JP Nicols Keynote Speaker

JP Nicols helps senior leaders avoid being perfectly positioned for a world that no longer exists.

High-energy keynotes, executive briefings, and workshops to help leaders stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Check Availability: speaking@jpnicols.com

Download his speaker profile and media kit here.

JP Nicols keynote speaker helps leaders avoid what he calls The Irrelevance Trap: being perfectly positioned for a world that no longer exists. His mission is to help them find clarity, momentum, and relevance in a world that refuses to sit still.

Today’s environment demands more from leaders than ever before. Meanwhile, markets shift, customer expectations rise, technology accelerates, and strategy cycles shorten. Leaders must deliver results while preparing their organizations for a future that is not yet fully visible.

JP’s keynotes are designed to help leaders navigate this reality with clarity, energy, and purpose. He brings more than twenty-five years of experience across strategy, innovation, and executive leadership—inside large incumbents and alongside fast-moving disruptors—to give audiences practical tools they can use the moment they return to work.

Compelling
Keynotes

JP packs his visually engaging presentations with actionable insights and tactical, practical takeaways your audience will love — and put to use when they return to work.

Provocative
Panels

If you’ve had enough of the same vague generalities, talking points, and boring nodding heads, JP breaks through the tired talking points and gets to the real issues.

Illuminating
Interviews

JP can also bring his expertise and unique insights to press conferences, media interviews, executive briefings, board sessions and VIP roundtable discussions.

Why Event Planners Book JP Nicols Keynote Speaker

JP Nicols is a keynote speaker and advisor who helps senior leaders make better strategic decisions when the status quo feels safest and relevance is at risk. This is the pattern where past success becomes the lens that blinds organizations to change. JP spent 20 years helping to grow a regional bank from under $1 billion to more than $60 billion in market capitalization, experiencing firsthand how scale, incentives, and complexity reshape decision-making long before performance declines.

JP has spent more than 13 years speaking to senior executive audiences, including extensive experience presenting to leadership teams and boards during his two decades inside a large, complex financial institution. He has delivered featured keynotes, executive briefings, internal leadership sessions, and executive programming for senior audiences across financial services and technology. His work includes engagements for organizations such as Visa, Capital One, Bank of America, the World Bank, Oracle, Cisco, NACHA, the American Bankers Association, Temenos, Bank Director, and leading graduate schools of business.

Organizations trust JP for:

Clarity, not clichés — practical frameworks leaders can use immediately.
Senior engagement — content designed for C-suite, boards, and seasoned leadership teams.
Custom relevance — tailored sessions grounded in real strategic needs.

His focus is simple: help you deliver a standout experience that equips leaders to succeed in a world of accelerating change.

Flagship Keynote

The Irrelevance Trap
How success becomes the biggest risk — and what leaders must do about it

This keynote is designed for audiences who are performing but feeling the pressure of an outside world that is moving faster than their organizations. It helps leaders:

Detect when strengths have become constraints
Understand why performance alone is not enough
Decide what to extend, what to bend, and what to leave behind

Ideal for: Executive teams, boards, senior leadership forums, and industry conferences.

Most organizations don’t struggle because they are poorly led. They struggle because past success becomes the lens through which leaders interpret the world. The systems, habits, and assumptions that once fueled growth quietly turn into constraints—until the environment shifts, and performance begins to drift.

Supporting Executive Sessions Addressing Specific Leadership Decisions

A Plan Is Not a Strategy — Why most plans fail to produce strategic outcomes.

Creating Capacity for Growth — How to align today’s performance with tomorrow’s relevance.

Fintech Partnerships That Actually Work — De-risk innovation partnerships and scale returns.

What Audiences Say about JP Nicols Keynote Speaker

“We don’t know what we don’t know… but I feel like JP does. This was a perspective changing presentation.” – Credit Union Executive

“Best speaker we have ever had!” – Conference Organizer

“We made more progress here in 24 hours than we typically make in 3 months”
– Bank COO

“Thought provoking and insightful” – Conference Attendee

Where JP Nicols Keynote Speaker is a Fit

C-suite leaders
Boards of directors
Senior leadership events
Strategy offsites
Mature organizations preparing for their next chapter
Corporate events
Leadership Summits
Customer Conferences

Each session is built to drive clarity, alignment, and action.

JP Nicols keynote speaker to global audiences

Availability & Next Steps

JP works with a limited number of engagements each year to ensure preparation, relevance, and impact.