Businesses don’t like risk, and the blend of chaos, emotion, and complexity that we call “the human factor” is one of the biggest risks any business must face. But right now, as incredibly disruptive technologies like AI emerge at a stunning pace, the only antidote is for us to become more incredibly human than ever before.
To do that, we need to make “the human factor” less risky. That’s what David Allison does in this keynote.
David’s team has turned human values into data, creating boardroom-friendly facts and figures to replace subjective conversations.
Now we can combine revolutionary new super-machines like AI with a revolutionary new understanding of the humans who use them. It’s the combination we need to solve any problem and achieve any goal.
Backed by nearly a million surveys completed in 152 languages, David’s transformative keynotes reveal the exact values that drive people with unprecedented detail and clarity. It’s no wonder his work is included in college textbooks used worldwide and leveraged by organizations like Google, PayPal, lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation.
Who is it for
Audience takeaways
Leverage the next evolution in values-driven leadership with a scientific breakthrough in human values data.
Neurologists have known for years that leading people effectively requires tapping into their core values. But until now, there hasn’t been a way to identify, measure, and leverage the specific values shared by teams, or large groups of people.
Human values expert, leadership keynote speaker, and 2x best-selling author David Allison has turned our shared human values into accurate empirical data, conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points. In his fast-paced and dynamic leadership keynotes, he isolates the values that mean the most to your teams, your entire workforce, or even the workforce of your entire industry. Then he shows you how to use values to tackle any issue and meet any goal.
Once you learn the accurate, science-backed, shared values of your people, the transformation begins. You’ll see your true self in your work. You’ll see where your values intersect with the values of people you need to engage. And you’ll find that more effective leadership comes from being more human. As David says: “If we let them, our values will unite us. Because we are all values-driven.”
WHO IS THIS FOR?
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
LEADERSHIP BIOGRAPHY
David Allison, the world’s foremost authority on human values, is a dynamic and unique leadership keynote speaker who applies groundbreaking research across multiple industries.
As a pioneer in identifying and applying core human values, David assists leadership teams in understanding what truly motivates and drives their teams, teaching them how to use shared values to motivate, engage, and inspire people effectively.
His landmark keynotes, including those for Lincoln Financial, The Canadian Society of Association Executives, the Real Estate Forum, and more, along with his extensive studies for global entities like Genesys, The United Nations Foundation, PayPal, and Google, have realigned management initiatives and leadership styles with the values employees are driven by.
David’s expertise goes beyond team leadership, addressing how today’s leaders can impact consumers, financial partners, regulatory bodies, donors, prospects, and community members, all while enhancing ESG and DEI initiatives. With his vast experience across multiple sectors and working with a variety of stakeholder groups, David equips leadership teams to achieve their goals by focusing on what unites us all: our values.
His insights and methods have been featured in numerous podcasts, industry journals, and publications like Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and INC Magazine. His work is also included in textbooks worldwide, preparing the next generation of leaders to be values-driven.
Discover the revolutionary, scientifically proven source of employee engagement, retention, and achievement
It’s no secret that employee engagement and retention are in freefall. Companies continue to offer more perks and incentives, yet 85% of employees worldwide aren’t engaged at work. Many organizations are at a loss for how to make people do great things and feel satisfied along the way.
Human values expert, employee engagement keynote speaker and 2x best-selling author David Allison has dedicated his career to studying the core values that drive people to become engaged, inspired, and motivated. By conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points, David and his team have turned shared human values into hard data that’s readable, meaningful, and actionable. It’s no wonder his work is included in college textbooks worldwide and leveraged by organizations like Google, PayPal, lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation.
Guided by David’s game-changing research – delivered in an unforgettably dynamic keynote – you’ll discover how to go beyond pointless perks to create an engaged workforce incentivized by what they value most. People don’t want ping pong tables and free pizza. Give them more of what they value, and you’ll unlock their true passion and full potential.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & RETENTION INSIGHTS
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & RETENTION BIOGRAPHY
David Allison stands at the forefront of transforming workplace culture and employee engagement as the world’s leading authority on human values.
From his landmark keynote speech at Tech Talent North, Canada’s leading symposium for People & Culture professionals, to guiding IMEX (the world’s leading trade show for business events) to becoming an age-free organization, David has reshaped the very ethos of multiple industries. He’s used research to understand the unique challenges of recruiting specialists like Cloud Architects and AI engineers, and helped medical information systems giant QHR Technologies shape their workplace culture strategy. On a much larger scale, he profiled the global contact center workforce for Genesys, to help contact center leaders around the world craft workplace environments that resonate with their employees.
