A trusted advisor in Australia, Asia-Pacific, and The Middle East:
Leadership Keynote Speaker for Conferences, Leadership Events, and Internal Sessions
AJ Kulatunga is a global leadership keynote speaker and business strategist who helps senior audiences turn ambitious ideas and important priorities into action through Execution Intelligence™. His keynotes are designed for conferences, executive off-sites, strategy days, leadership forums, association events, and internal team sessions where organisers want more than inspiration. AJ helps leaders think clearly, make better decisions, influence stakeholders, create ownership, and build momentum when they return to work. Based in Australia and working across Australia, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East, AJ is a strong fit for events focused on leadership, execution, transformation, innovation, AI adoption, and decision-making. His sessions are particularly effective as opening or closing keynotes because they connect event themes to practical action audiences can carry back to work.
Australian Keynotes from AUD $10,000 + GST
Leadership Offsites from AUD $7,500 + GST
Virtual Sessions from AUD $4,000 + GST
International Keynotes from USD $10,000
AJ offers fixed-fee keynote packages so organisers can plan with confidence. For most Australian capital-city events, standard travel is included in the quoted fee.
Travel Hubs: Melbourne, Singapore, London, Denver
Available for events across: Australia, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, the UK, Europe, and North America
Phone / WhatsApp: +61 418 810 397
AJ uses live music as a simple, memorable metaphor for leadership, alignment, timing and momentum, helping complex ideas land in a way audiences remember after the event.
WHY ORGANISERS TRUST AJ
AJ is a safe choice for senior audiences who want substance without hype, practical insight without jargon, and a speaker who is easy to work with before, during, and after the event.
He brings strategic thinking, humour, warmth, deep preparation, and practical frameworks that help audiences leave with something they can use back at work.
Ideal for conferences, leadership events, internal sessions, strategy days, executive off-sites and senior forums.
WHY ORGANISERS CHOOSE AJ
Many speakers inspire.
Some entertain.
Few help leaders decide and act.
AJ is often booked when an event needs to help senior audiences:
- make sense of important ideas
- move from conversation to action
- influence stakeholders
- create ownership
- build momentum after the event
AJ’s work is built around Execution Intelligence™: the practical capability leaders need to move ambitious ideas through decisions, ownership, and action.
This makes AJ a strong fit for events focused on leadership, change, transformation, innovation, AI adoption, strategy and execution.
AJ delivers with calm authority, humour, and a creative strategic edge, helping senior audiences think clearly and act with confidence.
WHERE AJ FITS IN YOUR AGENDA
AJ’s sessions go beyond inspiration.
They help your audience turn insight into action.
🎯 Opening Keynote
Set a strong frame for the event by helping leaders see why ambitious ideas get stuck, and what it takes to move them through people, decisions, resistance, and action.
🎯 Closing Keynote
Bring the event together by helping audiences make sense of the ideas they have heard, identify what matters most, and leave with momentum to act when they return to work.
🎯 After a Futurist, Industry Expert, or Strategy Session
AJ is especially valuable after futurists, industry experts, executive panels, and strategy sessions, where the audience has been shown what is changing and now needs a practical way to move forward. After a futurist shows your audience what’s coming, AJ helps them decide what to do next.
🎯 Breakout Sessions & Workshops
Turn event themes into practical application through interactive sessions on execution, influence, decision-making, and leading ideas through complexity.
🎯 Leadership Offsites & Strategy Days
Help senior teams move from conversation to clarity by identifying where important ideas are getting stuck and what needs to happen next.
WHO IS AJ FOR
AJ is the perfect speaker for you if :
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Your audience is senior, experienced, and values substance over hype
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You need more than a motivational keynote
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Your event is focused on leadership, change, transformation, innovation, AI, strategy, or execution
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You want people to leave with useful ideas they can apply back at work
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You need a speaker who is warm, credible, polished, and easy to work with
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You are a speaker bureau, event organiser, or internal leader looking for a trusted business keynote speaker
See AJ on stage
Preview moments from AJ’s Impact & Influence keynote.
