Ben Afia

Ben Afia is a brand and AI strategist who has spent 30 years helping organizations stay distinctive through change – and now helps them stay distinctive through AI. Everyone is using the same AI models, so everyone is starting to sound the same. Afia shows marketing and leadership teams how to use AI to amplify what makes them different, not erase it.

He brings hands-on AI capability rather than theory. Afia is currently leading a multi-year program for a Fortune 500 life science company, turning their brand governance from 90 guidance documents nobody read into a team of AI agents marketers actually use – now rolling out to 400 marketers, backed by training and change management. He is an alumnus of SmarterX’s AI Academy and a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association.

That capability rests on three decades of building brands and leading culture transformation for organizations including Vodafone, Aviva, Google, AirBP, E.ON, Boots, Aldermore Bank and Legal & General. His work has included transforming customer service for 1,000 Vodafone agents (boosting NPS by 15–20 points), training 20,000 people across 28 countries for Aviva, and reaching 16,000 people through E.ON’s culture transformation.

Afia is the author of "The Human Business: How to Love Your Customers So They Love You Back," and has run his own consultancy since 2004. His keynotes and workshops – including "How to Stop AI from Erasing Your Brand," "Your Next Hire Won’t Be Human," and the hands-on workshop "Brief. Build. Back." – leave audiences clear on what to do about AI and confident enough to do it. He has spoken at leadership offsites, marketing conferences and CEO/board-level events across energy, finance, healthcare and telecoms.