Tommy Hughes is a human performance expert and speaker who currently works as the People Performance Director at the Aston Martin Formula One Team. Previously serving in the British Army for over five years, he has also worked as a People Performance Manager at Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains. With experience spanning the military, hospitality and motorsports, Tommy helps organisations perform at their peak without burning out by creating cultures where people thrive.
Starting his career in the British Army, Tommy completed operational tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, later becoming a Non-Commissioned Officer. Following his service in the military, Tommy moved to Dubai and began working as a Project Coordinator at Streamline Marketing Group, where he managed relationships with sponsors including NASA and Virgin Galactic. Later headhunted to become an Account Manager at GES Middle East, Tommy planned some of the UAE’s largest exhibitions, conferences and festivals. In 2011, he became Senior Operations Manager at Qatar National Convention Centre, where he led the launch of a multi-billion-dollar global venue in Qatar. After returning to the UK and completing a master's in Management, he joined Mercedes as a People Performance Manager. During his time at the team, Tommy designed and implemented a comprehensive performance and wellbeing programme which included a nutrition strategy and a world-class performance centre.
Since 2025, Tommy has served as the People Performance Director at Aston Martin F1 Team, where he designs and delivers programmes that integrate wellbeing, cognitive readiness, leadership behaviours and organisational culture. Alongside his work in Formula One, Tommy runs his own private consultancy supporting individuals and organisations to achieve peak performance. He has also recently completed a PhD in Health Research from the University of Bath.
As a keynote speaker, Tommy draws on his experience in Formula One to create frameworks for businesses operating in high-pressure environments, ensuring performance and wellbeing coexist. His engaging and practical keynotes include How F1 Turns Mistakes into Performance, How Elite Teams Stay Ahead Without Burning Out and Building the Mindset to Perform Under Pressure. These keynotes equip audiences with lessons in recovery, teamwork and dealing with setbacks. Book Tommy today for your next event via Champions Speakers!
Tommy Hughes' official speaking topics are listed below:
Learning at Race Pace: How F1 Turns Mistakes into Performance
Why the fastest teams aren't the ones that fail least, but the ones that learn quickest.
Every organisation says it learns from its mistakes, yet errors get hidden, reviews turn into blame, and the same problems keep coming back. Formula One can't afford to work that way. From design through to race day, the whole team is built to learn, taking every challenge apart and turning it into an opportunity to improve.
Drawing on lessons from elite motorsport, where honest debriefs are part of everyday life, this session shows that learning fast is a people problem, not a process problem. Teams only improve quickly when people feel safe to own mistakes and speak up early.
Audiences will leave understanding:
- why the speed of learning matters more than the size of the mistake
- how elite teams debrief honestly without blame
- how leaders make it safe to raise problems while they're still small
Leading the Pack: How Elite Teams Stay Ahead Without Burning Out
Getting to the front is hard. Staying there is harder.
Organisations are investing more in wellbeing than ever, yet burnout keeps rising, and it's often the highest performers who break first. The problem isn't a lack of effort. It's that wellbeing sits beside the work instead of inside it.
Formula One asks a huge amount of its people, with a long global season, relentless travel and constant pressure to find performance. The teams that stay ahead treat people as part of the performance system, planning recovery, nutrition, psychology and workload with the same care as the car itself. Drawing on elite motorsport and research into human thriving, this session shows that high standards and wellbeing aren't a trade off.
Audiences will leave understanding:
- why traditional wellbeing initiatives rarely change outcomes
- how to build recovery into the way work is designed and led
- how to protect high performers before they burn out
Race Ready: Building the Mindset to Perform Under Pressure
Pressure doesn't change who you are. It reveals how well you've prepared.
Everyone performs well when things are going smoothly. The real test comes when the stakes are high, time is short and something goes wrong. That's when doubt creeps in, focus slips and even talented people fall short of what they're capable of.
In Formula One, performing under pressure isn't left to chance. Elite performers train their mindset as deliberately as their skills, learning how to stay calm, focus on what they can control and recover quickly from setbacks. Drawing on elite motorsport and applied performance psychology, this session gives audiences practical tools to think clearly and perform at their best when it matters most.
Audiences will leave understanding:
- why pressure exposes preparation rather than talent
- how elite performers stay focused on what they can control
- simple techniques to reset quickly after a setback
- 2026 - Received PhD in Health Research from University of Bath
- 2025 - People Performance Director at Aston Martin F1 Team
- 2018 - People Performance Manager at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains
- 2016 - Completed masters in Management at University of Liverpool
- 2011 - Senior Operations Manager at Qatar National Convention Centre
- 2010 - Account Manager at GES Middle East
- 2008 - Project Coordinator at Streamline Marketing Group
- 2002 - Non-Commisioned Officer in British Army
How to hire Tommy Hughes
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Tommy Hughes 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.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
