilever, Harvard Business Review, and more. Her story and work have been featured in Bustle, The Guardian, The Independent, the Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph and Harvard Business Review. Nathalie also hosts ‘Nathalie Nahai in Conversation’, ‘Do Radio’ and Guardian Podcasts.
Particularly skilled at helping brands and organisations adapt to AI and automation, Nathalie also helps them to understand the psychological dynamics of evolving consumer behaviours, face challenges that lie in engaging millennials and Gen Z, and ethically apply behavioural science principles to enhance their customer experience. Whether you’re looking to communicate more resonantly, engage people more persuasively or create cultures of integrity that better attract and retain both employees and customers, Nathalie’s insightful, actionable keynotes and workshops offer a robust roadmap to help you navigate uncertainty with greater skill and success. She has been invited to speak at prestigious platforms like SXSW, the Guardian Changing Media Summit and Web Summit, in addition to speaking at Cambridge University and UCL. A preferred consultant for several Fortune 500 companies, Nathalie Nahai is now available to hire for a wide range of events.
Books
Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion
Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience
Nathalie Nahai's official speaking topics are listed below:
Leader Sapiens, Harnessing the Power Of Human Wisdom in the Age of AI:
As our media and information ecosystems strain under the weight of AI generated content, news, and search results, customers are becoming increasingly anxious and unsure of who (and what) to trust. If everything can be faked, how can we tell what’s authentic and real?
In this keynote, we’ll explore some of the hidden dynamics contributing to a consumer zeitgeist of precarity, uncertainty and distrust, and learn how companies and their leaders can cut through the noise to meaningfully connect with their customers.
Building Trust, Connection & Discernment in an Age of AI:
Every day we’re bombarded by new headlines about AI - how it’s evolving, the threats and benefits it poses to our jobs, and how it will transform our lives. Yet how much of this is hype?
When it comes to reclaiming our agency, how can we discern fact from fiction? And in the face of increasingly automated interactions, how do we earn trust and prioritise real connection with our customers, while navigating the promise and perils of synthetic relationships?
From performance and projection, to AI hype and the five Cs, this talk will show you how to isolate the signal from the noise.
From the most exciting advancements in emerging technologies to the most challenging issues they bring, we'll unpack some of the insights, context, and critical skills you’ll need in order to assess and leverage AI to augment (rather than undermine) your work, your social connections, and your future.
Agency, Creativity & Critical-Thinking in an Age of AI:
As we speed towards a more automated, performance-oriented future, it can be easy to believe there’s increasingly little room for our own creativity, critical thinking, and imagination.
And yet cutting-edge research suggests that when it comes to meaningful communication, psychological wellbeing, and a life well lived, there is still a lot to learn about AI's role in our lives.
In this revealing talk, we’ll take a peek behind the hype and explore the three universal psychological needs driving human behaviour. From enhancing our autonomy to cultivating belonging through authentic expression, we’ll explore how business leaders and brands can leverage emerging technologies in concert with our deeper desires to cultivate customer relationships that last.
We’ll unpack how AI can either undermine or enhance our agency, learn about the hidden cost of uniformity, and how - in an increasingly noisy world - we can harness our creativity as an antidote to automation.
Navigating AI blind spots: Risks & Rewards in an age of AI:
Across industries, business leaders are turning to AI to enhance productivity, optimise workflows and scale solutions. However as the hype cycle progresses, how can we identify and mitigate the cognitive, psychological and relational risks that AI tools present while simultaneously harnessing their benefits?
In this incisive talk, you’ll learn about some of the most costly blind-spots we face, and how to avoid them. From identifying and mitigating the effects of sycophancy and LLM biases, to reducing the risks endemic to hallucinations, workslop and and the AI authorship effect, you’ll come away with the insights you need to be able to see through the hype and refine your thinking. This keynote will help you to build stronger “metacognition” so that you can harness AI tools to free your cognitive capacities, break fixed mindsets and expand your knowledge, thereby creating the conditions for true creativitiy and innovation to flourish
Eudaimonia: Connection & Meaning in an Age of AI:
This thought-provoking talk explores the intricate balance between the march of automation and human connection, and reveals how we can adapt to a changing landscape of decision-making and engagement in an age of AI.
As we look towards a more automated, performance-oriented future - from how we engage consumers to the ways in which we work - it can be easy to believe there’s increasingly little room for our own ingenuity, skills, and imagination. Yet as technology becomes increasingly integrated into all aspects of life, it is precisely our ability to step back and understand others at a more meaningful level that will enable us to thrive.
In a quantified world, as marketing transforms from mass media to hyper-personalised, algorithmically targeted content, we must find new ways to reach through the noise to create genuine, memorable moments of connection. Given the challenges we face in retaining human connection in an increasingly technological world, this talk will showcase how our success (or failure) ultimately relies upon our capacity to capture and transport people's imaginations.