Trust Has Changed – Why is Impact & Influence So Important?
The Main Goal of Impact & Influence: Make Your Mark
Watch AJ’s Full Keynote Including Q&A
AJ joining a leadership panel at the Volunteering Victoria State Conference.
GLOBAL CREDIBILITY
AJ Kulatunga’s keynotes are trusted by organisations in Australia, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East when their event needs more than inspiration. He specialises in events that require relevance, momentum, and action after the event.
AJ is frequently engaged by:
Associations & Member Organisations
For depth, practical relevance, and value that members talk about long after the event.
Enterprise & Regulated Environments
For clarity, credibility, and leadership alignment in high-stakes, complex contexts.
Professional Services, Leadership Summits & Senior Forums
For strategic insight that sticks and creates conversations that matter.
Whether it’s a national conference, executive summit, industry forum, or regional leadership gathering, AJ delivers content that feels calmly authoritative and strategically provocative, exactly what senior audiences want.
AJ’s sessions are designed to create interaction, reflection, and practical action beyond the event.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ROOM
Senior audiences want relevance, insight, and momentum. In AJ’s sessions, audiences experience:
- Clear, practical frameworks that support action
- Customised stories and examples that translate to real organisational challenges
- A tone that challenges thinking without alienating the room
- Leadership relevance for today’s complexity and ambiguity
- Music as a metaphor: AJ uses live music to illustrate leadership ideas like alignment, timing, and influence in a way audiences remember long after the event.
AJ helps your audience leave with the clarity, confidence, and momentum to act on the ideas your event was built around.
SOCIAL PROOF THAT MATTERS
Associations, enterprises and senior forums alike describe AJ as:
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Highly engaging and easy to work with
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Relevant to senior leadership priorities
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A trusted choice for associations and enterprise audiences
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A speaker whose work sparks discussion after the event
AJ with delegates at the CPA Management Accounting Forum.
ABSOLUTE STANDOUT.
AJ Kulatunga was the kind of closing speaker that makes you forget you’re at a conference and just tune in. Funny, vulnerable, totally disarming and somehow managed to say (and sing) things we all needed to hear. A nice reminder that influence comes from how we connect, and the energy we leave behind. Overall Audience Satisfaction: 5/5
Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI)
TRUE EVENT PARTNER.
“Your preparation, energy, laser focus on getting the messaging right, and passion, all helped to make this Ingram Micro and Red Hat event the huge success it was! Thanks a million, AJ!”
Grant Cleary, Principal Partner Marketing Manager | Red Hat
ABOVE & BEYOND.
AJ went above and beyond to build a presentation that truly served the room. It shows you everything about who AJ is at the core. He then spent the rest of CyberCon engaging with everyone, supporting those he knew were presenting. AJ is definitely part of our Cyber community now, and we shine brighter because of his inclusion.
Ben Doyle | CISO, Thales (RSAC Conferences CISO Bootcamp Convener)
- SIGNATURE TOPIC AREAS
Every keynote is tailored to your organisation challenges and event needs through deep research, but typical themes include:
- Execution Intelligence™: Turning strategy into action in today’s complex world
- Business Creativity: Finding opportunity where others see chaos
- Impact & Influence: How leaders build authority in ambiguous times
- Leading Through Change: Making confident decisions when pressure is high
These themes are tailored to your audience, industry, and event objectives, so AJ’s keynote connects directly to the ideas your event needs people to remember, discuss, and act on.
For leadership events where your audience needs stronger stakeholder engagement, AJ’s Impact and Influence keynote helps leaders communicate so people listen, remember and act.
Presentations & Workshops
Keynotes That Work for Senior Professional Audiences
Adapt Quicker | Innovate Smarter | Lead The Future
Keynote | Leadership / Transformation | After a Futurist
When important strategies, transformations and change initiatives are competing for attention, Execution Intelligence™ helps leaders diagnose where progress gets stuck and create the decisions, ownership and momentum needed to move ambitious work forward.
