Upcoming Events
Pi brings to its members an exceptional and uniquely broad programme of events throughout the year with the world’s most authoritative and exciting speakers. The Mayfair based events are a mix of breakfasts, lunches and dinners with virtual events when the speaker is based overseas.
Pi speakers span the range from established global leaders — past Presidents of the United States and General Secretaries of the United Nations — to top cultural, economic and scientific figures. We identify trends as they emerge and always ensure that our members are informed on the most pressing issues of the day.
November 2023
David Brooks
Author and Columnist for the New York Times
How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives. In conversation with Mark Evans, Brooks explains how we can do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us. If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What aspects of a person’s story should you pay attention to?
Alexander Sukharevsky
Senior partner and global leader of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey
Generative AI: Beyond the hype
Generative AI has ushered in a new era where machines can engage with human language like never before. This breakthrough promises to transform our lives and livelihoods. In this session, Alexander will demystify this cutting-edge technology, discuss its practical applications, and explain how corporate leaders can use it to reinvent business models and the industries in which they operate.
December 2023
January 2024
Investing in a post COP28 world
Moderated by Simon Mundy, Moral Money Editor at the FT, we hear from three leaders in climate and impact investing. What role should private capital play in helping us to achieve our climate goals? How do policy, regulation and global climate commitments shape the investment environment? And how do we maximise the real world impact of private investment?
James Thomas
Founder and Chair of Justice and Care
The battle against modern day slavery
Almost 50 million people live as slaves today. In the UK alone there are estimated to be over 100,000 victims silently hidden – in places like car washes, brothels, nail bars and restaurants. Working alongside governments, agencies and officials around the world, James and his team are making an all-out assault on the criminal gangs and human trafficking responsible.
Kamal Ahmed
Understanding Gen Z
CEOs, executives, civil society leaders (and parents!) are wanting to better understand the next generation of consumers and the next generation of employees. Gen Z is putting pressure on us all to transform in fascinating ways. Kamal joins to discuss how to cater for younger workers and future proof our organisations.
Marco Lambertini
Former Director General of WWF International and now Special Envoy
Reversing biodiversity loss
Marco joins us post COP28 and Davos to discuss what it takes to achieve a nature-positive future, what it requires of our society and how it connects to the existential challenges our civilisation is facing from climate change to pandemics.
February 2024
Prof Cameron Hepburn
Professor of Environmental Economics at Oxford University and Director of the Economics and Sustainability Programme at the Oxford Martin School
Can the UK and the world reach net zero on time?
Is net zero by 2050 possible? What would it take to get there? On the one hand, the stock of renewable power generation and electric vehicles continues to grow rapidly; on the other hand, China continues to build new coal fired generation, citizens appear to be starting to push back against net zero policy, and the reality of reconfiguring our supply chains and the structure of the economy is starting to hit home.
Børge Brende
President, World Economic Forum
Post Davos Round-Up
The World Economic Forum (14-19 Jan 2024) brings together leaders from governments, business, civil society and science to discuss the most pressing issues of the day and the outlook going forward. Børge brings us the round-up, the untold stories and his hopes and fears for the future.
Thomas Heatherwick
British designer
Breakfast at Heatherwick Studio
We join Thomas at his spectacular new studio to learn more about putting human emotion back at the heart of the design process as a counterbalance to the increasingly soulless and depressing buildings we see around us. By changing the world around us, Thomas believes we can improve our health, restore our happiness, and save our planet.
Debbie Weinstein
Vice President and Country Manager for Google in the UK and Ireland
Google and the future of AI
Join us for breakfast at Google’s London office with Debbie Weinstein, Vice President and Country Manager for Google in the UK and Ireland, who will update us on latest developments at Google, with a particular focus on AI.
Dr Kalpana Devalia
Consultant bariatric surgeon
Obesity
Nearly two thirds of adults in the UK are overweight or obese, costing the NHS and the wider economy billions of pounds annually. Obesity specialist, Dr Devalia, joins us to discuss the new horizons in the management of this epidemic, from lifestyle changes to bariatric surgery to anti-obesity drugs.
March 2024
The 2 Johns
Ex policemen dedicated to e-safety training
The Dangers of Strangers Online
If you think you know the full extent of dangers of online harm to children and young people, think again. Come and learn from The Two Johns who are deeply knowledgeable about this rapidly evolving world. Increasingly young people are being contacted in their own homes by online platforms and apps and asked for sexual pictures and videos, while their parents and carers are totally unaware. John and John open our eyes to the extent of this online abuse, how it happens, why it is so hidden and hard to stop and what, as individuals, we can do about it. They will also discuss the shortcomings of the Online Safety Bill. Highly relevant for policy makers, those working in any field with children and young people and of course all parents.
Prof. Andrew Scott
Professor of Economics at London Business School
The Longevity Imperative: Building a Better Society for Healthier, Longer Lives
Ahead of publication of his forthcoming book, Andrew joins us to discuss the changes we will all need to make to ensure that our health, careers and finances match the longer lifespans we can all expect.
Verity Harding
AI, technology and public policy expert
AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI's Future and Save Our Own
AI will permeate our lives in unforeseeable ways, but it is clear that the shape of AI’s future—and of our own—cannot be left only to those building it. Verity argues that it is critical for society to take the lead in figuring out what, and who, this technology is really for, if we are to guide it away from our worst fears and toward a future that we can trust and believe in.