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Professor John Amaechi OBE is an organisational psychologist, Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School, and founder of APS Intelligence Ltd.
For sixteen years heтАЩs advised FTSE 100 boards and their international equivalents, including Fortune 100 and global enterprise, across Europe, APAC and the Americas.
He served seven years as a Non-Executive Director of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, BritainтАЩs largest healthcare organisation, chairing the HR Scrutiny Committee through the TUPE transfer of 10,000 colleagues and the TrustтАЩs response to the Manchester Arena bombing.
His clients span professional and financial services, banking and capital markets, legal, insurance, technology, life sciences, and sovereign institutions.
His work returns to one consistent finding: most organisational underperformance traces to behaviour, in leaders and in colleagues, not to values, strategy, or culture in the abstract. Leaders who work with John Amaechi and APS Intelligence donтАЩt leave with a sharper self-image and an inspiring afternoon. They leave with a measurable, auditable difference in how they lead under pressure, and with frameworks that make specific excellent behaviours the norm. APS Intelligence holds a five-year average Net Promoter Score of +84.
John Amaechi is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of three books, including The Promises of Giants, winner of the Porchlight Award for best business book, and ItтАЩs Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders (2025).
He holds an OBE, the 2023 Sport Industry Integrity and Impact Award, and a LinkedIn Top Voice designation. Before founding APS Intelligence, he completed his graduate training in psychology while playing professional basketball in the NBA, becoming the first British person to have a career in the League.
In 2026, he was appointed to the Mayor of LondonтАЩs AI and Jobs Taskforce, advising on workforce capability, role design, and the behavioural conditions that determine how organisations and their people adapt as technology reshapes work.
Clients are most likely to request John to speak on these topics: Leadership: ItтАЩs Not Magic, The Future is Human, The Art and Science of Compelling Communication, Leading through Permanent Disruption, Unlocking Elite Performance, Breaking Down Silos, Rebuilding Trust, and The Promises of Giants.