Keynote | Leadership | Conference Opening / Closing
Expertise alone is no longer enough to win trust or move people to action. Impact and Influence helps leaders, advisers and technical experts turn communication into a strategic thinking discipline, so their best ideas are understood, believed and acted on long after the conference ends.
Keynote | Challenge Thinking | Channel Partner Events
When opportunity is moving faster than business-as-usual, Business at the Speed of Opportunity helps teams build the mindset to notice what is changing, act before the moment passes and turn possibility into advantage.
Masterclass | Thought Provoking | Conference Breakout
When AI can produce answers in seconds, Ask Smarter Questions shows leaders how better questions cut through noise, reveal hidden assumptions and unlock the decisions that actually move work forward.
Keynote | Thought Provoking | Transformation Support
While some people see magic and others see nonsense, The AI Adoption Gap helps organisations turn AI from a tool people are told to use into one they trust, understand and want to use in their real work.
Workshop | Skills Upgrade | Capability Building
For senior teams wrestling with a difficult priority, stuck initiative or ambitious idea that is struggling to move, the Get It Done Workshop turns the challenge into clearer decisions, visible ownership and practical next steps.
PLANNING A CONFERENCE, LEADERSHIP EVENT OR INTERNAL SESSION?
If your audience needs more than inspiration, start with an availability check.
Or call / WhatsApp AJ directly: +61 418 810 397
Masterclass | Leadership Communication | 60 minutes
Perfect for:
Conference Breakout | Lunch & Learn
Review:
“Terrific! You got our people thinking innovation is not as difficult as you might think. I loved the framework you shared – it’s outcomes-based and helps you achieve more by getting through those barriers.”
– Innovation Manager | Thales
Ask Smarter Questions
Better Questions. Better Thinking. Better Decisions.
A practical session on how better questions improve thinking, sharpen decisions, and help ideas move faster across teams.
In a world where answers are instant, the real advantage lies in the questions leaders choose to ask.
Most organisations are filled with what AJ calls $2 Questions, questions that consume time, add little value, and rarely move anything forward. As Generative AI makes information increasingly accessible, the edge no longer belongs to those who know more, but to those who think better.
In Ask Smarter Questions, AJ Kulatunga reframes questioning as a strategic capability. He shows how the quality of questions shapes the quality of thinking, the direction of decisions, and the speed at which ideas move across teams.
This session challenges traditional problem-solving and equips leaders with practical ways to shift conversations, unlock better insights, and create momentum in environments where time, clarity, and alignment matter.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- Why $2 Questions slow teams down, and how to elevate beyond them
- How better questions lead to better thinking and faster decisions
- Practical ways to shift conversations from updates to insight
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The 8 unconventional ways to use questions that shift team dynamics, challenge assumptions, and unlock fast creative breakthroughs.
- Simple techniques to create momentum through smarter questioning
Keynote | Leadership Communication | 30 or 60 minutes
Perfect for:
Conference Closing | Channel Partner Events
Review:
“AJ’s session brought our event to life. In running over 60 events, I’ve never had the same level of positive feedback – the energy in the room was indescribable!”
– State Manager | ACS
Impact & Influence
Build Trust. Communicate with Authority. Inspire Action.
A new way to think about influence as a strategic thinking capability, not just communication.
In complex organisations, ideas rarely move in a straight line. They pass through multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and evolving perspectives along the way.
In that environment, influence isn’t just about how you speak.
It’s about how you think, how you position ideas, navigate decisions, and build trust as they move.
In Impact & Influence, Business Strategist and Global Keynote Speaker AJ Kulatunga reframes influence as a strategic capability. Using his T.L.C. Framework (Think, Look, Communicate), he shows how leaders can shape decisions, build trust, and move ideas forward in environments where authority alone isn’t enough.
