Ali Ahmadi Book as a speaker/entertainer for your next event

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Key Points for Ali Ahmadi

  • Ali Ahmadi helps organisations respond to disengagement, burnout, change and resilience through keynote experiences that are practical, memorable and transformative.
  • What sets Ali apart is the rare combination of perspectives he brings to the stage: the lived extraordinary experience of a refugee, the strategic lens of an engineer and a director, and the stage presence of an award-winning storyteller.
  • His unique approach connects human experience with organisational challenges, helping teams build clarity, engagement and momentum in fast-changing environments.
  • Ali equips individuals and leaders with practical tools to adapt through change, overcome pressure and grow with greater resilience and intention.

Topics for Ali Ahmadi

  • The Map Forward
    Given the uncertainty organisations face, they need people who can adapt, make confident decisions and continue performing when the path ahead is unclear. The Map Forward equips audiences with the mindset and practical strategies to navigate uncertainty, build confidence and maintain high performance regardless of the challenges they face. Drawing on his experience as a refugee, his leadership background and his work as a dynamic speaker, Ali helps leaders and teams build the resilience, clarity and connection needed to navigate uncertainty. Through powerful stories and practical insights, he equips audiences to respond to challenges more effectively, strengthen engagement and turn adversity into momentum.
    Audiences will leave with a simple, practical framework they can use immediately to remain grounded, find direction and keep moving forward through uncertainty.
    Audience takeaways
    • Use gratitude to maintain perspective and remain grounded under pressure.
    • Create direction through purpose when circumstances are changing.
    • Build the self-confidence to act before the entire path is clear
  • Map for change
    Change strategies often focus on systems, timelines and communication while underestimating the human transition required for people to adopt a new reality. When people are not prepared for what lies ahead, the emotional experience of constant adaptation can bring a sense of disorientation. Drawing on his lived experience as a refugee, his career as an engineer and director, and insights from behavioural science, Ali uses compelling storytelling to introduce a deeply human framework for navigating change. Through three stages—realisation, transition and adoption—Ali helps audiences understand how to make sense of disruption, move through uncertainty and adapt to a new reality with greater clarity, resilience and intention.
    This keynote is more than a talk on change. It is a memorable experience that leaves audience members with a practical three-stage framework for moving through change with clarity, confidence and ownership.
    Audience takeaways
    • Recognise the early signals of change and understand what is shifting.
    • Navigate the uncertainty of transition with greater clarity and resilience.
    • Adopt new environments and ways of working with confidence and ownership
  • The Leadership Map
    As knowledge becomes more accessible, leadership is becoming less about knowledge and more about creating clarity, building trust and enabling others to succeed. However, leadership expectations have expanded to the point that many leaders are overloaded, disengaged and uncertain about where to focus their attention. Drawing on established leadership and behavioural research, together with more than a decade of experience leading large teams, Ali cuts through the complexity by returning to three fundamentals of effective leadership that address employees' core needs: appreciation, direction and empowerment.
    Leaders will leave with a simple, practical compass for leading through appreciation, direction and empowerment, creating greater clarity, trust and ownership across their teams.
    Audience takeaways
    • Use appreciation as a deliberate tool for strengthening engagement and performance.
    • Set clear direction that connects individual roles, team priorities and organisational purpose.
    • Build trust and capability so people can act with confidence and ownership.
  • Hosing Down Burnout
    Burnout is one of the biggest challenges facing modern workplaces, yet it is often misunderstood and treated as a workload problem alone. This narrow view can leave organisations addressing the symptoms while the deeper causes continue to affect energy, engagement and performance. Hosing Down Burnout offers a fresh and deeply human perspective: burnout is not just about workload, but about how we work, how we live, and who we become under pressure. Hosing Down Burnout helps audiences understand how patterns in the way we work, the way we live and the way we respond under pressure can combine to create unsustainable performance. Combining engineering thinking, behavioural science and lived experience, Ali explores the patterns that drive people into survival mode and keep them there. With a blend of powerful storytelling and practical insight, he helps audiences rethink burnout at its roots and build a more sustainable way of working, living and showing up.
    Audience members will leave with a practical toolkit for recognising burnout risk early, protecting their energy and sustaining performance over time.
    Audience takeaways
    • Identify work patterns that quietly increase the risk of burnout.
    • Understand how recovery, lifestyle and daily rhythms shape sustainable performance.
    • Recognise personal patterns under pressure and respond with greater awareness and self-leadership
  • The Re-engagement Map
    Disengagement is rarely solved by another perk, program or promise. Sustainable engagement begins when people reconnect with what matters to them and understand how their contribution connects to the direction of the organisation. The Re-engagement Map provides employees with a practical, inside-out framework for rebuilding motivation, personal ownership and meaningful contribution. Drawing on behavioural science research, leadership experience and storytelling, Ali helps audiences appreciate where they are, clarify where they want to go and build the confidence to move forward. The result is engagement that is more personal, sustainable and connected to performance.
    Audiences will leave with a clear, practical way to rebuild engagement from the inside out, strengthening personal ownership, sustainable motivation and connection to organisational goals.
    Audience takeaways 
    • Why disengagement develops and the early signs individuals and leaders can recognise.
    • How purpose, confidence and recognition rebuild ownership at work.
    • How everyday leadership and team practices can turn short-term motivation into sustainable engagement.

