Speaking engagements
The session your event
gets quoted for
Szilvia Kocsy speaker reel
I turn complexity into clear frameworks your audience can use straight away.
Every session is built on lived experience.
Systems thinking with actionable insights meets genuine warmth and uplifting energy, on stage.
What organisers say
“Szilvia joined AIPMO's PMO Masterclass in London in June 2025 and proved to be the ideal speaker. Her delivery strikes a rare balance: inspiring without being abstract, warm without losing authority, and pragmatic enough to translate directly into action. This combination allowed her to connect quickly with the audience while giving participants practical guidance they could apply immediately on Monday morning.”
Dr. Robert Joslin, Founder Association of International Project Management Officers
Speaker bio
Szilvia Kocsy
Every talk I deliver draws on direct operating experience:
I have spent 20 years solving problems that sit between strategy and execution, from Series A start-ups to complex multi-billion-dollar global operations (PwC - PMO Lead, LinkedIn, Chief of Staff) across 21 industries.
I have worked with AI since 2013 and advised founders since 2009 as a founding member of an entrepreneurs' association and as an award-winning entrepreneur.
15 Years at PwC
4 Years Chief of Staff at LinkedIn
21 Sectors Experience
AI Advocacy Since 2013
Audience
Built for the room you are filling
Every session is designed around the seniority, responsibilities, and pressures of the people in the room.
C-suite & Boards
Built for executives who need their vision to land in the reality of leading through constant change, at pace, under scrutiny, with imperfect information.
Event types: CEO summits, board offsites, leadership conferences, investor days, Annual General Meetings
Directors & Heads of
Leading across cultures, neurotypes, and time zones. Practical frameworks for matrixed environments where influence matters more than authority.
Event types: Management conferences, L&D programmes, PMO summits, CoS events
Team & Operations
Leading, managing and executing cross-functional work, manage complexity, partner with and support executives.
Event types: Team offsites, functional conferences, internal training days, workshops
Session Portfo
Keynote talks and workshops
Each session is available as a keynote, or a workshop. All content is tailored to your audience, sector, and event objectives. Bespoke talks are also available on request.
Are You Ready To Lead The Largest Upskilling of Our Lifetime?
A prctical framework for leading when AI changes the work faster than people can adapt.
The challenge your audience is facing
AI is reshaping roles, skills, and how the business runs at a pace most leadership teams are not equipped for. What the market demands and what teams can deliver are moving further apart. Leaders are under pressure to act but unclear on what to prioritise.
What your audience will leave with
A decision framework for leading through ambiguity without slowing execution
How to create clarity for teams when the ground keeps shifting
The three leadership shifts that separate AI-ready organisations from reactive ones
Why I deliver this
I started working with AI in 2013. I have integrated AI into executive operating rhythms across 21 sectors. This session gives your audience a leadership readiness framework built from direct experience of those decisions at pace.
Audience
C-Suite, Senior Leaders, HR and People Leaders
Format
45-min keynote or 90-min interactive workshop
Perfect for: Leadership summits, CEO roundtables, and HR/People conferences focused on future-of-work strategy.
Actionable insights on the following topics
Global Strategy, Local Impact
What it takes to move people in the same direction across borders, time zones, and cultures.
The challenge your audience is facing
Global leaders are operating across geographies where cultural misalignment, time zone friction, and competing local priorities dilute strategic impact. Headquarters sets direction. Regions interpret it differently. Alignment meetings multiply but outcomes do not.
What your audience will leave with
A framework for creating alignment that does not require uniformity
How to accelerate strategy execution across 5+ markets without losing local relevance
Practical tools for reducing the gap between global intent and local delivery
Why I deliver this
As Chief of Staff at LinkedIn, I partnered with the EMEA & LATAM Managing Director across 14 countries with over 4,000 employees. I know what it takes to translate a global strategy into something a country leader can execute on Monday morning, because I did it every week.
Audience
Global leadership teams, multidisciplinary programme leads, regional directors
Format
45-min keynote or half-day intensive workshop
Perfect for: Global leadership summits, multinational offsites, and cross-border strategy events.
Smooth Sailing in Turbulent Waters
How to maintain strategic focus while managing transformation, people, and delivery simultaneously.
The challenge your audience is facing
Organisations navigating transformation at pace face a familiar pattern. Strategic priorities compete with operational fires, leadership attention splits, and teams lose sight of the outcome they are working towards. The cost is missed deadlines and organisational fatigue.
What your audience will leave with
A proven approach to balance forming, norming, storming, and performing during change
How to protect strategic priorities when operational demands escalate
Practical techniques for sustaining team performance through extended periods of uncertainty
Why I deliver this
I spent 15 years at PwC leading global PMO functions through continuous transformation. I know what organisational fatigue looks like from the inside and how to sustain performance when people are stretched. Teams under pressure need rigour and care in equal measure.
Audience
Senior operational leaders, Directors, People Managers
Format
45-min keynote or half-day workshop
Perfect for: Management conferences, transformation-focused events, and operational leadership summits.
Moving Decisions at the Speed of the Business
How to build genuine buy-in and accelerate decisions in matrixed environments without burning relationships.
The challenge your audience is facing
Multidisciplinary teams with differing priorities create friction at delivery level. It shows up as politics, escalation, and decisions that take three meetings when they should take one. The people doing the work spend more time managing relationships than delivering outcomes.
