The New Rules of Leadership in an AI-Powered World
Bob Skinstad captained the Springboks, then stopped at 31 and started again at something he was not yet good at. On leadership, sport and AI.
| In one line | A Springbok World Cup winner on what actually transfers from elite sport into running a business, and what does not. |
| Key number | Forty two caps between 1997 and 2007, twelve of them as captain, then twenty years building companies. |
| Who should read this | CEOs, transformation leaders, and anyone rebuilding a career or a culture from scratch. |
| Bottom line | Join the live conversation on 17 September, including what clients are really asking for around AI. |
| Read time | 3 min |
Bob Skinstad captained the Springboks and won the 2007 Rugby World Cup with South Africa. Forty two caps between 1997 and 2007, twelve tests as captain.
Then he stopped, at 31, and started again at something he was not yet good at.
Twenty years of starting again
He has spent the twenty years since building businesses across advertising, media, sport and technology. He founded and sold a hospitality business, joined the venture capital firm Knife Capital in 2015 where he founded the UK partnership and co-founded KNF Ventures, co-founded the Cape Town sport and music marketing business Old School, and in 2024 became co-owner of the French club Beziers alongside Andrew Mehrtens.
He is now a Partner at Elixirr, the challenger consultancy that has kept growing while much of the wider consulting market has been under pressure.
Both halves of the story
Most people who talk about leadership lessons from elite sport have never had to run a business. Bob has done both, twenty years apart, and he is fairly clear about which parts carried over and which parts did not.
Upcoming Virtual Event
The New Rules of Leadership in an AI-Powered World
Thursday, 17 September 2026
With Bob Skinstad, Elixirr
RegisterWhat we will cover
- What genuinely transferred from elite sport into business, and what did not
- Why Elixirr has kept growing while the wider consulting market has struggled
- What clients are asking for right now around AI, transformation and execution
- How a challenger consultancy differentiates itself from the large incumbents
- What drew Bob to Elixirr and how his role has evolved
- Purpose versus profit, employee ownership and how culture is held together at scale
- What building a public profile on LinkedIn has done for him commercially
Who this is for
- CEOs, Managing Directors and COOs across banking, financial services and insurance
- CIOs, CTOs and Heads of AI and Data
- Transformation, digital and innovation leaders
- South Africans building careers in the UK, Europe and the US
Thursday 17 September. 13:00 London, 14:00 Johannesburg, 08:00 New York. Sixty minutes, live on Zoom, and recorded if you cannot make it.
Bring questions. The last stretch is live Q&A.
Col
The Backroom
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