Book Yu-kai Chou: Motivation, Engagement & Gamification Keynotes
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework — the motivation system behind work at LEGO, Google, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Mastercard, Tesla, and Microsoft. Organizations bring him in when the real problem is not another slide about tools. It is that people are not doing the thing.
200+ keynotes and workshops on six continents. Rooms of 10 executives and rooms of 6,000. Career built in San Francisco; dual US and Taiwan citizen; based in Taipei; English is the default stage language (Mandarin available for Greater China). In-person dates usually lock 2–6 months out. Virtual is sooner.
Check dates and fit ↓ · Talks organizations book · Recent rooms · Full archive since 2009
Talks at Google — Actionable Gamification (73,000+ views). A 90-second highlight reel of live rooms is in production; until then this is the proof of delivery.
Speed Run Notes
- Planners working with a serious keynote budget are buying a business outcome, not a TED badge. This page is for that booking, not a CFP.
- Four talks: why people don’t do the thing; motivation after AI; loyalty that survives the quarter; the disengaged employee as a workshop.
- Proof a committee can forward: Coca-Cola 2025, Starbucks 2024, Mastercard, Google, LEGO HQ, a 6,000-person AI room, plus governments.
- The keynote teaches Octalysis. The $1.06B Caixa and +712% La Quinta numbers are consulting results of the same system, not the talk’s receipts.
- English-first, dual US–Taiwan citizen, based in Taipei. Mandarin is a Greater China SKU, requested up front. Travel extra.
Table of Contents
About Yu-kai Chou
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework, the 8 Core Drives model for human motivation. His design work has been applied to products and experiences reaching over 1.5 billion users. Implementations associated with The Octalysis Group include +$1.06B profit at Caixa and +712% sales lift vs control at La Quinta. He has spoken for Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Google, LEGO, Tesla, Mastercard, McDonald’s, and governments including Singapore, Bahrain, the UK, and Ukraine, and has lectured at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and Yale. Rated #1 Gamification Guru three of four years. Author of Actionable Gamification (100,000+ copies; 3,700+ academic citations) and 10,000 Hours of Play.
Dual US and Taiwan citizen. Career built in San Francisco. Based in Taipei. English is the default stage language; Mandarin is available as a Greater China SKU, requested up front. 200+ keynotes and workshops on six continents.
Check dates and fit
The form below asks for the date, the city (or virtual), the format, who is in the room, and a budget band for the speaking fee (travel is extra). Two minutes, and it gives a committee everything it needs to get a real answer instead of a brochure.
You get a direct yes/no on fit and availability, plus which talk matches the room. This is not a consulting intake — design work goes through The Octalysis Group.
Talks well-funded rooms actually book
Every session is customized (case studies, nouns, industry). The spine does not change. Three keynotes cover almost every paid room. A fourth exists for education and “whole person” offsites. Pick one. Do not ask for a 12-topic catalog.
1. Why People Don’t Do the Thing
The 8 Core Drives (Core Drive 1 through Core Drive 8) behind human behavior, White Hat vs Black Hat motivation, and how to design so people act without burning them out. This is the talk for leadership conferences, sales kickoffs, HR summits, and any room that has already tried incentives and all-hands and still has a behavior problem.
They walk out able to: name which Core Drive their current program actually uses, and which one is missing.
2. Motivation After AI: Human Systems Next to Models
Every 2025–26 planner is shopping for AI. Almost none of them can tell who is real. This talk is not prompt tips. It is what happens to motivation, status, mastery, and meaning when software starts doing the work — and how to design the human layer so adoption sticks. Proof of room: a 2024 corporate tech talk on AI’s digital future, delivered to 6,000+ employees.
Best for: executive offsites, future-of-work summits, all-hands, innovation days.
3. Loyalty and Product Engagement That Survives the Quarter
Why most points-and-badges programs fail, and what the Octalysis work for Volkswagen Group (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Škoda, VW), LATAM Airlines, Hilton / La Quinta, Booking.com, and Amadeus actually changed. For CMOs, CX, product, and loyalty summits that have budget and a metric.
They walk out able to: audit a live program for White Hat vs Black Hat, and see which mechanic is theater.
4. The Disengaged Employee (workshop-friendly)
Engagement surveys measure a feeling. The 4 Experience Phases (Discovery, Onboarding, Scaffolding, Endgame) measure a journey. For L&D, People, and internal culture rooms. Often delivered as a half-day so the team leaves with a draft Strategy Dashboard for their own workforce — the same starting point Starbucks, Mastercard, and McDonald’s used.
Also available (different buyer)
10,000 Hours of Play. The 6-step system from the book of the same name: treat mastery as a game you can actually finish. Right for education, personal-development conferences, and some HR “whole person” offsites. It is not the talk to put in a sales-kickoff slot.
Podcasts and media still get the origin story (pioneering gamification since 2003), ethics of behavioral design, and why most engagement programs fail. Those are interviews, not the paid keynote catalog.
Rooms that already brought him in
Ordered the way a committee actually scans: recent, funded, named. The complete chronological record since 2009 is the Speaking Archive.
