Leo Judkins to run Leadership Hot Seat at SBC Leaders Summit in 2026

Leo Judkins will lead a live Leadership Hot Seat workshop at the SBC Leaders Summit on Monday 28th 2026, bringing the small-group format he uses for iGaming Leaders mastermind sessions to the conference stage. The session structure puts delegates into tables of four or five, each participant gets two minutes to present a single challenge and eight minutes of feedback, then tables rebalance in rounds like a poker tournament.

Leadership Hot Seat: the format and mechanics

The Hot Seat is simple by design. Rasmus Sojmark, founder of SBC, invited Judkins to run the format after seeing the weekly online sessions he runs for iGaming Leaders mastermind members. Attendees sit at rotating tables of four or five. Each person has exactly two minutes to present a live problem and eight minutes for peer feedback before the table reshuffles. Judkins said the visible timer "is there to stop people from hiding." The enforced brevity is meant to produce an actionable decision rather than a long list of ideas.

Judkins contrasted the hot-seat mechanics with typical conference panels. Panel sessions, he argued, often leave delegates with a notebook full of suggestions and no immediate next step. A hot seat, by contrast, ends with a specific decision that "goes into your calendar" rather than staying in a notebook.

What attendees should bring and how to use the two-minute pitch

Judkins advised delegates to "go narrow and deep rather than wide and shallow." He recommended bringing one specific problem, explaining why it matters and outlining what has already been tried. The objective is not to harvest generalized advice but to surface a single decision that can be executed after the session. The format demands discipline from the presenter and focused feedback from peers.

Why the format pressures better outcomes

Judkins framed the timing as behavioural design. Limiting the pitch to two minutes forces concision; eight minutes of feedback with immediate rotation creates accountability because peers will see the follow-up in subsequent rounds. The poker-style rebalance keeps the energy moving and exposes the presenter to diverse perspectives.

"The timer is there to stop people from hiding," Judkins said, describing the session's intent to force clarity and action.

C-suite dynamics and the leadership echo chamber

Judkins discussed the broader leadership problem he calls the C-suite "echo chamber." He said executives often inhabit environments where they hear their own views reflected back, which reduces exposure to challenging perspectives. He was sceptical that leaders are simply more open about struggles than before. Instead he suggested people are "kind of sick of the alternative," meaning a culture of performative displays driven by artificial intelligence-era signalling, noisy WhatsApp groups and networking events that function as sales pitches.

That critique sits behind the Hot Seat’s peer-led design: the method pushes leaders outward to other executives rather than inward to their own networks.

Leadership traits and what boards seek

Judkins flagged curiosity as the trait that will separate stronger leaders going forward. He referenced Andrew Bulloss, Partner and Head of Global Gaming Practice at Odgers, when discussing board expectations of chief executives. Judkins said curiosity requires looking outward as well as inward — a habit the Leadership Hot Seat is designed to encourage by exposing leaders to brief, candid problem-solving with peers.

Where and how this fits into conference programming

SBC Leaders Summit asked Judkins to adapt his ongoing iGaming Leaders format for the live summit. The in-person workshop will be part of the Summit programme; attendees should expect rapid rotations, short pitches and an emphasis on decisions over discussion. The format aims to produce a practical outcome during the session rather than a list of talking points for later.

Judkins runs the weekly online sessions for iGaming Leaders mastermind members; SBC founder Rasmus Sojmark saw those sessions and proposed scaling the method to the Summit. The two contexts — private mastermind and public summit — carry different dynamics, but the mechanics remain the same.

What this means for delegates and the sector

For operators and senior executives, the Hot Seat offers a structured way to surface immediate decisions. For conference organisers, it provides an alternative to panels and keynote-driven formats. For vendors and advisers who attend, the session gives a concentrated environment to test assumptions with peers.

Judkins made clear the workshop is not about spectacle. He positioned it as a practical tool to break leaders out of insulated decision-making and to force specific, calendar-ready actions.

"People are kind of sick of the alternative," Judkins said of performative leadership behaviours, summarising why the format trades broad presentation for narrow, executable problem-solving.