Book a meeting

Speaking with Dr. Tilman Bauer

Rethink business.Make purpose practical.

Keynotes, lectures, and workshops on business, peace, and positive societal impact.

What is business really for? What does it make possible in people’s lives? And how can that understanding guide better decisions?

Tilman brings a research-informed perspective to conferences, leadership teams, universities, and public conversations. Big questions, everyday examples, and practical ways to think about the contribution of business.

Discuss a speaking engagement Explore the topics

For business events, education, and thoughtful conversations about our shared future.

Featured speaking topics

A bigger perspective.
A useful conversation.

Three starting points for your event. The emphasis, examples, and depth are adapted to your audience and the question you want to explore.

01 / PURPOSE

Business for Peace: What is business really for?

Rethinking purpose beyond profit alone.

Especially relevant for
Business leaders, founders, business schools, and conferences exploring the role of business in society.

Business helps shape everyday life through products, services, work, and relationships. This talk explores what changes when we understand its purpose as contributing to the conditions in which people can flourish.

Drawing on Tilman’s doctoral research, it introduces an understanding of peace that reaches beyond the absence of war, while recognising the role of profitability in sustaining a contribution.

THE AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYA clearer way to discuss what a business should contribute, whom it serves, and how purpose can guide real choices.

02 / POSITIVE IMPACT

From less harm to more good

Discover the human contribution within your core business.

Especially relevant for
Management teams, responsible-business events, industry associations, and impact-driven organisations.

Preventing harm is essential. But what good should a business actively create? And what do words such as “purpose” and “positive impact” mean beyond a mission statement?

Everyday examples, including the question “What’s your coffee cup?”, open a discussion about human needs, dignity, access, trust, and well-being. The focus is what the business makes possible, not simply what it gives away.

THE AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYPractical questions for identifying who benefits, how the contribution arises, what may be overlooked, and what evidence supports the story.

03 / BUSINESS VALUE

Can doing more good build a stronger business?

Exploring the connection between purpose, impact, and business value.

Especially relevant for
CEOs, owners, boards, strategy teams, and advisers working with purpose-led business development.

Positive societal contribution and commercial success are not automatically aligned. This talk examines the company-specific connections that may bring them together, through customer value, trust, useful innovation, and meaningful work.

It introduces the Business Peace Index as a framework for structured reflection on contribution, leadership, and development priorities. The emphasis is on credible mechanisms, not a universal formula for higher profits.

THE AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYA way to distinguish an attractive claim from a plausible business-value connection, and identify questions worth investigating in your own organisation.

Other themes we can explore

For a more specialised audience, these themes can become a tailored session or deepen one of the topics above.

Purpose, responsibility, and new business paradigms
  • What is business, and what is the purpose of business beyond profit maximisation?
  • Beyond CSR and sustainability: rethinking responsible business without abandoning the responsibility to prevent harm.
  • What does it mean to be an impact-driven organisation?
  • From established assumptions to new possibilities: how business paradigms shape leadership, strategy, and the role of business in society.
Peace, human dignity, and leadership
  • What is peace beyond the absence of war? An introduction to weak, strong, and holistic peace.
  • Peace as the substance of positive societal impact: exploring the central proposition of Business for Peace.
  • Ethics, morality, and moral excellence: moving from avoiding harm towards making a positive contribution.
  • Leadership for peace: human dignity, the common good, stakeholder well-being, trust, and social cohesion.
The Business Peace Index and practical management
  • Assessing and strengthening a company’s positive societal contribution through the Business Peace Index.
  • The eight components: purpose; long-term mindset; product and service social value; ethics, morality, and integrity; stakeholder inclusion; societal and market reach; new paradigm; and leadership.
  • From philosophical research to practical management tools, leadership questions, and priorities for action.
  • How core business activities can create positive impact, and how that contribution may connect to business value.
Business in times of war and reconstruction
  • The role of business in preserving everyday life, resilience, livelihoods, and social stability during war.
  • Business for Peace in Ukraine: questions of reconstruction, human needs, dignity, and long-term societal development.

These sessions focus on the societal role and responsibilities of business, rather than military analysis or operational security advice.

Research, education, and making a difference
  • Responsible research and science for peace: how academic work can contribute to a better world.
  • What does it mean to do research? Working with concepts, arguments, evidence, and uncertainty.
  • Business as a force for good: lectures for students on purpose, sustainability, and how business, peace, and improving the world are connected.
  • Spirituality, higher purpose, and holistic peace for audiences interested in the deeper philosophical dimensions of business.

Formats & practicalities

The format should serve the conversation.

A focused presentation, a research-led lecture, or a participatory workshop. We agree on the format and scope around your audience and objectives.

Inspire & reframe

Keynotes & talks

A clear central idea for conferences, association events, and leadership gatherings, with examples that connect the bigger perspective to everyday business.

Presentation length and time for questions are agreed for the event.

