Alex Wippel – Anyone who surfs the world’s biggest waves must learn to live with fear.
What drives a person to voluntarily take on waves up to 25 metres high? For Alex Wippel, big-wave surfing is far more than just an extreme sport – it is a passion that has shaped his life for decades. Back in 1994, the Austrian-born surfer became the first European to conquer the legendary giant wave ‘Jaws’ in Hawaii. Since then, he has repeatedly sought out the challenge, including in Nazaré, Portugal, where some of the world’s most formidable waves form.
But behind the spectacular images lies far more than just adrenaline. It’s about mental strength, meticulous preparation, trust in the team and the ability to make the right decisions under extreme pressure. As a management expert with a PhD, Alex Wippel combines these experiences with valuable insights for leaders and organisations.
An interview with Alex Wippel
1. What are the core subjects of your keynote speeches?
My core subject is decision quality under uncertainty: how leadership teams make good decisions when information is incomplete, time is short and mistakes are hard to correct. This includes the question of when proven standards no longer hold and how a team changes them. My model for this is: set priorities, test assumptions, change the standard. A second focus is what technology, in particular AI, means for decisions: AI-ready is not decision-ready.
2. Which audience or which branch do you reach with your speech?
I speak to leadership teams and leaders at all levels and to everyone who carries responsibility for decisions. In this sense, everyone leads, because leadership starts with self-leadership: those who want to lead others have to be able to lead themselves. The industries vary: technology and data, industry, consulting and services, as well as business organizations and delegations. I align the content with the client on industry and audience. My keynotes work in front of large audiences, my workshops with teams.
3. Are you a PREMIUM SPEAKER? Where do you get your insights from?
I combine two worlds of experience. As a professional big wave surfer, most recently in Nazaré, Portugal, I experienced what decisions under uncertainty demand: preparation, clear roles and a team you can rely on. For more than 20 years I have worked in leadership development, in the public sector as well as in an international technology company. I deepened my knowledge of the role of AI at Stanford University. What I say comes from this practice, not from theory.
4. What will be in the future? Does "time" play an important role in your work?
Time is the scarcest factor in my subject. Decisions have to be made at the right moment, not too early and not too late. Technology accelerates this: it brings teams faster into situations for which their existing skills are no longer enough. The future therefore belongs to teams that develop their decision quality at the same pace as their technology. What remains constant is preparation: it decides what holds in an emergency.
5. Tell us your life motto? What do you want to give your listeners to take with them?
Daring is not a moment, it is a practice over time. We cannot control uncertainty, but we can learn to read it, respect it and act at the right moment.
This is what I want my listeners to take with them: “Good decisions are made earlier than the moment in which you make them.”
Book Alex Wippel for talks, workshops or moderated discussions: 1 (704) 804 1054 or alex.wippel@premium-speakers.com