Meet the 2020 Cboe Risk Management Conference U.S. Keynote Speakers

This year’s stellar lineup of Cboe RMC speakers is led by two dynamic keynotes, John Coates and Annie Duke. Decision-making experts, authors and academics, Coates and Annie have no shortage of insights to share. Learn more about them below.

John Coates | Derivatives Trader Turned Behavioral Neuroscientist

John Coates’ early career including trading derivatives for Goldman Sachs and running a trade desk for Deutsche Bank. As a trader, Coates watched fellow traders make countless decisions — often in just milliseconds. His experience, helped guide his book, “The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: How Risk-Taking Transforms Us, Body and Mind” and inform his research.

Today, Coates’ research focuses on the physiological drivers of risk-taking, as well as the biology behind optimism and pessimism and how that intersects with risk management, wearables in the work place and humans versus machines.

Coates’ insights are highly sought after by companies spanning industries from finance to sports to healthcare, seeking to understand employees’ risk-taking, fatigue and stress and how to use his research as a management tool.

In 2017, Foreign Policy named Coates one of the most influential thinkers of the year. “The Hour Between Dog and Wolf” was short-listed for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year and the Welcome Trust Science Prize.

Coates will wrap up day one of Cboe RMC with his keynote, The Hour Between Dog and Wolf.

Annie Duke | Author, Decision Strategist and Former Professional Poker Player

Annie Duke entered the world of psychology and decision-making when she was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. For two decades following her fellowship, Duke was one of the world’s bet poker players, winning the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in 2004 and the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2010.

Since Duke has put her cards away, she has become a decision-strategist and author, regularly speaking at conferences and events. Duke is a popular speaker among companies in the financial sector for her ability to showcase how decision-making impacts business. In her best-selling book “Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts,” Duke combines her studies with her real-life experiences to explain how readers can make smarter decisions.

Duke’s decision-making education doesn’t stop there. In 2014, she co-founded The Alliance for Decision Education, whose mission is to empower teachers, school administrators and policymakers to teach decision-making skills in middle school and high school.

Duke will deliver her keynote, Making Smarter Decisions, early on day two of the conference.

Learn more about Cboe RMC and our outstanding lineup of speakers here or follow along on social media with #CboeRMC and #RMCInsights.