Drawing on work with senior leaders across seven countries, AJ reveals how influence is built through clarity of thought, not just clarity of message, and how the way you show up affects whether ideas gain momentum or stall.
This session gives leaders practical ways to navigate complexity, earn trust quickly, and turn intent into action across teams, functions, and partner ecosystems.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- How to navigate complex decisions where alignment, trust, and timing all matter
- Practical ways to position ideas so they gain traction across stakeholders
- How to build credibility and trust while still challenging thinking
- Simple ways to move ideas forward in environments where you don’t have direct authority
Keynote | Thought Provoking | 30, 60, 90 Mins
Perfect for:
Strategy Days, Leadership Offsites, Executive Briefing
Review:
“AJ’s session brought our event to life. In running over 60 events, I’ve never had the same level of positive feedback – the energy in the room was indescribable!”
– State Manager | Australian Computer Society
Execution Intelligence™
How Leaders Turn Ambitious Ideas Into Impact
Every organisation has ambitious ideas, the hard part is getting people to act on them.
After the strategy day, leadership offsite, conference, town hall, or transformation launch, teams often return to work with good intentions but unclear decisions, diluted ownership and competing priorities.
That is where momentum disappears.
Execution Intelligence™ is AJ Kulatunga’s signature keynote for leaders and teams who need to turn ideas into action.
In this practical and energising session, AJ shows audiences why good ideas get stuck inside organisations, and how leaders can create the conditions for ideas to move.
Through sharp insights, memorable stories and AJ’s live music metaphor, audiences learn how to improve the three things every ambitious idea needs:
Decisions – so people know what matters and what happens next.
Ownership – so agreement becomes visible action.
Momentum – so the idea survives the return to everyday work.
This keynote is ideal for leadership conferences, strategy events, transformation programs, change initiatives, innovation forums, AI adoption events and any organisation trying to move from ambition to impact.
🎯 Key Outcomes
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A clear lens for seeing why important ideas struggle to gain traction after the meeting
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A practical way to move from “we all agree” to “this is what happens next”
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The clarity and confidence to lead ambitious ideas beyond the room and into real impact
Keynote | Thought Provoking | 30 or 60 Minutes
Perfect for:
Conference Opening | Channel Partner Events | Strategy Planning Days | Leadership Offsites
Review:
“Your preparation energy, and laser focus on getting the messaging right, and passion, all helped to make this Ingram Micro and Red Hat event the huge success it was! Thanks a million, AJ!”
– Channel Manager | Red Hat
Business at the Speed of Opportunity
Recognise Opportunity Earlier. Act On It Faster.
A practical keynote on how leaders recognise opportunity earlier, act on it faster, and turn it into real momentum.
Opportunity is everywhere.
What matters is how quickly people recognise it, and how confidently they act on it.
In Business at the Speed of Opportunity, AJ Kulatunga explores why some leaders consistently see and act on opportunity, while others hesitate, even when looking at the same situation.
Drawing on psychology, lived experience, and practical frameworks, AJ reveals how thinking patterns shape what leaders notice, how they respond, and whether opportunities gain momentum or fade.
Using concepts like open vs closed thinking modes, the phases of opportunity, and the Point of Impact, this session gives leaders a clear way to recognise opportunity earlier, engage with it more effectively, and move on it with greater speed and confidence.
🎯 Key Takeaways
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How to recognise opportunity earlier, even when others don’t see it
- How to shift out of execution mode and into the thinking state where opportunity becomes visible
- A clear framework to identify, engage, and scale opportunity across teams
- How to elevate stakeholder thinking so opportunities gain traction, not resistance
- Practical ways to shorten the gap between insight and action
TED Talk Keynote | Thought Provoking | 20 mins
Perfect for:
Improving Leadership and Culture
Review:
“Just Perfect! Exactly what we wanted to set the tone for our inaugural inclusive volunteering conference. “
– CEO | EV Strengthening Communities
The Power of Inclusivity
Better Decisions. Better Experiences. Better Outcomes.