What your audience will leave with
Techniques for influencing without authority across competing functions
How to navigate conflicting priorities without creating winners and losers
A practical playbook for moving from surface agreement to genuine alignment
Why I deliver this
As a Chief of Staff, I sat between competing priorities every day. My job was to move decisions forward while keeping relationships intact. I combine forensic systems thinking with deep emotional attunement, which is what it takes to create real alignment.
Audience
Directors, People Managers, PMO and programme teams, Chiefs of Staff
Format
30-45 min keynote with Q&A or interactive workshop
Perfect for: PMO conferences, Chief of Staff events, and management development programmes.
The Sigh of Relief: Simplify Complexity at Pace
The challenge your audience is facing
Strategy gets slowed by process and people. What leaders intend and what gets delivered rarely match, and that is a structural problem. Teams are busy but not aligned, productive but not effective.
What your audience will leave with
The breakdown points between strategy and execution
Diagnostic questions to identify which breakdowns are active in your organisation
Practical interventions that can be implemented without a transformation programme
Why I deliver this
I understand the structural friction at every scale across 21 industries, from Series A start-ups to multi-billion-dollar global operations. I founded an entrepreneurs' association and have advised founders since 2009, so I know how to name friction precisely so your team can fix it.
Audience
Go-to-market teams, programme management, senior operations leaders
Format
30-60 min keynote or workshop
Perfect for: Operations conferences, GTM summits, and team offsites focused on delivery improvement.
Repositioning PMO as the driver of strategic value in an AI-driven market
The challenge your audience is facing
When transformation accelerates and AI reshapes how work gets done, reporting is not enough. PMO leaders are expected to drive strategic outcomes, yet, how the function is perceived have not evolved to match.
What your audience will leave with
A framework for repositioning PMO from delivery oversight to strategic decision enabler
How to redesign how your PMO operates for AI-driven transformation without losing delivery discipline
Three shifts that move PMO from reactive reporting to proactive strategic input
Why I deliver this
I spent 15 years at PwC, 5 building and leading global PMO functions. I know what it takes to move a PMO from execution engine to being a trusted strategic partner.
Audience
PMO leaders, Programme Directors, Heads of Delivery, Transformation Leads
Format
45-min keynote or 90-min interactive workshop
Perfect for: PMO conferences, programme management summits, transformation leadership events, and delivery-focused offsites.
Recent Stages
Gus Germany GmbH Annual Event, Berlin, December 2025: Keynote on Leadership for 100+ CEOs
Chief of Staff Connect, London, November 2025
LinkedIn Community LearnIn, London, June 2025
AIPMO PMO Masterclass, Royal Automobile Club, London, June 2025
Chief of Staff Connect, New York, October 2024
Gus Germany GmbH's annual event, for 100+ CEOs and Senior Leadership Community members on 5 December 2025 in Berlin. Keynote talk on Leadership.
Chief of Staff Connect, 17-18 October 2024, New York. Practical strategies, frameworks and knowledge-focused panel discussion about 'Winning Strategies: Planning and Execution for Maximum Impact' alongside Eleazar Orellana, MBA. Relevance of this session was optimised for all Senior Chief of Staffs by covering a variety of organisation sizes, cycles and maturities. Insights included simplicity and clarity, tips to avoid common pitfalls with strategic planning and much more.
Chief of Staff Connect, 17-18 October 2024, New York. Practical strategies, frameworks and knowledge-focused panel discussion about 'Winning Strategies: Planning and Execution for Maximum Impact' alongside Eleazar Orellana, MBA. Relevance of this session was optimised for all Senior Chief of Staffs by covering a variety of organisation sizes, cycles and maturities. Insights included simplicity and clarity, tips to avoid common pitfalls with strategic planning and much more.
LinkedIn Community LearnIn: Networking 20 June 2025, London, LinkedIn Experience Centre. I held a session about strategic and practical tips on networking to help strengthen LinkedIn presence and grow meaningful relationships.
LinkedIn Community LearnIn: Networking 20 June 2025, London, LinkedIn Experience Centre. I held a session about strategic and practical tips on networking to help strengthen LinkedIn presence and grow meaningful relationships.
I joined the Association of Project Management Officials and Deecon as a panelist for the PMO and Megaprojects Masterclass on 25 June 2025 in London at the Royal Automobile Club.
San Francisco, 7 February 2024, Recognition Award announcement for an org-wide recognition program I designed.
Listen up :)
I’ve recorded some exciting podcasts and others are in the making too, take a look at them here:
Available: Scaled Playbooks for Operators at the AI for Operators podcast with Tom Guthrie, President of the Chief of Staff Network.
Upcoming:
Podcast about Elevation Chief of Staff with Melaine Jones.
How do you tailor content?
Every session starts with a pre-event briefing call. I adapt framing, examples, and depth to your specific audience, sector, and event objectives. No two deliveries are the same.
What formats are available?
Keynote (30-60 minutes), interactive workshop (90 minutes to half day), panel participation, boardroom session, offsite facilitation, and fireside chat.
Can you create a bespoke talk for our event?
Yes. If your event theme sits at the intersection of leadership, strategy, AI, or operational execution, I can develop a session specifically for your audience and objectives.
Booking information
What is included in the booking?
Pre-event briefing call, tailored content, delivery, post-event social media post, and a full speaker agreement. Travel and accommodation arranged directly.
Where are you based and do you travel?
Based in the UK. Available globally. Previous engagements span the USA, Germany, Singapore, and events across EMEA and LATAM.
How do I enquire about fees and availability?
Share your event details, audience profile, and preferred format. I will respond with availability and a tailored proposal within 48 hours.