Member since January 2025
Niamh Bohan is a transformation leader and tech strategist with over 30 years’ experience delivering high-impact change across global organisations from telecommunications through finance to travel technology. Known for her practical, people-first approach, she blends deep expertise in software delivery, team leadership, and inclusive culture to help businesses navigate disruption and adopt new technologies with confidence.
A former VP of Technology at Travelport and founding member of its Global Diversity Council, Niamh is a long-time advocate for intentional inclusion as a powerful driver of innovation and high performance. Through her consultancy Danú Connects, she partners with organisations to unlock potential and build resilient, future-ready teams that thrive through change.
As a speaker, panelist or moderator, Niamh is engaging, insightful, and refreshingly real—bringing complex topics to life through storytelling, humour, and interactive problem-solving.
Teams are my passion! I love being on a team, building teams and transforming them - whether it's sailing around Ireland or delivering tech products. We often get distracted by the technologies we use or the methodologies we adopt, but at its very core, successful teamwork is about the ever-changing dynamics of humans collaborating toward a common goal. Throughout my career, I've explored and experimented with the recipe for healthy teams that don't just survive change—they thrive through it!
1. Inadvertent succession planning
I was 28 and on a real career high—I’d just been promoted a year early to Development Manager of a crucial 12-strong team, and I was absolutely loving it. Then came the surprise: my partner and I were expecting our first child (you’d think that wouldn’t be a surprise, but that’s another story.) Breaking the news to my boss, just as our next big project was getting underway, definitely took a couple of years off my life. His response? A genuine “Congratulations” followed by, “Right, you’ve five months to replace what you do from within the team. I don't want to notice you are gone. No extra headcount, no budget, but I believe in you!”
Panic is putting it mildly. Most of the team were fresh out of college. Anyway for the next five months we streamlined processes, improved knowledge sharing, and I handed over tasks I’d never dreamed of delegating.
By month five, job done: I’d effectively replaced myself. Then I went off to have my beautiful baby boy (he’s 23 now), and I doubt they even noticed I was gone.
Six months later I came back to a team that had thrived under their new responsibilities and to my surprise, a promotion waiting for me. The lesson? Proper succession planning isn’t about forms and tick-boxes. It’s about raising everyone’s performance so you create room to grow yourself.
I’ve always been that curious kid who built things so I jumped into software teams doing everything from technical writing and testing to support and engineering. But it wasn’t until I led my first dev team where I could blend all those skills and ignite people’s potential that I truly found my purpose.
Over 30 years I climbed the ladder of engineering and program leadership to my final role as VP of Technology. during that time I saw too many leaders stuck in short-term mindsets and box-ticking key change initiatives and letting unspoken “in-group” privileges stall real talent. Determined to change that, I founded Danú Connects to share practical strategies for building inclusive cultures and expose the hidden dysfunctions that hold teams back.
Now I’m researching my book on “Hero Culture,” challenging outdated leadership myths, and advocating for responsible, equitable AI—from SMEs to women’s groups—to ensure its benefits reach everyone. I speak because I believe leadership can - and must - do better, so people and teams can thrive through rapid change.
This interactive session cuts through the AI hype to focus on what really determines success: your organisation's culture and people. Drawing on 30 years of leading global tech teams through major transformations, Niamh Bohan will share practical insights on how to prepare your organisation for Gen AI adoption beyond just the technology. You'll discover why some AI initiatives thrive while others fail, and how to spot the cultural landmines hiding in your organisation—from resistance at the executive level to team dynamics that silently sabotage change.
Benefits to Attendees:
Get a straightforward assessment framework to gauge your organisation's AI readiness
Learn practical ways to spot and address cultural barriers before they derail your AI investments
Understand specific leadership approaches that foster innovation and reduce resistance
Understand how to build teams that can actually deliver on AI's promise
This talk is perfect for executives, department heads, and innovation leaders who are thinking "we need to do something with AI" but aren't sure how to move from pilot projects to real transformation. Especially valuable for non-technical leaders who need to understand the human side of AI implementation.
Level:
Intermediate - No technical AI knowledge required, but aimed at those with decision-making authority or influence over organisational change.
The format is a lively 30-45 minute talk with real-world examples and interactive polls to gauge audience experiences, followed by 15 minutes of open Q&A.
Join Niamh Bohan, a transformation leader with 30+ years of experience driving technology adoption across global organizations, for an essential session designed specifically for AI solution providers. Learn why your customers' cultural readiness is the hidden variable in your product's success and how you can proactively address it to ensure sustainable adoption and mutual growth.
What You'll Experience:
In this strategic session, Niamh will reveal the often-invisible cultural obstacles your customers face when implementing your AI solutions- obstacles that technical brilliance alone cannot overcome. Through real-world implementation stories and interactive audience polling, participants will gain crucial insights into how organisational cultures can silently sabotage even the most promising AI deployments.
