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Dr James Hewitt is a human performance scientist and high performance keynote speaker who helps leaders achieve extraordinary results without compromising wellbeing. For more than two decades, James has studied what drives sustainable performance in demanding environments, then translated that science into practical behaviours teams can use straight away. A former full-time racing cyclist, James learned first-hand that progress comes from disciplined experimentation, honest data, and recovery that is treated as a performance skill, not an afterthought.
James earned a PhD in Performance Science from Loughborough University and built his career at the intersection of elite sport and modern organisations. His work has taken him from high-performance sporting settings to global businesses looking to improve productivity, leadership impact, and resilience under pressure. Alongside research, James has designed programmes and frameworks that help organisations reduce overload, improve focus, and build healthier performance rhythms that hold up during high demand.
In industry, James has held senior innovation roles shaping how organisations approach wellbeing and performance. He served as Chief Innovation Officer at OPTIVIO, developing science-led approaches to stress management using wearable technology and work-pattern data. He also led innovation inside Hintsa Performance as Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Science and Innovation, helping advance evidence-based methods for workplace wellbeing and sustainable high performance. Today, James is the Founder of The Knowledge Work Lab, a consultancy supporting organisations with trustworthy performance insight, expert guidance, and strategies designed to deliver measurable commercial impact.
As a speaker, James brings credibility, clarity, and warmth, blending scientific rigour with stories audiences remember. He has presented in over 30 countries, including three World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in Davos, and has spoken at leading international business schools such as IMD, Duke, and St Gallen. James is also the author of ‘Regenerative Performance’, a framework built around the idea that peak performance depends on smart oscillation between deep effort and intentional renewal. In a typical session, James might guide a leadership team to identify where constant meetings and notifications are draining cognitive capacity, then show how to redesign work blocks, recovery habits, and decision rhythms so output rises without longer hours.
Dr James Hewitt is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:
“We were looking for an inspiring speaker who could share new insights and a new perspective. What we didn’t expect was a total experience. From the moment James stepped onto the stage to his closing remarks, the audience was gripped. James is able to combine elements of his work in sports, science, and the corporate world to provide an engaging presentation.”
“James received really high customer evaluations. He empowered the audience with takeaways that are easily put into practice. The message was all science-backed, and the presentation was exciting. On top of that, James was super nice and easy to work with.”
“The more than 400 professionals from our firm felt that, first of all, each of them got something concrete to take away and implement in their daily lives. Second, I believe James succeeded in offering more theoretical take-aways, principles if you will, for the more senior people, like myself, that support acting in leadership roles in knowledge economy. Third, James has a truly engaging presence and made everyone feel like he genuinely cares about the improvement of each audience member’s experience. James’ message has longevity beyond the one session and, when shared across the firm, supports working smarter as individuals and as a team.”
“I have had an opportunity to benefit from James Hewitt’s teaching, workshops and keynotes – including his personal coaching insights on sustainable high performance – for a few years now. He has managed to take the pursuit of this vitally important leadership dimension to a wholly new level. Most importantly, the insights are broken into every day practical applications with immediate benefits for my self-leadership, and indeed the underlying performance culture of my leadership team. To change human performance to the better is, in many ways, the ultimate challenge for any leader – James is a true game changer, helping any leader or organisation to reach this ambitious goal.”
“James was a keynote speaker during UBS Global Health Week. He captivated the audience from the first minute of his presentation till the very end. I found James a great speaker: as we all know it’s not that easy to keep attention of the audience the whole time of the presentation, but James did it. His speech was dynamic and passionate. It was not only the speech that was amazing, but the fact that within an hour of his presentation, James managed to inspire a lot of people to make a change in their lives, or at least, to consider making a change. I highly recommend James Hewitt as a speaker if you want to bring a change and innovation in your business.”
The High-Performance Speakers Agency is the UK’s leading bureau for teamwork, leadership, and marginal gains speakers. We hire speakers for corporate conferences and events across the world and cater to both in-person occasions and online webinars. Our roster includes sportspeople, business leaders, adventurers and more, to ensure audiences of all industries receive tailored, impactful advice on optimised performance.
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