Originally an oil exploration engineer and marketer, Dan became head of Google UK – with responsibility for $5bn revenue. He’s now focused on founding and investing in fintech, with the aim of disrupting financial services. In his speeches Dan shows how Google use technology in the search for transformative solutions to major problems whilst also considering the next sector to be disruptive and lessons in rapid growth and innovation.
Dan Cobley is a tech entrepreneur, investor and former managing partner at UK venture capital / builder firm Blenheim Chalcot, where he oversees their fintech portfolio. Prior to that he spent almost a decade at Google, serving as Managing Director, UK & Ireland (the company’s biggest and most advanced market outside the US) and as Vice President of EMEA Marketing.
As MD at Google, Dan was responsible for over $5billion of revenue, and for helping companies large and small harness the power of digital to generate insights, increase sales and transform culture. As the search giant’s VP of Marketing he was responsible for all aspects of European business and consumer marketing. Whilst at Blenheim Chalcot he’s co-founded rapid-growth businesses including Salary Finance, Koodoo Mortgages, and ClearScore all of which represent a new era in banking and personal finance.
Before joining Google Dan held senior marketing roles at Capital One Europe, where he helped make the company the UK’s leading new card issuer, and Ask Jeeves, Pepsi and Walkers. He began his career in consulting and oil exploration after studying Physics at Oxford.
Dan addresses the disruptive power of fintech, technology more broadly, AI, innovation, and Google’s unique approach to business and culture. He also examines how innovation works, the importance of learning from failure, and how to spot the next target for digital disruption.
Dan has been a chair of, advisor to and investor in various startups, is a trustee of the charity Technology Trust, and has served on the advisory boards of Telegraph Media Group and eHarmony. His TED speech on physics and marketing has been watched over one million times, and he has been rated as one of the most influential digital people by both Wired magazine and the Evening Standard.
To say Dan has his finger on the pulse of technology is an understatement. His insights into what we should expect in our homes and businesses in the future are truly thought provoking – as is his advice on how to harness current technology to make a workplace thrive. You’re watching an expert at the top of his game, with a wonderfully accessible and humorous presentation style.
JLA Agent Dennis Perry