A practical keynote on how inclusivity improves decision-making, shapes experiences, and drives better business outcomes.
Most organisations approach inclusivity as a policy, a program, or a conversation.
But real inclusivity shows up in a different place:
👉🏽 At the point where decisions are made.
In The Power of Inclusivity, AJ Kulatunga reframes inclusivity as a business strategy, one that directly shapes how leaders make decisions, design experiences, and unlock performance.
Drawing on lived experiences and powerful storytelling, AJ reveals why information and training alone rarely create change, and why the real driver of inclusivity is how people think, interpret, and act in critical moments.
Through a compelling blend of insight and metaphor, this session challenges leaders to rethink what’s written “on paper” and reimagine it into better human experiences, for their teams, their customers, and their organisations.
🎯 Key Takeaways
- A new way to think about inclusivity as a decision-making advantage, not just a social initiative
- Why most inclusivity efforts fail to translate into real change
- How identity, stories, and lived experience shape decisions in critical moments
- Practical ways to create better human experiences by rethinking existing systems and norms
- How to move from policy-driven inclusivity to impact-driven inclusivity
Presentation | Thought Provoking | Flexible Timing
Perfect for:
Leadership Off-sites / Strategy Days
Review:
“The way you make complex technology concepts easy to understand is just amazing. I feel more confident in exploring these new technologies with my team.”
– CEO | Global Recruitment Company
BYTE ME
Supporting our upcoming book – Byte Me: Making Emerging Technology Useful. This session educates leaders on what’s possible with technology leaving them with key questions to ponder on how to make the best possible use of emerging technology within their organisation.
IWorkshop | Thought Provoking | Flexible Timing
Perfect for:
Teams to Resolve Challenges and Improve Performance
Review:
“AJ’s enthusiastic and authentic approach sparked thinking and encouraged us all to approach challenges in new and creative ways. We’re looking forward to using the frameworks he shared to help navigate the year ahead”
– Senior Director | Northern Territory Government
Get It Done
The core methodology powering all our programs. This session is an interactive workshop/masterclass designed to introduce participants to the most relevant parts of the methodology and apply it against real world issues or challenges they are facing.
12 Month Program | Supporting Transformation | Mix of Resources
Perfect for:
Break-Out Conference Sessions, Leadership Off-sites,
Review:
“AJ’s unique style, emotive approach and high energy style make him such an engaging speaker and coach. Couldn’t recommend him highly enough!!!“
– State President | Australian Human Resources Institute
The AI Adoption Gap
Why some people see magic, and others see nonsense.
AI is everywhere, but adoption is uneven.
Some people use it and immediately see magic. Others try it once, get a poor result, and decide it is nonsense. Inside organisations, this creates a frustrating gap between AI investment and everyday use.
In this keynote, AJ Kulatunga helps leaders understand why AI adoption is not just a technology challenge. It is a leadership challenge.
People do not reject AI because they are behind the times. They reject it when it does not feel useful, trusted, relevant, or connected to the work they actually do.
Through practical stories and a simple adoption lens, AJ shows leaders how to move AI from hype to helpful work by focusing on four conditions: context, trust, use case, and workflow.
This keynote is ideal for organisations that want their people to move beyond AI awareness and start using AI in practical, valuable, and responsible ways.
🎯 Key Takeaways
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A clear understanding of why AI adoption feels uneven.
See why the same tool can feel powerful to one person and pointless to another. -
A better leadership question for AI adoption.
Shift from “How do we get people using AI?” to “What would make AI useful enough for people to want to use it?” -
A practical lens for making AI more useful at work.
Use context, trust, use case, and workflow to turn AI from a novelty into a useful part of everyday work. -
A more human approach to AI change.
Understand why scepticism is often reasonable and how better first experiences build confidence and momentum.


