Viola De Girolami keynote speaker

Viola De Girolami is a keynote speaker, founder, and former marketing executive at Warner Bros., McDonald’s and Carphone Warehouse, bringing over 15 years of corporate experience driving large-scale transformation. Her work focuses on helping leaders and organisations navigate complex transitions, and understand the human and organisational dynamics that determine whether change succeeds or fails.

At Warner Bros., Viola served as Executive Director of Digital Marketing & Data, building the studio’s digital and data capability from the ground up and leading one of its most significant transformations. Her work reshaped how global cultural phenomena, such as Dunkirk, Joker, and Barbie, were brought to audiences while advising the leadership team on major strategic initiatives.

Earlier in her career at McDonald’s, she worked during a defining period of brand reinvention following the reputational crisis triggered by the documentary Super Size Me. She experienced first-hand how one of the world’s most iconic brands pivoted under pressure and rebuilt relevance in a rapidly changing market. At Carphone Warehouse, she was also involved in large-scale digital and customer transformation during a period of industry shift.

Having lived transformation from the inside - across strategy, leadership, culture, and execution - Viola observed recurring patterns in why change efforts succeed or fail. She later deepened this understanding through formal training in Positive Psychology, integrating behavioural science and human performance into her work with leaders and teams.

Today, Viola is the founder of ‘What Clients Really Want’ which supports marketing/digital agencies to improve their retention and upsell rates. She also works as an advisor to organisations and senior leadership teams navigating change and strategic transition.

Alongside her advisory work, she is a regular keynote speaker at corporate events, company away days and conferences, sharing practical insights drawn from her experience inside global brands and her work with decision-makers across sectors.

Viola is fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish and is comfortable delivering keynotes in all three languages.

Viola's Themes: Change and Innovation | Digital Transformation

Most organisations aren’t struggling to change, they’re struggling to change well.

The pressure to move fast is palpable. The pace of innovation, the progress of AI and constant market pressure mean organisations feel compelled to act and keep up.

What’s far less clear is how to do that well and how to make change last.

In practice, this often results in teams acting quickly, reacting to trends and implementing initiatives that create a great deal of motion, but little lasting impact.

In fact, according to McKinsey, around 70% of transformation efforts fail to meet their goals.
Not for lack of ambition, but because change is often approached at a surface level, without enough clarity or understanding of what it truly demands.

Viola has spent over 15 years as a marketing leader inside organisations like McDonald’s and Warner Bros., witnessing first hand major transformations.

Different eras, different pressures. But the same underlying dynamics around why change succeeds or fails.

Remember Super Size Me - the documentary that publicly tore apart McDonald’s?
Viola was part of the team navigating the strategic reset of this iconic brand.

Years later, as Executive Director at Warner Bros., she led a major digital transformation, completely reshaping how cultural phenomena like Joker and Barbie were launched.

In her thought-provoking keynote, she takes audiences behind the scenes of real change, revealing the patterns organisations often overlook.

From the unchallenged assumptions that quietly kill innovation, to the hidden sense of loss that makes change harder than it looks.

Blending real-world stories with insights from psychology, she challenges leaders to ask better questions and equips them with practical tools to drive change that truly lasts.

A powerful mix of creativity, psychology, and strategy that reveals what it truly takes to make change stick.