Testimonials for Ali Ahmadi

Ali Ahmadi was a fantastic keynote speaker and was very well received by the team. His session was concise, clear and easy to connect with, particularly through his focus on GPS — Gratitude, Purpose and Self-confidence. This simple but meaningful framework resonated strongly and gave the team practical points to reflect on both personally and professionally. What stood out on the day was Ali’s ability to deliver an inspiring message in a very relatable and accessible way. The team responded positively throughout the session, and the conversations continued throughout the breaks and over dinner! Ali’s delivery was engaging, genuine and well aligned with the brief, with the right balance of inspiration and personal reflection. We all realised that we need to take the time for gratitude for our team and ourselves. The session was well structured, easy to follow and impactful without being overly complex. I would highly recommend Ali’s session to other leadership teams. His keynote provided a strong, uplifting and practical message that encouraged reflection, connection with out teams regularly and a positive mindset.
Adelaide Venue Management

Ali has also followed up with the team since the session, which will help in reinforcing the key messages and encouraging us to continue applying the GPS principles across the workplace. Ali has a genuinely warm and grounded presence that immediately captures people’s attention which is no small feat in a world full of constant notifications and distractions. His ability to connect with an audience feels effortless and authentic. What truly sets Ali apart is his storytelling. He has a rare talent for weaving meaningful insights into real-life experiences, making his message relatable across any topic or audience. You don’t just listen to Ali speak you feel engaged, understood, and inspired. I would highly recommend Ali to anyone looking for a speaker who is both impactful and deeply authentic.
Payble

On behalf of the RPSA Board, we've been selecting Keynote Speakers for our Annual Conference through ICMI for quite a few years now. We were particularly impressed with Ali Ahmadi as our keynote speaker earlier this month. Ali held the 90+ audience fully engaged for the entire hour. Ali's presentation 'Pillars of Resilience' was very well structured, thoughtfully delivered and deeply inspiring. Ali speaks about resilience, leadership and personal accountability not as abstract concepts, but as lived experience. Having overcome systemic discrimination, life-threatening circumstances and immense personal adversity before arriving in Australia in 2008, his story is powerful. Yet his message is not one of hardship — it is one of ownership, growth, mindset and possibility. Ali came across as authentic and grounded. He is self-aware, emotionally intelligent and highly relatable. Ali's message is not cliche or superficial--rather, it's practical, honest and empowering. The feedback from our attendees was overwhelmingly positive. With this year's conference theme, "The Power of You," Ali's keynote could not have been more relevant. It added tremendous value to our conference, and I would highly recommend Ali to any organisation seeking a speaker who can inspire meaningful reflection and real behavioural change. 
Revenue Professionals SA

Excellent delivery, held the audience captive. Made the talk relevant to the audience.
Traffic Management Association of Australia

Ali’s story is truly harrowing, but his demonstration of resilience and determination in the face of danger and uncertainty is inspiring. He is a natural story teller and he has such a unique story to tell.
CIO
G’day Group

Ali’s story is awe-inspiring and heartfelt but put simply, one of strength, courage, resilience and of instinctive survival. His journey was challenging and shocking at times but also authentic and uplifting...Ali is truly inspiring!
Government Director

Ali’s story is something that makes you realise the strength and resilience that lies within each individual human being. His story is a testimony to that, and a lesson for people to push their boundaries and believe in something greater for themselves.
Director
Determined 2

Ali’s presentation is engaging and inspiring and provides audience with a complete shift in perspective. I highly recommend Ali to anyone who wants a complete change in perspective for their audience.
Senior Leader
Unley High School