David’s thought leadership and insights are not just limited to keynote speeches; his work has been featured in numerous podcasts, industry journals, and prestigious publications such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and INC Magazine. Additionally, his pioneering research and methodologies are included in textbooks used on campuses worldwide, preparing the next generation of leaders to adopt a values-driven approach.
With an unmatched ability to translate complex data into actionable strategies, David Allison is a dynamic, memorable, and transformative employee engagement and retention keynote speaker.
In his Signature Keynote, David tackles head-on the confusing times we live in today and makes the confusion fall away. He shows how the dawn of a new economic era is responsible for everything that people do, all around the world.
It’s not the gig economy, the sharing economy, or the experience economy anymore – we live in the Values Economy now.
The future of work, the future of leadership, the future of marketing….the future of everything is all about people, and people are all about their values. Because our values drive everything we do.
See the groundbreaking results from 750,000 surveys: the world’s first inventory of shared human values.
Learn how human values can radically transform the way you engage with the people you want to reach.
Be inspired to change how you look at people, and leave with data-tested tools to ensure you succeed in a values-driven world.
In his Custom Keynote, David reveals the results of a custom research project completed specifically for your event. He uses data to pinpoint a precise set of Power Values that will motivate, engage, and inspire employees, customers, prospects, donors…whoever your attendees need to reach.
He explains how to use the Power Values to make decisions about everything: from leadership to marketing, from people & culture to branding. No matter how rocky the road ahead may be, the Power Values are a timeless and predictive guiding light – a beacon that makes the path clear.
These are the same data-driven insights used by organizations like PayPal, lululemon, the United Nations Foundation, and many other global brands – and now your audience too.
Discover the motivating values of customers, prospects, investors, members…anyone, anywhere on earth.
Learn how to reach those people deep inside their hearts, and engage with them like a trusted friend.
Leave with a toolkit for building values-driven solutions, and strategies to motivate more people more often.
A Roadmap for Navigating Leadership with Your Personal Values
Leadership today often feels like navigating without a map. The tools we’ve relied on—demographics, personality tests, and outdated management theories—fail to provide the clarity leaders need to connect, inspire, and lead effectively. Without understanding the deeper forces that drive themselves and their teams, leaders can struggle to create alignment, build trust, and achieve lasting impact.
This small-group masterclass session offers a groundbreaking solution: a personalized and confidential Values Identifier assessment. Completed in advance, this 30-minute series of questions draws on hundreds of millions of data points from the world’s first global inventory of human values. The assessment identifies the precise core values that define who you are and what drives your decisions, behaviors, and beliefs as a leader.
In this highly interactive session, David will guide participants through their assessment results, showing how to use this powerful self-knowledge as a leadership compass. By connecting deeply with your values and understanding how they influence your actions, you’ll uncover new ways to lead with purpose, align your team, and foster meaningful collaboration. The session provides not just insights but practical tools for applying this knowledge to real-world leadership challenges.
You’ll leave with more than self-awareness—you’ll have a clear, actionable roadmap for navigating your role as a leader. Armed with your values and the tools to put them into practice, you’ll be prepared to lead authentically, connect meaningfully, and inspire lasting change in your organization.
Who Is This For?
Audience Takeaways
Values-Driven Leadership Insights
David Allison is the world’s foremost authority on human values and a leading keynote speaker on leadership, culture, and change. He pioneered a breakthrough approach that transforms subjective ideas of “values” into measurable data, backed by nearly one million surveys in 152 languages. His research, known as Valuegraphics, provides organizations with unprecedented clarity on what drives human behavior, engagement, and decision-making.
David has worked with global powerhouses including Google, PayPal, lululemon, Lincoln Financial, and the United Nations Foundation, showing leaders how to embed values into strategy, culture, and daily practice. His science-backed approach reveals that when organizations align goals with shared human values, they unlock stronger collaboration, reduce burnout, improve DEI and ESG outcomes, and achieve lasting impact.
A dynamic and engaging storyteller, David makes complex research practical and accessible. His keynotes, such as AI in the Workplace and The Science of Values-Based Leadership, equip leaders with frameworks to improve collaboration, conflict resolution, and innovation by focusing on the values that unite rather than divide.