Key Takeaways for AI Producers:
Understand the cultural readiness indicators that predict your customers' implementation success
Learn how to identify and address common organisational barriers during your sales and onboarding processes
Develop a more effective customer success approach that addresses both technical and cultural integration challenges
This session is designed for AI solution providers, product leaders, and customer success teams who recognize that their long-term success depends not just on product capabilities, but on their customers' ability to integrate and scale AI solutions effectively. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to differentiate their offerings through transformation-focused implementation support that addresses the human side of AI adoption.
Format: 45-minute presentation with integrated interactive Mentimeter polling and 15 minutes for Q&A
1. Inadvertent succession planning
I was 28 and on a real career high—I’d just been promoted a year early to Development Manager of a crucial 12-strong team, and I was absolutely loving it. Then came the surprise: my partner and I were expecting our first child (you’d think that wouldn’t be a surprise, but that’s another story.) Breaking the news to my boss, just as our next big project was getting underway, definitely took a couple of years off my life. His response? A genuine “Congratulations” followed by, “Right, you’ve five months to replace what you do from within the team. I don't want to notice you are gone. No extra headcount, no budget, but I believe in you!”
Panic is putting it mildly. Most of the team were fresh out of college. Anyway for the next five months we streamlined processes, improved knowledge sharing, and I handed over tasks I’d never dreamed of delegating.
By month five, job done: I’d effectively replaced myself. Then I went off to have my beautiful baby boy (he’s 23 now), and I doubt they even noticed I was gone.
Six months later I came back to a team that had thrived under their new responsibilities and to my surprise, a promotion waiting for me. The lesson? Proper succession planning isn’t about forms and tick-boxes. It’s about raising everyone’s performance so you create room to grow yourself.
I’ve always been that curious kid who built things so I jumped into software teams doing everything from technical writing and testing to support and engineering. But it wasn’t until I led my first dev team where I could blend all those skills and ignite people’s potential that I truly found my purpose.
Over 30 years I climbed the ladder of engineering and program leadership to my final role as VP of Technology. during that time I saw too many leaders stuck in short-term mindsets and box-ticking key change initiatives and letting unspoken “in-group” privileges stall real talent. Determined to change that, I founded Danú Connects to share practical strategies for building inclusive cultures and expose the hidden dysfunctions that hold teams back.
Now I’m researching my book on “Hero Culture,” challenging outdated leadership myths, and advocating for responsible, equitable AI—from SMEs to women’s groups—to ensure its benefits reach everyone. I speak because I believe leadership can - and must - do better, so people and teams can thrive through rapid change.
This interactive session cuts through the AI hype to focus on what really determines success: your organisation's culture and people. Drawing on 30 years of leading global tech teams through major transformations, Niamh Bohan will share practical insights on how to prepare your organisation for Gen AI adoption beyond just the technology. You'll discover why some AI initiatives thrive while others fail, and how to spot the cultural landmines hiding in your organisation—from resistance at the executive level to team dynamics that silently sabotage change.
Benefits to Attendees:
Get a straightforward assessment framework to gauge your organisation's AI readiness
Learn practical ways to spot and address cultural barriers before they derail your AI investments
Understand specific leadership approaches that foster innovation and reduce resistance
Understand how to build teams that can actually deliver on AI's promise
This talk is perfect for executives, department heads, and innovation leaders who are thinking "we need to do something with AI" but aren't sure how to move from pilot projects to real transformation. Especially valuable for non-technical leaders who need to understand the human side of AI implementation.
Level:
Intermediate - No technical AI knowledge required, but aimed at those with decision-making authority or influence over organisational change.
The format is a lively 30-45 minute talk with real-world examples and interactive polls to gauge audience experiences, followed by 15 minutes of open Q&A.
Join Niamh Bohan, a transformation leader with 30+ years of experience driving technology adoption across global organizations, for an essential session designed specifically for AI solution providers. Learn why your customers' cultural readiness is the hidden variable in your product's success and how you can proactively address it to ensure sustainable adoption and mutual growth.
What You'll Experience:
In this strategic session, Niamh will reveal the often-invisible cultural obstacles your customers face when implementing your AI solutions- obstacles that technical brilliance alone cannot overcome. Through real-world implementation stories and interactive audience polling, participants will gain crucial insights into how organisational cultures can silently sabotage even the most promising AI deployments.
Key Takeaways for AI Producers:
Understand the cultural readiness indicators that predict your customers' implementation success
Learn how to identify and address common organisational barriers during your sales and onboarding processes
Develop a more effective customer success approach that addresses both technical and cultural integration challenges
This session is designed for AI solution providers, product leaders, and customer success teams who recognize that their long-term success depends not just on product capabilities, but on their customers' ability to integrate and scale AI solutions effectively. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to differentiate their offerings through transformation-focused implementation support that addresses the human side of AI adoption.
Format: 45-minute presentation with integrated interactive Mentimeter polling and 15 minutes for Q&A