Simplicity wins.
That’s the biggest lesson I took from 16 years at Apple. Now I show leaders how to make simplicity work for them.
16
years at Apple, building teams and businesses
10
years as Apple’s Head of Music, UK & Europe
21
countries as Apple’s Head of Services
Top 5
in The Guardian’s Music Power 100
My Keynotes & Workshops
Make simplicity your competitive advantage.
Drawing on my book, It Just Works: The Nine Simple Rules of Apple’s Success, I help leaders sharpen their focus, delight their customers and lead change that sticks.
Here are six popular themes…
Keynote or workshop
Available as 30–60 minute keynotes or interactive training sessions, from two hours to a full day.
Made for your room
Tailored to your audience and objectives.
Ready to use
Every session combines memorable stories and practical tools your audience can put to work immediately.
Testimonials
What clients say.
Neil brought simplicity to life for us. His insights provided a powerful start for our new organisation and helped establish an important mindset foundation. The session sparked meaningful reflection and continued conversation well beyond the room. Feedback was excellent.
If you need a speaker who actually moves the needle, Neil is your person. He delivered an energising, fun and insightful keynote and was a clear highlight. His framework on simplifying thinking and decision-making landed brilliantly with a senior audience that can be hard to impress.
Neil challenged our thinking on simplicity, leaving us with clear, actionable takeaways. The session was entertaining and insightful in equal measure. We hope to have him back again soon.
My Book
Apple wins with simplicity. It Just Works shows how you can too.
As a leader at the centre of Apple’s digital revolution, I saw how a dedication to simplicity transforms the way Apple makes things, communicates, stays focused and persuades billions of us to embrace the new.
It Just Works unpacks Apple’s success to identify nine strategies for simplification that you can use to improve your own work, whatever that work happens to be. Learn how to:
- Stay focused.
- Make better things.
- Win more customers.
- Remove friction.
- Communicate powerfully.
- Lead change that sticks.
“A must-read for business leaders seeking to innovate.”
Publishers Weekly
Published by Macmillan Business, October 2026.
On stage
My TEDx Talk
Steve Jobs had a simple approach to organising teams. He said, “My model for management is The Beatles.” I spent 16 years building and leading teams at Apple. In my TEDx talk, I explore how Apple and The Beatles offer managers a fresh perspective on setting people up for success.
My Story
A career of simple lessons.
I’ve spent 30 years at the intersection of people, technology and new ideas – 16 of them at Apple, others in Silicon Valley, working for Chris Anderson (now of TED) and alongside Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads.
Each role taught me something different. Together, they taught me that simplicity wins.
Apple Southern Europe
Head of Services
Six years leading Apple’s services businesses across 21 countries – App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, Apple Books, Apple Podcasts, Apple Arcade and Fitness+.
What it taught me
Bottom line: Own the complexity so your customer never has to. That’s what earns premium prices.
Apple UK & Europe
Head of Music
Ten years leading the music team as iTunes grew into the world’s biggest music shop.
What it taught me
Make the right thing the easy thing, and the rewards can be huge.
Rhapsody
European Editor-in-Chief
The world’s first music streaming subscription service (Spotify’s cool, but Rhapsody did it first).
What it taught me
Being first isn’t enough. People only embrace what makes life simpler.
GarageBand.com
Creative Director
Silicon Valley start-up co-founded by Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), with an Advisory Board including Brian Eno and led by Sir George Martin (The Beatles).
What it taught me
Simplicity starts with clarity of purpose.
NEXT Generation magazine
Editor-in-Chief
The US’s leading games magazine. “The best videogames magazine by far” – Marketing Week. Working for Chris Anderson (TED).
What it taught me
Earn trust by making the complex simple to understand.
Gamesmaster · Arcade magazine
Videogames journalist
Regular commentator on Gamesmaster, the UK’s first TV show about videogames. Editor-in-Chief of Arcade magazine, “one of the ten best videogames magazines of all time” – The Guardian.
What it taught me
Communicate one idea at a time in simple language. The occasional laugh doesn’t hurt.
Today, I help leaders and teams put simplicity to work.