Dean Van Leeuwen

AI & Strategic Transformation Advisor | Helping CEOs Turn AI into Advanced Intelligence | CEO & Co-Founder, TomorrowToday Strategy Group | Lectures Strategy, Futures & AI at Oxford, Imperial & Henley

London, England, United Kingdom

About

I help CEOs, boards and executive teams turn AI, disruption and uncertainty into Advanced Intelligence — sharper strategy, stronger leadership judgement and transformation that ignites real change. As CEO & Co-Founder of TomorrowToday Strategy Group, I work with senior leaders to decode once-in-a-century change, spot the Grey Elephants hiding in plain sight, and ignite transformation before disruption becomes crisis. My work sits at the intersection of strategy, futures, innovation, AI and large-scale change. For more than twenty years, I have advised leadership teams across mining, retail, pharma, financial services and professional services. My work has focused on enterprise strategy, growth, merger integration, future-fit leadership and transformation at scale. Earlier in my career, I was seconded to work as part of a McKinsey-led Legal Day One and merger synergy strategy team for one of Africa’s largest financial services mergers — an experience that shaped how I think about strategy, execution and the gap between boardroom ambition and organisational reality. Today, my focus is helping leaders move beyond outdated transformation thinking. Too many organisations treat AI as an automation tool, change as a communication exercise, and the future as something to predict. I believe the real opportunity is bigger: to use AI to advance human, organisational and strategic intelligence — and to build the capacity to create the future, not merely react to it. I am a global keynote speaker on future trends, strategy, AI and transformation, and co-host of the Elephants in the Boardroom podcast, where we explore the disruptive forces reshaping growth, resilience and leadership in a fragmented world. Alongside my client work, I lecture on strategy, futures, innovation and AI at Oxford Saïd, Imperial College Business School, Henley Business School, King’s College London and CEDEP on the INSEAD campus, bridging boardroom realities with academic rigour. My current work includes expanding TomorrowToday Strategy Group’s footprint through new strategic transformation approaches, including the IGNITE Change model, Grey Elephant foresight tools, and practical ways of helping leadership teams move faster, think sharper and capitalise on AI and other emerging shifts. Outside work, I am a former swimmer and rugby player, an active cyclist, a Bath Rugby supporter, and a passionate scuba diver and underwater photographer.

Experience

  • TomorrowToday Global (19 yrs 11 mos)
    • Podcast Co Host Elephants in The Boardroom
      Feb 2025 - Present · 1 yr 6 mos

      Along with co-host @Graeme Codrington, we explore the powerful forces transforming our world. It’s not just technology that shapes the future - there are deeper, often-ignored megatrends driving disruption. These Grey Elephants are the big challenges we hope will go away but can’t afford to ignore. Elephants in the Boardroom offers a megatrend radar for leaders who want to identify tomorrow’s most important opportunities, seize advantage, and shape a better future. Join us for unflinching discussions, incisive insights, and actionable strategies to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world.

    • Co-Founder and Partner
      Sep 2006 - Present · 19 yrs 11 mos

      I speak, facilitate workshops and consult on future trends, business transformation, innovation and business as a force for good

  • Chief Exploration Officer at TomorrowToday Strategy Group
    Jan 2011 - Present · 15 yrs 7 mos

  • Executive Fellow at Henley Business School
    May 2016 - Present · 10 yrs 3 mos

  • Visiting Lecturer at University of Oxford - Said Business School
    Apr 2017 - Present · 9 yrs 4 mos

  • Visiting Professor at CEDEP - Executive Development – Fontainebleau
    Apr 2013 - Present · 13 yrs 4 mos