Ad Boon

Founder & Executive Coach

My purpose in this work is the belief that in our work lies the possibility of the full realization of human potential. Work doesn’t have to destroy us. Work can be the way we achieve our fullest selves, and in doing so become more effective leaders, colleagues, partners, parents and human beings. We don’t have to do it alone, nor do we need to.

Inviting people and teams to explore the not-yet-known and opening the doors to real renewal is the key to my way of working. The journey I ask my clients to take is one I have taken myself, and it has made me a more conscious and open-hearted companion. Ease of presence and the use of state-of-the-art practices are often mentioned as key characteristics of my contribution.

For more than 30 years, I have worked and lived in the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and now the Caucasus. I started my career at ABB and GE, then held senior HR roles at NXP and Royal Philips, most recently as Senior Vice President HR, where the majority of my work was designing and executing global business, human capital and digital transformations. I later served as interim CHRO at Qatar Airways, Norgine and BDR Thermea. In 2019 I founded Brave Souls, a practice of former global HR leaders coaching CEOs and executive teams, which today works with a small number of clients by invitation only. For several years I was executive coach to the CEOs of Groq and Stairwell in Silicon Valley.

Since 2023 I have been Group Chief People Officer, Deputy CEO and Member of the Executive Board at PASHA Holding, a diversified investment group with 26,000 employees across seven countries. I work closely with boards and senior leaders on governance, leadership team effectiveness and the people systems that support long-term value creation, and I sit on several supervisory boards within the Group. A core part of my work today is developing and coaching senior leaders through AI- and technology-driven transformation.

My clients typically work in demanding, uncertain conditions, and long for learning, freedom, influence, impact and fulfillment, while getting more out of themselves as a leader, partner and parent. I invite them to show more of themselves and embrace transformation by creating space for greater presence, resilience and conscious action.

I live in Baku with my wife and children. Family time remains my way to reflect. I hold an MSc in Business Administration, completed the INSEAD International Board Program, and am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

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Brave teams don’t just chase targets, they build bridges of understanding, fostering an environment where every voice matters and every dream counts.

– Ad Boon

Testimonials

  • Throughout my professional life, I worked with a few coaches addressing specific development areas at the time. This is the first time I work with a coaching team with whom I was able to connect on many dimensions and who was able to combine different aspects of “who we are” and “why we are who we are,“ ignite my interest in the understanding cause while helping me develop the ability to deal and find a way out. Brave Souls' team of coaches focuses on you! You as an individual with all strengths and areas to develop help you to become a better person, a better professional, and a great leader.

    Boris Zjacic - SVP, Chief Operating Officer Diaverum Group

  • The Brave Souls Coaches are brilliant and immediately gained full acceptance and appreciation of my team. They are intellectual, humble, and approachable, and they can connect and gain the trust of the senior leaders they coach. Brave Souls believes that we grow through honest mirroring and deep systemic learning, through making the unconscious conscious. Brave Souls' coaching model is about helping leaders unlock the best way for them to lead. Brave Souls executive coaches are great enablers to this journey, and I strongly recommend their services.

    Dimitris Moulavasilis - President & CEO at Diaverum

  • Brave Souls has been encompassing my leadership journey for the last couple of months as an executive coaching team of professionals. If you or your team members need coaching it would be probably very hard to find a better partner to embark on this journey with. I truly value Brave Souls' professionalism, openness, and helping hand.

    Zoltan Szepesi - Chief Transformation Officer at Diaverum

  • I worked with the Brave Souls team for almost two years. One of Brave Souls' coaches' strengths that impressed- and helped me big time is their ability to coach people. Often the challenges people face are from multiple backgrounds and come together at the same time. Making it difficult, hence complex for overseeing. By working with Brave Souls on some of my challenges; they can quickly make complex topics simple by filtering them and approaching them out of my perspective. For me, it resulted in the fact that I could move forward easier and more effectively.

    Jos Visee - Extended Supply Chain Management

  • The Brave Souls team is a very experienced and capable team of executive coaches. They combine an excellent view of people and organizational development with an open and straightforward approach. This makes them a strong and trusted HR business partner.

    Otto te Walvaart - Vice President & Global Transformation Program Leader Royal Philips

  • I had the pleasure of working with Brave Souls over the course of an employee engagement assignment at NXP. The whole team has a razor-sharp intellect coupled with a relentless drive for execution - this makes them some of those rare professionals who can see great ideas through to fruition. The Brave Souls team is disarmingly frank, both to praise and to let you know when things have slipped up. So you always know exactly where you stand, which is great because that is exactly what you need to maintain and what you need to get better at. Working with Brave Souls was truly a joy.

    Ashok Gopal - Head of People Development at Mashreq Bank

  • I recommend the team of Executive Coaches at Brave Souls for their remarkable competencies in coaching and leadership training. They are professional and truly inspiring.

    Fernando Macário - Chief Medical Officer at Diaverum

  • In 2021 we started a successful partnership with Brave Souls, a coaching company with experienced executive coaches who work with a “Be Human First” coaching Model. For leaders to have a dramatic impact on their organization, they first need to understand themselves. To understand themselves as leaders, they first need to understand themselves, as humans. This takes work, hard work, and courage. The Brave Souls Executive Coaching Team gets us to understand the why of our leadership first. They understand that these insights are only valuable if they can be translated into meaningful opportunities for reflection and action. And that’s how we partner with them.

    Jonathan Ross - CEO & Founder Of Groq