Gillian Tett
Journalist, Anthropologist & Authority on Financial Systems, Culture & Hidden Risk
Gillian Tett is best known for seeing what others miss and explaining why it matters before it becomes obvious.
As a long-standing editor, columnist, and board member at the Financial Times, and a trained social anthropologist, Gillian brings a rare dual lens to global finance and economics. She examines markets not just as numbers and models, but as human systems shaped by culture, belief, power, and blind spots. Her work has been widely recognised for identifying emerging risks well ahead of crisis, including warning signs before the 2008 financial collapse.
Her relevance to board-level audiences lies in pattern recognition. Gillian shows how silos, incentives, and institutional cultures distort perception, causing organisations to underestimate risk, misread complexity, and ignore inconvenient signals. She helps leaders understand why smart people repeatedly fail to see systemic danger, and how cross-disciplinary thinking strengthens decision-making.
As the author of influential books including Fool’s Gold, The Silo Effect, and Anthro-Vision, Gillian reframes finance and economics as social systems, where culture often matters more than calculation.
Signature Keynotes
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Why organisations fail to see risk coming.
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What anthropology reveals about finance.
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How fragmentation undermines decision-making.
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Learning to spot weak signals.
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Why perspective is power.
The Tett Effect
Hidden risks become visible, before they become unavoidable.
Boards leave ready to:
Recognise how organisational culture shapes financial risk
Break down silos that distort judgment and decision-making
Understand markets as social systems, not abstract machines
Identify early warning signals before crises escalate
Lead with broader perspective in complex environments
Why Book Gillian
Gillian Tett brings rare credibility across global finance, anthropology, and public discourse. She is trusted by boards, financial institutions, and global organisations seeking insight that goes beyond forecasts and models. Her perspective is particularly valuable where complexity, interconnected risk, and institutional blind spots threaten long-term resilience.
Book a speaker who reframes risk as cultural and leadership as the ability to see across boundaries.
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