THE CURIOUS ADVANTAGE

Paul Ashcroft is the co-author of The Curious Advantage, The Curious Imperative and Digital Humans. He is co-host of The Curious Advantage Podcast.
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Paul writes and speaks about curiosity, AI, and how people and organisations adapt to change. His ideas have been shaped by twenty years of working closely with leaders of some of the world's largest companies, and by the hundred-plus guests who have joined him on the podcast—among them business leaders, scientists, artists and thinkers from across the world.

Paul is co-founder of the Ludic Group, which helps organisations navigate transformation in an AI-driven world. He works with Fortune 500 companies, fast-growing scale-ups, and leaders who are rethinking what comes next.
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With a background in mathematics and computer science, Paul has always been drawn to the space where technology meets human potential—and to the questions that matter more than the answers.

Simon is the Global Learning & Development Leader at EY. He is a commercially-minded learning leader with experience across a range of the World's top organizations. In 2000, Simon co-founded Brightwave, one of the UK's leading e-Learning companies, which was eventually acquired by Capita Plc. Simon spent 7 years working for Accenture, advising companies including BT, BP, Microsoft, Canon, Barclays and HSBC.

In 2010, Simon moved to Lloyds Banking Group where he led the award-winning Bank-wide learning transformation. In 2013 Simon moved to Novartis global HQ in Switzerland, where he led various global learning teams. These including being responsible for enhancing effectiveness of learning for the global pharma SalesForce, creating the cross-divisional 'Global Development University', running the Novartis-wide Learning Centre of Expertise and Corporate Universities, and also defining the strategy for how Novartis would develop Digital Capability across the company. After leading the development of a new award-winning learning strategy, he became Novartis‘s first-ever Chief Learning Officer in February 2019. Since then Novartis has gained several global awards for learning including the award for ‘Learning Strategy Innovation’. Simon shares his experiences speaking at conferences around the world and with an active digital presence on the Linkedin platform. Simon lives in Switzerland with his wife Rachel, son Oliver, daughter Lucinda, their cat Paddy and a coop of chickens. He can be found most weekends struggling up a Swiss mountain road on his bike.

Co-Founder and Partner at Ludic Group, Author of the Book ‘ALIVE: Digital Humans and Their Organizations’, Keynote Speaker and Facilitator. Garrick Jones is an entrepreneur, academic and musician based in London. Co-Founder and Partner of The Ludic Group (founded in 2004), a pioneering consultancy, transforming the way people live, work and learn across time and distance. He is a renowned expert in Digital Transformation, Digital Learning and Engagement.

Garrick is a fellow of the Warburg Institute – the home of Curiosity. He also is a Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where he introduced Capstone programmes and designed the ground-breaking Open Innovation Programme. His research is focused on Creative Economies and large-scale support systems for commerce, culture, education and community development, in which innovation is critical. He is particularly focused on the value of the Design Process, visualization methods and tools for enabling decision-making and constructive problem solving. Garrick has been instrumental in the development of purpose-built collaborative learning environments (CLEs). He advises on numerous projects for corporations and governments focusing on state-of-the-art Think Tanks.

He works with Fortune 100 clients, governments, and the UN and UNDP. Garrick is interested in how very large systems are able to transform themselves. Wearing his musical hat, Garrick composes for films, contemporary artists and performance. Ask him to play the piano for you if you get the opportunity!