Explore & apply

Workshops & team conversations

An interactive setting to examine your organisation’s contribution, challenge assumptions, and explore practical implications for purpose and leadership.

Exercises, preparation, and any written outputs are agreed in advance.

Learn & discuss

Lectures, panels & interviews

Research-informed contributions for universities, schools, public events, podcasts, and moderated discussions about business and society.

The depth and terminology are adapted to the audience’s background.

Languages
Finnish, English, and German.
Location
Based in Helsinki. Online and in-person engagements, with travel by arrangement.
Scope & fee
Agreed individually according to the format, preparation, duration, and travel requirements.

A speaking engagement or workshop is separate from a full BPI expert evaluation. Any company analysis, report, follow-up work, or recording and reuse arrangements are agreed explicitly.

Selected experience

Across business, research, education, and public discussion.

A selection of talks, lectures, and interviews. The context of each contribution is identified below.

2026 · Podcast interview

Conversations for a New Era

“Dr. Tilman Bauer on Business and Peace”

Conversation with Maria Dolores · February 2026

2020–2023 · Invited school lectures

Business as a force for good

Lectures connecting business, peace, responsibility, and making a difference.

Including Kauniaisten lukio, Haukilahden lukio, the European School of Helsinki, Mattlidens gymnasium, Helsingin medialukio, Kuninkaantien lukio, and Joroisten lukio.

2019 · Research presentation

Corporate Responsibility Research Conference

“Business Peace: A New Paradigm for Commerce”

Tampere · 12 September 2019

2018 · Conference presentation

DASH Conference

“Business and Peace: What my PhD is about”

Helsinki · 14 October 2018

More selected talks and lectures, 2017–2024
  • 2024 · “War and Peace Have Nothing to Do With Each Other”Tuesday Talks with @iamzishanofficial · Instagram Live lecture · 4 June 2024
  • 2023 · “Miten maailma pelastetaan?”Kauniaisten lukio · 14 November 2023; Haukilahden lukio · 31 October 2023
  • 2023 · “Business – A Force for Good: How Business, Peace, and Saving the World are Related”European School of Helsinki · 27 October 2023
  • 2023 · “How to Save the World?”Mattlidens gymnasium · 26 October 2023
  • 2023 · “Bisnes maailmanparantajana? Miten liiketoiminta, henkisyys ja kokonaisvaltainen rauha liittyvät toisiinsa?”Hengen ja Tiedon messut · Helsinki · 14 October 2023
  • 2022 · “Business and Peace: How can business do good in the world?”Haukilahden lukio · Online lecture in Finnish · 11 January 2022
  • 2021 · “Business and Peace: How can business do good in society?”Helsingin medialukio · Online lecture in Finnish · 13 October 2021
  • 2021 · “Business and Peace: How can business do good in the world?”Kuninkaantien lukio · Online lecture in Finnish · 5 May 2021
  • 2020 · “Business and Peace”Joroisten lukio · Online lecture in Finnish · 28 April 2020
  • 2019 · “Business – A Force for Peace”Trinity Hackers Holistic Health Community Event No. 3 · Espoo · 30 October 2019
  • 2019 · “Standards for Responsible Research – Reflections with a Twist for Peace”Responsible Business Research Seminar · Tampere · 13 March 2019
  • 2019 · Debate on the relationship between peace and businessExponential Mindset Club · PeaceTech Seminar · Oodi Library, Helsinki · 20 January 2019 · In Finnish
  • 2018 · “Life, Business, and Peace: An Introduction”Window on America · Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine · 11 October 2018
  • 2017 · “Peace and Business”Green World Tour · Berlin · 13 October 2017 · In German

The perspective behind the talks

Research-informed.
Grounded in real questions.

Tilman Bauer is the founder of the Business Peace Initiative and a Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration from Aalto University School of Business.

His 2023 doctoral research, Business for Peace: A New Paradigm for Making a Collective Living, examines what business is, what peace means, and how the two are connected.

He developed the Business Peace Index to bring that perspective into structured reflection on a company’s contribution and development priorities. His speaking connects these ideas with questions audiences can recognise in their own work.

More about Tilman & BPI Aalto’s research introduction (opens in a new tab)

Let’s discuss your event

What conversation would matter to your audience?

Share a few details about your event and the question you would like to explore. You do not need a finished brief to start the conversation.

Email a speaking enquiry Book a 30-minute conversation (opens in a new tab)

inbox@tilmanbauer.eu

+358 40 575 1302 · WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)

The email button opens your email application with a suggested brief. You can also copy the address above or use the booking link.

Helpful details to include

Your event & audience
Who is attending, and what would make the session useful for them?
Timing & location
The preferred date, time zone, and venue or online platform.
Topic, format & language
A keynote, lecture, workshop, panel, or interview, with your preferred length and language.
Budget & practical requirements
An indicative budget, if available, and any preparation, travel, accessibility, recording, or reuse requirements.

Availability, scope, fee, and practical arrangements are agreed before an engagement is confirmed.