Dan Cobley

Keynote speaker  Dan Cobley spent three years as Managing Director of Google in the UK & Ireland – the biggest market for Google outside the US and the most advanced major country in terms of e-commerce and online advertising spending.

There he helped the biggest global advertisers make the most of digital platforms to build their brands and their business online.

He is currently building financial technology start-up businesses with Blenheim Chalcot, a London-based venture builder.

In his presentations, Dan talks about innovation ; about how digital connectivity and devices  are transforming consumer behaviour and the industries that depend on them; and about the lessons learned from Google and how they can be applied to other companies and sectors.

With a high energy style, he uses a combination of humorous stories, data-led insights, and personal experience, illustrated with images, video and live product demos, to ensure his sessions are both engaging and impactful.

Dan was promoted to the UK MD role after five years in marketing, first as Marketing Director, UK, Ireland and Benelux and then as VP Marketing, EMEA. In this role, he was responsible for all aspects of European business and consumer marketing at Google.

Before Google, Dan was VP of Brand and Marketing for Capital One Europe where he spent three years and helped make the company the UK’s leading new card issuer. Prior to that, he served two years as marketing director at Ask Jeeves, working in the UK and the US.

Earlier, Dan was a dot.com casualty (great learning!), spent five years with Pepsi and Walkers in various marketing and operations roles, and worked as a strategy consultant with Monitor Company and an oil exploration engineer in Pakistan with Schlumberger.

Dan is the cofounder of ClearScore, BizFiTech, Dynamo Mortgages and SalaryFinance which recently raised a £40m investment. Dan is also supporting the growth of Liberis and Modulr Finance.

Dan is a regular speaker at conferences and has shared his thoughts on Physics and Marketing at TED and with over a million people online.  He was named as number 3 in Wired UK top 100 list 2012 and number 2 in Evening Standard 1000 Most Influential Londoners; Digital Innovators, 2012. He has a first degree in physics from Oxford and a master’s in management from Cambridge.

He is also a trustee of the Technology Trust, and investor/advisor to a few tech start-ups. Outside of work he enjoys adventure holidays, all sports except golf, and precious time with his two teenage boys.