What does Dr. Keith Keating speak about?

Dr. Keith Keating speaks about the future of work, leadership, learning and development, workforce transformation, business value creation, and becoming future-ready in a rapidly changing world. His keynotes challenge organizations to rethink how they develop people, create impact, and adapt to disruption. He is especially known for delivering motivational and inspirational keynotes that challenge audiences to think bigger, adapt faster, and realize the impact they are capable of creating within their organizations and careers.

What companies has Keith worked with?

Keith has worked with global organizations across industries including professional services, healthcare, insurance, technology, and manufacturing. His experience includes collaborations with companies such as GE Healthcare, PepsiCo, Intuit, BDO, Yahoo, General Motors, McKinsey, Ivey Business School, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has also spoken at major conferences and leadership events around the world.

How do I book Keith for a keynote?

Keith can be booked for keynote presentations, executive events, leadership conferences, and custom learning experiences directly through his professional website. His sessions are available in both virtual and in-person formats and are tailored to the audience and business context. Organizations typically engage Keith for conferences, leadership summits, talent events, and future-of-work initiatives.

What books has Keith written?

Keith is the author of The Trusted Learning Advisor and Hidden Value: How to Reveal the Impact of Organizational Learning. His books focus on elevating the role of learning and development professionals, creating business value, building trust with stakeholders, and helping organizations unlock human potential through learning. Both books combine practical frameworks, research, storytelling, and actionable strategies.

What is Keith's background?

Keith's journey is unconventional and deeply human. He went from being a high school dropout to earning a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and becoming one of the leading voices in Learning & Development. With more than 25 years of global experience, he has lived and worked across multiple countries and now serves as Chief Learning & Development Officer at BDO Canada while also teaching in executive education programs.

Who is Keith's keynote ideal for?

Keith's keynotes are ideal for organizations navigating change, transformation, leadership development, AI disruption, workforce evolution, or cultural reinvention. His audiences often include executives, HR leaders, L&D professionals, business leaders, people managers, and future-focused teams. His message resonates especially well with organizations that want to strengthen adaptability, trust, learning cultures, and long-term business impact.

What makes Keith's approach different?

Keith blends business strategy, learning science, leadership insight, and deeply personal storytelling in a way that is both practical and emotionally resonant. Rather than focusing only on inspiration, he equips audiences with frameworks, language, and actions they can immediately apply. His work is grounded in the belief that learning changes lives and that organizations grow when people grow. He is a practitioner of the work he speaks about, integrating personal experience rather than theory.

What is The Trusted Learning Advisor framework?

The Trusted Learning Advisor framework is Keith's signature model for helping learning professionals evolve from transactional support roles into strategic business partners. The framework focuses on building trust, diagnosing business problems, aligning learning to organizational goals, and creating measurable value. It provides practical tools and mindsets that help L&D professionals strengthen credibility, influence decision-making, and drive meaningful impact.

Evolve. Or Else.

The organizations that win are the ones that never stop learning.

I help organizations learn differently, adapt faster, and unlock the full potential of their people.

Connect With Keith

Explore the vision of

Keith

Dr. Keith Keating 2026 Keynote Reel Watch

Trusted By Organizations That Demand Results

About

Keith

Learning Saved My Life. Now It's My Life's Work.

I didn't finish 10th grade. The school system never taught me how to learn, so I taught myself. And then I became unstoppable. Twenty-five years later, I've built learning cultures inside some of the world's most demanding organizations: McKinsey, HSBC, Hearst, General Motors and BDO Canada.

More About Keith

"If a high school dropout can become unstoppable by learning how to learn, imagine what your organization can become when you build that same capability into every person."
Dr. Keith Keating

25+

Years Experience

100+

Keynotes

50+

Global Clients

What

Keith Does

"Everything I do serves one purpose: unlocking human potential to drive performance and business value."

Keynote Speaking Talks That Don't Leave You The Same

Future-Preparing Excellence

The future of work isn't coming. It's here. This keynote gives leaders the blueprint to stop reacting to disruption and start building organizations that outpace it.

Ideal For

C-suite leadership forums
CHRO and talent summits
Organizational transformation events
Association conferences

Evolve. Or Else.

L&D has been the most strategic function in the room and the least recognized. This keynote is the roadmap for changing that permanently.

Ideal For

L&D conferences
CLO and talent leader forums
HR leadership events
Organizational transformation summits

Learning • Leadership • Transformation • Future of Work

Evolve. Or Else.

For too long, L&D has allowed others to define our value, dictate our role, and shape the future of learning inside organizations. We became reactive order takers instead of influential business partners helping organizations navigate change. But the future of work demands more. As organizations face AI disruption, digital transformation, and constant change, the opportunity for L&D to create measurable value has never been greater. In this compelling keynote, Dr. Keith Keating challenges audiences to evolve from transactional learning support into Trusted Learning Advisors capable of influencing strategy, strengthening partnerships, and helping organizations adapt and grow. Blending storytelling, practical insight, and lessons from his award-winning book The Trusted Learning Advisor, Keith shares the mindset shifts and behaviors required to increase influence, demonstrate value, and redefine the future role of Learning & Development.