Business Unusual: The Psychology Behind Resilient Brands:
In the face of so much volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and with so much of our communication now online, how can organisations adapt to rapidly changing consumer behaviours and expectations to future-proof their brand and reputation?
Drawing upon her most recent book, *Business Unusual*, in this keynote Nathalie explores the role of trust and transparency in decision-making and how to harness trends around social identity, values, and eudaimonic consumerism.
From cutting-edge advancements in marketing, customer engagement, and persuasive tech, to leveraging AI to enhance user experience, earn trust, and boost conversions, this rapidly evolving topic is perfect for anyone wanting to get ahead of the curve.
Diving into the psychology behind the trends, you'll discover how to meet our deeper hidden needs for self-determination, and learn how to drive meaningful, mutually beneficial customer experiences while earning greater customer trust and loyalty.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Nathalie has a deep expertise and understanding of what motivates web users and how interactive design can enhance (rather than detract) from one’s online experience. She also has a delightful and engaging style that allows her to connect with large audiences and keep them arrested throughout her presentation… It’s a rare skill indeed. I’d be thrilled to have Nathalie headline another Harvard Business Review event." - Joshua, HBR
"Thank you for your remarkable presentation and for playing such a significant role on our events in TLV earlier this month. We knew from the start that with you it should be a hit, and we were right: our guests had nothing but amazing things to say about you, everyone asked to get your presentation, and without a doubt your insightful session was valuable to the success of the event." - Yael, Google
"Nathalie’s insights into the influence of online behaviour and how that should inform a brand’s authenticity, originality, and overall marketing approach were incredible; immensely practical for all companies, from small business to enterprise." - Toby, Social Media Week
"Nathalie is quite simply the face, the voice and the writer that’s bringing practical psychology to the worlds of business, and specifically marketing with an informative, energetic and engaging style. She cuts through academic tomes and complex jargon with a presenting style that brings the topic to life. Nathalie is an energetic, entertaining and incredibly knowledgeable speaker who makes complex psychology and neuroscience principles easy to understand and apply for business professionals." - Sam, Chinwag
"An exceptional keynote speaker. On the theme of value, agency and meaning in an age of AI, she spoke with contagious passion and excitement, and challenged everyone to think deeply about our key topic: humanity’s place in an AI-driven world." - Andy, Technical Evangelist, Tableau
"Nathalie Nahai had a group of 500 of our sharpest, most plugged-in customers riveted as she delved into her fascinating research on why people share. You can tell when a person is a born performer, and Nathalie has that extra something that makes it impossible not to give her your undivided attention." - Jim, Spredfast
"Nathalie has a deep expertise and understanding of what motivates web users and how interactive design can enhance (rather than detract from) one’s online experience. She also has a delightful and engaging style that allows her to connect with large audiences and keep them arrested throughout her presentation… It’s a rare skill indeed." - Joshua, Harvard Business Publishing
"Nathalie's session was the highest rated session at the entire event. Her topics fit our business needs really well. There are tonnes of people who can talk about shopping behaviour or brand loyalty but I hadn't seen any that came from the psychological perspective and whose talk track fit nearly as well into our conference themes." - Deborah, MovableInk
"A supremely charismatic and knowledgeable speaker, she’s exactly what we were looking for in a keynote speaker and she exceeded our extremely high expectations." - Kelvin, Brighton SEO
"We wanted to feature a speaker that will give us a different perspective of AI, not just the doomsday scenario that AI will take over. Nathalie's emphasis on trust, authenticity, and AI-generated content really resonated, especially in today’s evolving landscape." - IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines
"In a world where moving fast and breaking things have been the norm in terms of AI, Nathalie's perspectives on how we can implement persuasive technologies with restraint and a higher level of focus is refreshing. By far the highest rated speaker, her views on human interaction and technology resonated well with our values and offerings in the fields of digital experience, user experience and personalisation. Nathalie's keynote seeded new perspectives on how to invest and focus on AI." - Carl, Head of Marketing, NOVA
- 2026 - Speaker at GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
- 2024 - Member, ON_Discourse
- 2024 - Lecturer, Elisava School of Design and Engineering
- 2022 - Founder, Flourishing Futures Salon
- 2021 - Published 'Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience'
- 2018 - Launched In Conversation with Nathalie Nahai podcast on tech and human behaviour
- 2013 - Published bestseller 'Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion'
- 2012 - Hosted Guardian Changing Media Summit on digital transformation
- 2010 - Consulted for Fortune 500 companies like Google, eBay, and Unilever
- 2008 - Began delivering international keynotes on digital behaviour and design
- 2005 - Shifted focus from web design to online persuasion psychology
- 2002 - Built a foundation blending psychology with technology
How to hire Nathalie Nahai
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Nathalie Nahai for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
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