Working together

Keynotes & Executive Sessions

Keynotes and executive sessions that bring the scientific frontier into the room — and make clear what it could mean before it becomes conventional wisdom.

For more than two decades, I have worked at the forefront of cybersecurity, privacy and AI, initiating and shaping major research directions internationally. At the same time, I have experienced what it means to turn scientific ambition into reality — building an early-stage research initiative into one of the internationally leading institutions in its field. My keynotes bring these worlds together: cutting-edge science, technological change and the lessons of building and leading for excellence.

The most interesting conversations about technology do not begin with what everyone already knows. They begin with developments that are still taking shape: what cutting-edge research is making possible, where fundamental limitations remain, which narratives are getting ahead of the science, and how these shifts may change industries, organizations and leadership itself. The aim is to make complex ideas accessible without simplifying away what actually matters.

The formats range from major keynotes to small, confidential executive sessions and are deliberately tailored to the audience and occasion. They are most valuable when the objective is not simply to inform, but to challenge established assumptions, open up a different perspective and leave the room asking better questions than it did before.

Michael Backes on stage at a national security-research conference in Berlin, 2023

Formats

Signature Keynotes

A signature keynote should do more than explain what is happening. It should give an audience a different framework for seeing what matters, what is likely to change next — and why.

My signature keynotes focus on subjects where I can bring together first-hand scientific experience and a broader view of what it means for organizations and society: cybersecurity and AI, the translation of scientific breakthroughs into economic advantage, the global competition for exceptional talent, and leadership built around uncompromising excellence.

Each talk develops a clear argument rather than surveying a field. I draw on more than two decades at the scientific frontier, on taking research beyond publication into real-world applications, and on building and leading one of the internationally leading research institutions in its field. The objective is to connect the underlying science or leadership challenge with the consequences that matter to the audience.

This is not a catalogue of trends, a generic technology update or a motivational speech. Each keynote is developed around the audience and occasion, while preserving the scientific depth, clear point of view and practical relevance that make the subject worth discussing in the first place.

Representative keynotes

The Next Grand Challenges in Cybersecurity & AIWhat the scientific frontier tells us about the breakthroughs, risks and capabilities that will define the next decade.
From Scientific Breakthroughs to Economic AdvantageHow to recognize transformative research early and turn emerging scientific capabilities into strategic and economic opportunity.
The Global Competition for Talent — and How to Win ItWhat it takes to attract, empower and retain exceptional scientific and technological talent in an increasingly competitive world.
Leadership for ExcellenceHow uncompromising standards, ambition, freedom and the willingness to say no create organizations in which exceptional people can do exceptional work.

Executive Sessions

An executive session is built around interaction. It creates the space to explore a subject in depth, challenge assumptions and follow the questions that matter most to the people in the room.

Executive sessions are designed for smaller leadership groups that want to engage with a topic more deeply than a keynote allows. I prepare each session around the organization, the participants and the questions at hand, combining a focused introduction with substantial time for discussion and exploration.

The session is deliberately interactive. We may start with cybersecurity, AI, scientific breakthroughs, talent or leadership, but the emphasis can shift as the conversation develops — allowing participants to pursue particular questions, challenge assumptions and go substantially deeper wherever the discussion demands it.

This is not a shortened keynote and not a conventional workshop built around a predefined agenda or methodology. The value lies in close, high-level interaction: I come prepared for the organization and its context, while the people in the room can actively shape which aspects we examine and how deeply we pursue them.

Typical focus areas

Understanding major developments in cybersecurity or AI beyond the public narrative — including their capabilities, limitations and likely direction of travel
Exploring what emerging scientific or technological developments could mean for the organization before their consequences become obvious
Examining how exceptional scientific and technological talent can be attracted, empowered and retained
Challenging established leadership or organizational assumptions against the lessons of building for sustained excellence

Board Decision Sessions

Some board decisions require more than an executive summary. When cybersecurity, AI or emerging science shapes the choice, the board needs to understand the evidence, assumptions, alternatives and limitations deeply enough to challenge them before making the call.

These sessions are built around a concrete decision the board is preparing to make. I provide the relevant scientific and technical grounding — the key facts, assumptions, capabilities, limitations and alternatives that determine how the decision should be understood.

The discussion is deliberately interactive. I explain the underlying science and technology, respond to questions and challenges in real time, and help the board explore where the strongest arguments lie, where important uncertainties remain and which trade-offs deserve particular attention.

This is not a general board conversation and not an ongoing advisory mandate. It is a focused decision session designed to give the board the deepest possible understanding of the scientific and technological issues at stake — so that it can make its own decision on the most informed basis possible.

Typical decision questions

Which of the available options is best supported by the underlying science and technology — and where does each depend on assumptions that may fail?
What are the most important technical limitations, dependencies or hidden risks the board should understand before committing to this decision?
What would have to become true for each alternative to succeed — and which of those conditions can we realistically expect to hold?
Which developments in cybersecurity or AI could substantially change the value, risk or timing of the decision we are considering?

Private Leadership Roundtables

Some of the most valuable conversations happen in a very small room — when experienced leaders can test ideas openly, challenge one another and discuss questions that would rarely be explored as candidly in a larger setting.

Private leadership roundtables bring together a small group of senior decision-makers around a carefully chosen question in cybersecurity, AI, scientific and technological change, talent or leadership. I provide the initial perspective and the scientific or experiential grounding needed to start the conversation at a high level rather than spending time establishing the basics.

From there, the format is intentionally open and highly interactive. Participants can bring in their own experiences, challenge my perspective and each other, follow unexpected lines of thought and explore questions that become important during the exchange. The value comes not only from my own expertise, but from creating a conversation in which different leadership perspectives can genuinely meet.

This is not a panel discussion and not a sequence of prepared presentations. It is a confidential, small-group exchange designed for candour, intellectual challenge and the kind of discussion that becomes possible when everyone in the room is there to contribute rather than simply listen.

Typical focus areas

What developments in cybersecurity and AI deserve substantially more — or substantially less — attention from senior leadership?
Which scientific and technological changes could alter how leaders think about their organizations over the next several years?
What does the global competition for exceptional scientific and technological talent require from organizations that genuinely want to win it?
Which leadership principles, compromises and organizational choices most strongly determine whether excellence can actually emerge and endure?

Where the perspective comes from

400+Scientific publicationsPublished across cybersecurity, privacy and AI, with an extensive record at the field's leading scientific venues.
500+Talks & presentationsDelivered internationally across scientific, executive, industry and high-level political audiences.
Heads of governmentHigh-level public leadershipPresentations and discussions with presidents, chancellors, ministers, governmental bodies and parliamentary audiences.
Boards & executivesExecutive and supervisory audiencesSessions with executive boards, supervisory boards, CEOs and senior business leaders.

Also relevant

Contact me

If any of this is close to a question you are actually facing, write. A few sentences about the situation are enough to tell whether I am the right person — and if I am not, I will say so.

← Working together