David Allison is a distinguished figure in the realm of human values, a global researcher, and a best-selling author, whose mission revolves around reshaping our comprehension of human behavior and interaction.
With a rich and diverse career traversing marketing, research, and prolific authorship, David has left an indelible mark by introducing human values as a critical metric for organizational success in today’s Values Economy. His journey is not just one of professional achievement but also of profound impact, influencing businesses, leaders, and individuals worldwide.
As a sought-after speaker, David brings this wealth of knowledge and insight to audiences globally, captivating them with his compelling narratives and thought-provoking ideas. With a career spanning decades, David has amassed a wealth of experience in both academic and practical realms.
His academic background in psychology provides a solid foundation for his research endeavors, while his extensive work in marketing and branding consultancy has equipped him with real-world insights into the dynamics of consumer behavior and market trends. This unique blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience allows David to offer audiences a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between human values and business outcomes.
His ability to distill complex concepts into accessible insights has earned him a reputation as a thought leader in the fields of marketing, psychology, and organizational behavior. As the founder of the groundbreaking Valuegraphics Project, David Allison has spearheaded the development of the first-ever comprehensive global inventory of core human values. Through his innovative approach, he has transformed values into a quantifiable business metric, providing organizations with invaluable insights that empower them to thrive in an era defined by shifting societal paradigms.
In his latest literary endeavor, The Death of Demographics: Valuegraphic Marketing for a Values-Driven World, David Allison challenges conventional marketing wisdom by debunking the efficacy of traditional demographic segmentation in a rapidly evolving landscape. Drawing upon his extensive experience and research, he presents a compelling argument for the adoption of valuegraphic marketing strategies tailored to the values-driven preferences of contemporary consumers.
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David Allison shows why values not demographics— re the key to influencing decisions, building trust, and creating a values-driven world.
This keynote highlight captures David Allison’s signature message: if you want people to say “yes,” you must understand what drives them at their core—their values. He begins by pointing out how unpredictable people appear when measured by age, gender, or income. Retirees aren’t quietly knitting; they’re climbing mountains and skydiving. Gen Z is rediscovering vinyl records and rocking out to Led Zeppelin. Women are now the fastest-growing segment of the long-haul trucking industry, while men account for half of global spa revenue. These shifts defy traditional assumptions.
Allison argues that the problem lies in outdated demographic categories. People are not defined by what they’re “supposed” to do based on age or gender. Instead, behavior becomes clear when you look through the lens of values, what truly matters to individuals, what they care about, and what motivates them.
He emphasizes that by building brands, services, and organizations aligned with human values, leaders can influence decisions more effectively, boost engagement, and achieve better results. The side effect is even greater: together we move toward creating a values-driven world, one where collaboration, respect, and shared purpose lead to outcomes that benefit everyone, including future generations.
With a call to action, Allison invites audiences to stop pigeonholing people and instead roll up their sleeves to create a more human-centered, values-focused way of working and living.
00:00–00:30 — Opening: the universal goal—getting people to say “yes”
00:31–01:20 — Examples of unpredictable behavior across retirees, Gen Z, truckers, and spa-goers
01:21–01:55 — The failure of demographics and the need to focus on values
01:56–02:30 — How values clarify human behavior and decision-making
02:31–02:58 — Closing: building a values-driven world for current and future generations
David Allison demonstrates how turning human values into measurable data can transform leadership, business strategy, and the future of society.
This reel introduces David Allison as a global leader in values-driven research and strategy. He opens with his mission: to change the way people see themselves so we can change how we see each other—and ultimately change the world.
Through keynote clips and audience reactions, Allison underscores that values are no longer peripheral; they are now the most powerful force shaping our societies. “This is not the sharing economy, the experience economy, or the gig economy,” he explains. “This is the values economy, and we must behave accordingly.”
Drawing on nearly one million surveys in 152 languages, his Valuegraphics Project has mapped the core human values of people around the world. With this database, organizations can identify precisely what their audiences care about—whether it’s family, the environment, personal growth, or relationships—without relying on outdated demographics like age, gender, or income.
Allison reframes values as a measurable business metric, echoing Peter Drucker’s maxim: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” His work allows leaders to design brands, products, and strategies aligned with what truly matters to people, increasing impact and engagement.
The reel closes with a call to action: by shifting how we think about one another, and by aligning with human values at scale, we can collectively build a better, more connected world.
