Mark Davis

Mark Davis is an entrepreneur, executive coach, and keynote speaker who helps leaders negotiate and lead with clarity when the stakes, the pace, and the cultural complexity all rise at once. As Founder-Director of The Negotiation Initiative, Mark works with senior teams to sharpen commercial outcomes and strengthen relationships across borders, functions, and generations. His work is built for the real world: the meetings where time is tight, politics is present, and the “right answer” depends on how people interpret risk, status, and trust.

Over nearly two decades, Mark has trained, coached and mentored executives and their teams internationally, supporting negotiations and leadership moments across sectors. Organisations that have utilised his expertise include The Coca-Cola Company, L’Oréal, Mars, Microsoft, Novartis, Philip Morris, Rolls Royce, UNICEF, Unilever, Walmart and Wella.

Mark’s edge is the combination of commercial rigour with cultural intelligence. He is CQ certified and designs negotiation approaches that integrate cultural profiling with intellectual and emotional capability, so leaders can adapt their influence style without losing authenticity. That matters more than ever in modern organisations, where multi-generational teams and cross-border stakeholder groups can interpret the same message in entirely different ways.

Alongside his client work, Mark brings credible experience from the public sphere. He has served as a moderator for the Council of Europe, where his role has centred on facilitating high-quality dialogue, guiding groups through disagreement, and keeping discussions productive without diluting the issues. He is known for creating an inclusive and motivating environment, while keeping discussions anchored in substance and outcomes.

He is also a Core Mentor with the Premier League’s Leadership and Workforce Development programmes, supporting leaders operating in high-pressure, high-visibility environments where communication and stakeholder management are non-negotiable.

Previously, Mark was Consultant at The Gap Partnership, where he led the global hub for tutoring and training new consultants, and coached and mentored consultants worldwide. Earlier in his career he held European sales and operations leadership roles across the UK and Germany, giving him first-hand experience of what it takes to run a commercial agenda at scale.

Mark’s speaking style is practical, interactive and commercially grounded. He is known for translating complex negotiation theory into usable tools that audiences can apply immediately, whether they are preparing for a strategic supplier renewal, aligning internally before a major decision, or navigating a delicate cross-cultural partnership. Participants consistently describe his sessions as highly engaging and immediately useful, leaving with both confidence and a clear plan for applying the learning at work.

Mark has contributed insights to BBC World News and Forbes and collaborates with Inrehearsal on a video boxset series focused on mastering negotiation skills, bringing his methods to a broader audience through modern learning formats.

He is at his best with audiences who want more than inspiration: they want sharper judgement, better conversations, and outcomes that stand up in the real world. Mark holds an LLB in Law from Durham University, is a member of the Board of Governors at the University of Birmingham School and, in 2026, has begun training to become a Restorative Justice Practitioner.

To book Keynote Speaker Mark Davis, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com