Dave Chauhan

For 17+ years, I was the guy you called to build things - managing multi-million-dollar projects from oily factory floors to polished executive boardrooms. By every standard metric, we were "winning".

But behind the spreadsheets, I saw a terrifying pattern: brilliant teams burning out, cultures fracturing, and leaders paralysed by the relentless pressure to optimise at all costs. We were generating profit, but we were accumulating massive, invisible debt.

This realisation led to a profound shift in my career. I stopped asking, "Did we hit the number?" and started asking, "What did it cost our humanity to hit it?"

I am the author of the book "Captain, Set Sail" and the architect of The Law of Net Impact. My work introduces The Missing Benchmark - the hidden human and systemic debt created when organisations prioritise short-term extraction over long-term stewardship.

As the founder of Purple Spark, my team and I don't just talk about leadership theory; we build the operational systems to fix it. We are developing a one-of-a-kind Judgement Intelligence ecosystem designed to train leaders in the "human override" - the courage to choose purpose and people, even when the algorithm demands profit.

I bring a unique blend of hard-nosed operational reality (MBA, Engineering background) and deep philosophical enquiry. As a guest, I don't deal in platitudes. I bring actionable frameworks, raw stories from the corporate trenches, and a radically different perspective on how we must lead to survive the AI age.

What I bring to your audience:

• The "Aha!" Moment: Explaining why their current P&L is lying to them and introducing the concept of Systemic Debt.
• The Nautical Leadership Framework: How to build "Anti-Fragile" teams using the Beacon (Purpose anchored in Values), Wayfinder (Agility & Adaptability), and Seafarer (Courage & Decisiveness) roles.
• Actionable Tools: Practical ways leaders can hit the "Human Override" tomorrow morning to stop burnout and build trust.

Topics I'm always ready to discuss:

• The Missing Benchmark: Why Profit Extracted from Humanity Is Debt, Not Revenue.
• The Illusion of the Perfect Plan: Why 5-Year Strategies Are Dead, and "Navigator's Grit" Is the New MBA.
• The "Human Override": How to Keep Humanity at the Helm in the Age of AI and Automation.
• Heart & Steel: Why Empathy Is the Ultimate Risk Management Strategy.
• From "Boss" to "Navigator": Why the Traditional Command-and-Control Model is Creating Organisational Collapse.
• The Shadow P&L: How to Actually Measure the Cultural Cost of Your Business Decisions.
• The Weight of the Helm: A Raw Look at the Emotional Cost and Loneliness of Real Leadership.

Previous Experience/Qualifications:

• Founder & Chief Product Officer, Purple Spark
• Founder, Nautical Leadership Model
• Founder, The Missing Benchmark
• Author, Captain, Set Sail
• MBA (Strategy & Innovation), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Gies)
• 17+ Years in Corporate Leadership Roles - Operations & Project Management