00:00–00:20 — Opening mission: change how we see ourselves and each other
00:21–00:50 — Introduction as an international speaker on human values
00:51–01:20 — Values as today’s most powerful global force—the Values Economy
01:21–01:50 — Turning values into data: the Valuegraphics Project explained
01:51–02:20 — Applications: aligning brands, products, and strategies with values
02:21–02:36 — Closing: shifting how we see each other to change the world
David Allison explains Valuegraphics, a groundbreaking system that measures human values as a business metric to drive engagement and transformation.
In this highlight, David Allison introduces Valuegraphics, the world’s first database that measures human values at scale. He begins with a central insight: the single most important thing to know about people today is their values. From social change to employee engagement to consumer behavior, values are driving decision-making everywhere.
He describes this moment as the dawn of a new era the Values Economy. No longer defined by demographics or traditional market categories, this economy revolves around what people truly care about. Allison emphasizes that values are not abstract concepts; they can now be measured and applied as a reliable business metric. Citing Peter Drucker’s maxim, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” he explains why organizations must use Valuegraphics data to track performance against values to thrive.
Built on more than 750,000 surveys in 152 languages, covering 180 countries, the Valuegraphics database provides unparalleled accuracy. It has already guided organizations like PayPal, lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation in aligning strategy with the values of employees, consumers, and communities.
Allison explains that humans are neurologically hardwired to chase their values. Values act as the GPS of life, guiding choices and behaviors. By knowing what people value, organizations can engage them authentically, connecting like a trusted friend.
The video closes with a call to action: if enough leaders adopt a values-driven approach, we can create a better world built on what unites us rather than what divides us. A values-driven world, he argues, is both possible and essential for the future.
00:00–00:20 — Opening: the most important thing to know about people—their values
00:21–00:50 — The rise of the Values Economy; values as a business metric
00:51–01:20 — The Valuegraphics database: 750k surveys, 152 languages, 180 countries
01:21–01:55 — Applications: PayPal, UN Foundation, lululemon, and others using Valuegraphics
01:56–02:20 — Values as the guidance system for human behavior
02:21–02:32 — Closing: a call to build a values-driven world united by what we share
David Allison blends storytelling and science to reveal how values—not demographics—drive every human decision and behavior.
This keynote excerpt begins with David Allison’s central insight: every organization on Earth, from governments to global airlines to a street food vendor, is ultimately trying to do the same thing—get people to do something. The key question then becomes: how do people decide what to do?
Allison illustrates the answer with the story of three friends walking home after a night out. Each must decide whether to enter a dark alley at midnight. One, whose core value is adventure, embraces the idea enthusiastically. Another, whose primary value is safety, refuses. The third, whose core value is friendship, only cares that the group stays together. None of them consults age, gender, or income before making a decision. Their choices are determined instantly by what they value.
From there, Allison draws on behavioral science to reinforce the point. Neurologists explain that the prefrontal cortex—the “CEO of the brain”—filters decisions entirely through values. Psychologists highlight confirmation bias, showing how people instinctively affirm what aligns with their values. Sociologists find that group behaviors are consistently explained by shared values. Across disciplines, the conclusion is the same: what we value determines what we do.
Allison argues that leaders and organizations must stop relying on outdated demographic labels to predict behavior. Instead, they should focus on uncovering and aligning with the values of the people they seek to engage—employees, consumers, or citizens.
He closes with a memorable takeaway: we are neurologically, psychologically, sociologically, and biologically hardwired to chase our values. Values are not abstract—they are the driving force behind every decision, behavior, and emotional response. Understanding them is the most effective way to influence, engage, and connect with people.
00:00–00:45 — Opening: every organization’s goal is simply to get people to do something
00:46–02:10 — Story of three friends in an alley—decisions driven by adventure, safety, or friendship values
02:11–03:40 — Neuroscience: the prefrontal cortex filters all decisions through values
03:41–05:00 — Psychology: confirmation bias and values as a behavioral compass
05:01–06:00 — Sociology: group behavior explained by shared values
06:01–06:39 — Closing: the universal principle—what we value determines everything we do
A: Yes. His Valuegraphics research applies across industries, cultures, and sectors.
A: Every session is grounded in empirical human values data, turning abstract ideas into measurable, actionable insights.
A: Leader guides and implementation checklists are provided.
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