The Framework

Shift from order taker to Trusted Learning Advisor
Build credibility and influence through behavior
Create measurable organizational value
Strengthen stakeholder partnerships

Ideal For

L&D conferences
CLO and talent leader forums
HR leadership events
Organizational transformation summits

Hidden Value: Making the Impact Visible

Extraordinary work gets overlooked every day. Not because it lacks value. Because nobody made it visible. This keynote changes that.

Ideal For

CHRO and CLO forums
L&D conferences
Organizational learning summits
Workforce development associations

Break the Box

Every organization runs on boxes. Labels that start as descriptions and become ceilings. This keynote breaks them.

Ideal For

Future of Work Conferences
HR & Talent Summits
Leadership Development Programs
Culture & Transformation Initiatives

Trusted by Leaders Across Industries

Dr. Keating's keynote quickly became the most talked-about session of the event and ultimately, the single most raved-about Keynote ever at DevLearn. He created an unforgettable start that set the tone for everything that followed.

Lenore Higgins

Senior Event Director, CloserStill Media
With his credibility and tactical ways to make us more strategic, I can't tell you how excited I am and inspired by Dr. Keating's keynote.

Kristy Callahan

Head of Learning, GE HealthCare
Phenomenal. Dr. Keating had amazing experiences that he anchored to within case studies and left us with actionable insights I can't wait to implement.

Courtney Michener Miller

Head of Commercial Excellence, AstraZeneca
Keith's expertise and passion were truly inspiring, and this program has set a new standard for how we position L&D as a strategic partner within our firm.

Allyson E. Roote

Vice President, The Bonadio Group
Dr. Keating is the leading voice of the industry and our go-to thought leader for the Future of Work. His message is compelling, relevant, and powerful.

Keith Ondra

Global Learning Leader, General Motors

The Books

The Thinking Behind The Work

Kogan Page, 2023

The Trusted Learning Advisor

L&D's evolution starts here.

For decades, learning and development has been reactive, undervalued, and perpetually fighting for relevance.

Drawing on 25 years of frontline experience and doctoral research, Dr. Keith Keating gives L&D professionals the tools and mindset to stop waiting for permission and start shaping strategy.

This is the playbook for becoming the learning leader your organization actually needs.

Get The Book Your Book Club Guide Is Here

JetLaunch, 2025

Hidden Value

Great work doesn't speak for itself. Make it visible.

Every organization has more value than it recognizes.

The problem isn't performance, it's visibility. In Hidden Value, Dr. Keith Keating introduces the Value Creation Compass, making the case that in a Value Economy, every function must prove its contribution in language the boardroom understands.

Stop justifying your worth. Start amplifying it.

Get The Book Your Book Club Guide Is Here

The Framework

The Ideas That Drive The Work

Four proprietary frameworks built from 25 years of practice, doctoral research, and the hard lessons that only come from doing the work at the highest levels.

Value Creation Compass

From the best-selling book ‘Hidden Value’

Learn More

Value Obsession Framework

From Hidden Value

Learn More

Trusted Learning Advisor Evolution Model

From The Trusted Learning Advisor

Learn More

Break the Box

From The Keynote and Forthcoming Book

Learn More

The Framework

Value Creation Compass

From the best-selling book ‘Hidden Value’

Every business measures its success through the same lens: its people, its growth, its resilience, and its customers.

The Value Creation Compass gives learning leaders a framework for connecting what they do to those four dimensions, speaking the language the business already uses, and proving value where the business is already looking.

The Framework

Value Obsession Framework

From Hidden Value

The world has shifted. Knowledge is no longer the differentiator.

Today, every function, every leader, every team, is being measured by one question: what value are you creating? The Value Obsession Framework is a four-step cycle for ensuring that answer is never left to chance.

The Framework

Trusted Learning Advisor Evolution Model

From The Trusted Learning Advisor

The business already has a perception of your function. That perception determines your influence, your access, and your impact.

The Trusted Learning Advisor Evolution Model maps the journey from order taker to trusted advisor, showing exactly what shifts at each stage and what it takes to stop waiting for an invitation to sit at their table. Instead, build your own table. And invite the business to sit with you.

The Framework

Break the Box

From The Keynote and Forthcoming Book

Every organization runs on boxes. Job titles. Performance ratings. Career tracks. Labels that start as descriptions and become ceilings, quietly capping what people believe is possible for themselves.

Break the Box is a four-step framework for identifying those invisible constraints and dismantling them. Not as a one-time exercise. As a new way of operating.

Watch. Listen. Read.

Challenge Your Thinking

Conversations on the future of work, learning,
and why most organizations are getting both wrong.

WATCH NOW

Keith doesn't just speak to a room. He moves the people in it.

YOUTUBE

Future-Prepare

Subscribe to @drkeithkeating

For insights on the future of work, organizational learning, and what it takes to build a workforce that doesn't just survive disruption, it creates it.

PODCASTS FEATURING DR. KEITH KEATING

Conversations That Go Deeper

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PUBLICATIONS

The Ideas, in Print

Beyond the Bio

Confessions You Won't Find On My LinkedIn

I was a backup dancer. Professionally. I was also in a music video for one of the most famous artists in the world.

