Packed with People, Powered by Ideas: Highlights from our 2025 Conference

Our 2025 Annual Conference was bursting with energy, ideas and people! In fact, it was so packed that we needed a second venue to host our evening lineup, that included more discussions, keynotes and even a spot of rock music to top it all off! 

More than 500 Equal Experts employees, associates, alumni and customers came together at the iconic Old Billingsgate in East London for a lively evening of drinks, food and conversation. Check out the video below for stand out moments from our evening speakers, including EE CEO and co-founder, Thomas Granier. 

Welcome from Thomas 

We kicked off the evening with a keynote from Equal Experts co-founder and CEO Thomas Granier focusing on the theme of change. Many of these changes are exciting, like the huge growth in offshore contracts, which will see our EE teams in India and South Africa grow to more than 500 people by the end of the year! 

Thomas also touched on the hot topic of how AI is changing the world for our people and our customers, and his belief that it plays to our strengths. As a network of seasoned experts, EE stands to benefit from a focus on smaller, highly skilled teams and a reduced need for large engagements staffed by juniors. 

Panel summary 

Next up, Phil Parker hosted a fantastic panel including several members of our customer network. We heard from Reshma Shaikh, who is known for her expertise in digital transformation, and Sienne Veit, who brings deep insight from the retail sector. They were joined by Tim Howard, a senior digital leader in public sector digital strategy.

The panel discussed the impact of GenAI on organisations, and the importance of a clear strategy that is developed early to avoid the risk of uneven adoption. The panel agreed that there are barriers to AI adoption in many organisations that often stem from fear, and the best way to overcome this is focusing on delivering real value from AI and avoiding the temptation to rely on it too heavily. 

Corporate Rebel keynote

Wrapping up the evening was Pim de Morree, co-founder of Corporate Rebels. His words struck a note with many of us at Equal Experts, as he spoke about his early career experiences working in roles where he loved the work but was disengaged from the organisation. Pim spoke passionately about the need for us to be Corporate Rebels, helping organisations to work in progressive (and fun!) ways, and how to make those changes stick. 

The Grand Finale! 

What better way to end an epic day than with some incredible music from our very own band, The Git Clones featuring Brian Blignaut, Rhyd Lewis, Marco Vermeulen, Andy Redpath and Reuben the drummer!  They took to the stage for some loud and enthusiastic rock music that brought the house down with high-energy and good vibes all round. Don’t miss the video highlights to relive the magic!

As we well know, these things do not happen without a lot of hard work and effort behind the scenes, starting almost immediately after the event ends!  A huge thank you to Amy Harrison, Dani Hughson, Lou Marshall, Mike Parker, Bethany Pascoe, Lauren Pinney and Rachel Turner – the core organising team.  And of course to all the others who participated, advised and supported along the way – you know who you are!