Adrian Watkins.
Speaking and contribution

Practical perspectives. Useful conversations.

I speak about building and growing technology businesses, turning intelligence into action, and making governance part of how organisations move forward.

My perspective comes from leading commercial operations across markets and building publications, data services and practical tools through democratising.ai. Singapore is home, and my work connects local experience with regional and global commercial, regulatory and cultural contexts.

Through selected industry conversations, executive roundtables and learning programmes, I aim to give people something useful to take into their next decision.

Download the speaker and guest-teaching pack

Adrian Watkins moderating an Ortus Club CXO roundtable in Singapore
Moderating an Ortus Club CXO roundtable. Singapore, May 2026.
Adrian Watkins moderating a 10-person executive roundtable, Ortus Club Singapore
Ten-seat executive roundtable, Ortus Club. Singapore, May 2026.
Adrian Watkins on stage opening the Taipei City Government Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025 event.
Opening keynote, Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025. Taipei City Government, November 2025.
Adrian Watkins on a sofa with a microphone during the Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025 fireside in Taipei.
Fireside, Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025. Taipei, November 2025.

Some of the topics I speak about.

One

Leading growth and integration.

Aligning people, product, process and compliance as businesses scale. Drawing on my experience bringing three businesses together within SQREEM Technologies, improving commercial operations and supporting expansion across markets.

Two

Governance that enables progress.

Building accountability and privacy into commercial and operating decisions, so teams can move forward with clarity and confidence. Practical perspectives from group leadership and my expanded data protection remit (DPO).

Three

From intelligence to action with EDGE.

Applying evidence, experience and human judgement to everyday business situations. How EDGE helps people evaluate a situation, define a direction, establish accountability and put learning into practice, with AI tools supporting the process where useful.

Four

Building useful services.

Lessons from DARE, the shared publishing and data platform behind democratising.ai, and publications including AIinASIA and UrbanDogOwner. Starting with where I call home, Singapore, and building on what we learn to serve audiences beyond it.

Five

Working across markets.

Adapting execution to local commercial, regulatory and cultural needs while maintaining a coherent regional or global direction. What to keep consistent, where to adapt and how to give local teams the context to make sound decisions.

Speaking calendar.

Upcoming and ongoing first, then recent. Selected dates.

Upcoming and ongoing
Since May 2026

SDG Open Hack 2026, Ngee Ann Polytechnic Edition.

Mentor. Working with student teams across the NP edition of the hack as they build toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Running across the hack window and beyond.

Since May 2026

Beyond4.

Mentor. Working with a disruptive travel marketplace in Malaysia on strategy and growth as the business scales.

Ongoing

Panels.

Frequent panellist and judge across business strategy, operational implementation, playbooks, and frameworks, including the trade press circuit. Increasingly with an AI overlay, often the entry point back to EDGE.

Ongoing

Moderation.

Regular moderator and facilitator for executive roundtables and closed-door discussions, including Ortus Club, Beyond4, and others. Typically strategy, AI, and operational leadership themes.

Recent
September 2026

The Entrepreneurial Journey: Scaling and Strategy.

Panel. Transitioning roles, operational discipline through growth, and the realities of starting and scaling a business.

September 2026 · NTU Campus

SDG Open Hack 2026, NTU Campus Edition.

Mentor. Coaching and discussion sessions across the NTU Campus edition of the hack. Providing feedback and guidance to help student teams strengthen their solution and business pitches, working toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Tuesday 12 August 2026, 9pm SGT · Online

The Competitive Edge: Mastering Strategy and Executive Performance. EntreBoss Hub panel.

Panel with Victor Chan (physical preparation), Mark Gaynor (lead generation) and Paddy Tan (business restructuring), moderated by Darius Chang. My seat: moving AI initiatives out of scattered pilots and into disciplined, embedded decision-making. The EDGE Govern pillar in the room.

5 August 2026

Building Sustainable Sales Engines for SMEs.

Panel. Developing structural sales frameworks, hiring and talent strategy, and keeping organisational health intact while scaling.

May 2026
Ortus Club logo

The Era of Services Delivery. Ortus Club roundtable.

Moderated a closed-door senior executive roundtable for the Ortus Club on services delivery and the impact of artificial intelligence. Off-the-record, Chatham House format.

March 2026

Launch Entrepreneurship Bootcamp 3.

National Library Board, Singapore, with BlackStorm Group. Workshop and keynote on governance discipline for AI-native founders. Second year running the interactive Sales and Marketing session at Launch.

November 2025

Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025.

Guest of Taipei City Government. Opened the event with "Democratising Intelligence for a Sustainable Future", then moderated the startup panel with Jameson Hsu (886 Studios) and Debbie Chien (Vulcanest). Adrian's post-event reflection: Is your AI earning its energy?

2024 and earlier

MMA Global and prior panels.

Listed speaker, MMA Global. Earlier industry panels in the Mumbrella, Branding in Asia, MartechAsia, and The Drum (Agencies4Growth) circuits.

Adrian Watkins delivering an industry welcome keynote with audience visible.

Shaped around the audience.

I contribute to selected industry conversations, executive roundtables and learning programmes where my experience can be useful. The format follows the audience, purpose and scope, whether that is a keynote, panel, moderated discussion or practical session.

Singapore is home, and I particularly welcome opportunities to support local students and emerging business leaders through mentoring and guest teaching.

Adrian Watkins delivering the BlackStorm What is Marketing, Really? workshop. Adrian at a flipchart with the workshop title on screen.
Workshop format. BlackStorm Group, What is Marketing, Really?
Adrian Watkins moderating the startup panel at Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025 in Taipei. Three seated speakers.
Panel discussion, Smart Living, Sustainable Future 2025 in Taipei.

Start a conversation.

If my experience could be useful to your audience, get in touch with the topic, purpose and scope. We can explore the right format together.