Curious who? You'll have to ask me in person.

I've lived in 7 countries: Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, South Korea, the UK, and 8 states in the US.

I was agile before I could spell the word.

I got my GED at fifteen.

In a psychiatric hospital.

The system had already decided my story.

I disagreed.

I was once fired for sending 10,000 emails at once to promote my website and crashing our mail server.

I forgot to change the mailbox. Damn Blackberry.

The system said I'd never get a degree.

I got four.

I failed the law school entrance exam three times.

I've never been so glad to have failed at something.

I've lived in a car twice. The first time was a 32-day contest. I won the car.

The second time, I had nowhere else to go.

I write the books I want to write.

I worry about the publisher later.

I once convinced a famous Hollywood nightclub that my mom was the editor-in-chief of a magazine to get us a table. We ended up taking the table away from a very famous pair of reclusive twin actresses-turned-fashion designers. They were not happy.

We had the night of our lives.

I've sold three reality TV show ideas.

Two were thrown in the trash.

One is still on air today.

I once moved to Los Angeles after booking bit parts in Frasier and Seabiscuit. My combined total of 9 words are on the cutting room floor.

The West Wing kept me but you'll need patience, good eyes, and a pause button.

I've been laid off twice.

It can happen to anyone.

At any time.

I genuinely believe learning

changes lives, including my own life.

That's not a keynote line.

That's just the truth.

The Future of Work Doesn't Just Happen. Let's Create it. Together.

Whether you need a keynote that shifts a room, an advisory partner to transform your learning function, or a voice that challenges your organization to evolve, I work with a select number of organizations each year.

If you're ready to do the work, let's talk.

Evolve. Or Else.

Keith

Trusted By Organizations That Demand Results

Keith

Learning Saved My Life. Now It's My Life's Work.

Keith Does

Building Learning Cultures

Unlocking Human Potential

Making Your Impact Visible

From Order Takers to Trusted Advisors

Keynote Speaking Talks That Don't Leave You The Same

Future-Preparing Excellence

Future-Preparing Excellence

Evolve. Or Else.

Evolve. Or Else.

Hidden Value: Making the Impact Visible

Hidden Value: Making the Impact Visible

Break the Box

Break the Box

Trusted by Leaders Across Industries

The Thinking Behind The Work

The Trusted Learning Advisor

Hidden Value

The Ideas That Drive The Work

Value Creation Compass

Value Obsession Framework

Trusted Learning Advisor Evolution Model

Break the Box

Value Creation Compass

Value Obsession Framework

Trusted Learning Advisor Evolution Model

Break the Box

Challenge Your Thinking

Future-Prepare

Conversations That Go Deeper

The Ideas, in Print

Learning as a Moral Imperative

Learning as a Moral Imperative: The Cost of Neglect and the Path Forward

Never Stop Learning: Interview with Dr. Keith Keating, Chief Learning & Talent Officer of BDO Canada

5 Tips on Aligning Career Growth Opportunities with Organizational Talent Priorities

7 Advantages of Making Career Pathing the Pillar of Your Employer Value Proposition

How to Leverage Technology in Aligning Employee Career Growth with Organizational Talent Priorities

How to Make Career Pathing the Core of Your Employer Value Proposition

How to Use Technology to Win the Talent War

Transforming Vendor Relationships into Strategic Partnerships

10 Tips to Establish a Culture of Caring

Cultivating a Culture of Caring Is a Business Imperative

Exploring the Beliefs about Training in Organizations

How to Develop Talent That Can Succeed in a Hybrid World of Work

How to Embrace Hybrid Work and Overcome the Challenges

How to Establish the Future-Ready Workforce

Is There Place for a Culture of Caring in the Metaverse?

Leveraging 2022's Future-Forward Lessons to Improve L&D

Rethinking High-Potential Talent Identification

The 3 Most Dangerous Words in Any Organization

Understanding Learning Transfer Through Archwell Academies

What Role Do CFOs Play in the Great Resignation?

You Are Not Your Job Title — 3 Ways to Break Free

5 Tips for Keeping Virtual Learners Engaged

Agile Career Paths for Dynamic Organizations

Design Thinking: Risks and Rewards

Education Crisis, Workforce Preparedness, & Covid-19

Five Practices for Employee Skill Development

Harness the Power of Unlearning

How to Build a Strong Culture of Diversity and Measure Your Efforts

If Your Culture of Excellence Is Failing, These Might Be the Reasons

Pause: The Power of Cultivating Space Between Words

Three Traits of Adaptable Leaders

Using Influencers to Drive Your Learning Strategy

Attention: What Is Remote Work? Not This.

Deck the Halls and the Secret to Engaging Learners

Future-Prepare Yourself with Transferable Skills

In the Future of Work, Learning Is Beautiful

The Mindset of a Lifelong Learner

Using Design Thinking to Be Better L&D Business Partners

Virtual Design Thinking: Can It Work?

Confessions You Won't Find On My LinkedIn

The Future of Work Doesn't Just Happen. Let's Create it. Together.