Corporate and product rooms
- Coca-Cola — corporate session on gamification (2025)
- Starbucks — workshop, Seattle (2024)
- Mastercard — Digital Safari and follow-on workshops (2022–2023)
- McDonald’s — workshop (2023)
- Google — Talks at Google on Actionable Gamification (73,000+ views) and the Google L&D Summit keynote “The Future of Learning” (2021)
- Corporate tech talk, “How AI Affects Our Digital Future” — 6,000+ employees (2024)
- LEGO — 3-day Octalysis workshop for product teams at LEGO headquarters, Billund (2016)
- Tesla — invited talk at the Tesla factory, Fremont (2017)
- Takeda Pharmaceutical — Behavioral Science Design Risk Workshop (2022)
Scale and demand
- South America conference tour — close to 100 keynotes across Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile (2024), including FLIT 2024 mainstage
- The Grow Retreat, San Antonio — keynote plus 2-hour workshop (2025)
- Gamification Global Gathering, Kraków — keynote (2025)
- Rated #1 among the Top 100 Gamification Gurus three of four years (Gamification World Congress / Gamification Europe)
Governments and universities
- Invited by governments including the UK, Singapore, Ukraine, and Bahrain (Bahrain International eGovernment Forum at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister H.H. Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa; World Lottery Summit at the invitation of the Singapore Lottery Board)
- Guest lectures at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and Yale (including the Yale-Ipsos lecture, 2021)
- TEDx Lausanne — “Gamification to Improve Our World,” 422,000+ views (2014). Prestige asset, not a paid-stage analog.
- SXSW, Austin — keynote (2017)
Formats and what is included
Most paid rooms want a 45–60 minute keynote that the whole company hears, plus the option to keep him for a workshop the same day. Those are different SKUs. Do not treat the afternoon as a free extra.
- Keynote (45–60 minutes). One spine, their nouns. Includes a prep call and light customization. This is the broadcast SKU.
- Half-day or full-day workshop. The team applies Octalysis to their own product, loyalty program, or workforce and leaves with a draft Strategy Dashboard. This is usually the better-paid SKU and the one that leads to consulting if you want that later.
- Virtual. Same talk, no plane. Booked on a shorter lead time.
Included in the fee: the session, one prep call, customization of examples, bio / headshot / intro script for your program book.
Not included (ask if you want them): a second session, an executive dinner, a pre-event webinar, book bundles beyond a signing table, a custom diagnostic of your live product (that is consulting).
Travel, hotel, and ground are extra.
Logistics
- Based in Taipei (GMT+8). Dual US and Taiwan citizen. Career built in San Francisco, so US corporate rooms are a home language, not a translation.
- English is the default. Mandarin is available for Greater China rooms and should be requested up front — it is a different SKU, not an on-the-day switch.
- Lead time: 2–6 months for in-person, especially April–June and September–November. Virtual can be faster.
- Recording: ask in the inquiry if you need a copy for internal replay. A clean recording also becomes reel footage.
Questions planners ask
What does it cost to book Yu-kai Chou?
Fees depend on format, travel, and language. Virtual and local keynotes start at one number, international dates at another, and workshops are priced as their own product. Put your budget band in the form and you will get a real number back, not a brochure.
How far ahead should we book?
Two to six months for an in-person date, and earlier for peak season: April to June and September to November go first. Virtual sessions can sometimes be arranged inside a month.
Will the talk be customized to our audience?
Yes. The prep call covers your industry, your vocabulary, and what the room is walking in worried about, and case studies get swapped to match. The spine of the keynote stays intact, which is what keeps it good.
Can Yu-kai present in Mandarin?
Yes, as a Greater China SKU requested up front — including slides. English is the default stage language and the stronger one; Mandarin is available, not the equal default.
Can we record the session?
Usually yes, with terms agreed in advance. He asks for a clean copy of the recording for his own reel.
Does he sell from the stage?
No. A book table is fine, and a single URL on the closing slide is fine. The keynote itself is the keynote.
What if our budget is below his fee?
Say so in the form anyway. There are formats that cost less, including virtual and shorter executive briefings, and a small number of causes and institutions he speaks to for free every year. What does not happen is a discounted version of the same talk.
Copy-paste bios for your program book
50 words
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework, the motivation system used in work for LEGO, Google, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Mastercard, and Tesla. He is the author of Actionable Gamification (100,000+ copies; 3,700+ academic citations) and 10,000 Hours of Play, and has delivered 200+ keynotes on six continents.
150 words
Yu-kai Chou is a Human-Systems Architect and the original creator of the Octalysis Framework, the 8 Core Drives model for human motivation. His design work has reached 1.5 billion users; implementations associated with The Octalysis Group include +$1.06B profit at Caixa and +712% sales lift vs control at La Quinta. He has spoken for Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Google, LEGO, Tesla, Mastercard, McDonald’s, and governments including Singapore, Bahrain, the UK, and Ukraine, and has lectured at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and Yale. Rated #1 Gamification Guru three of four years. Author of Actionable Gamification and 10,000 Hours of Play. Dual US and Taiwan citizen; based in Taipei; delivers in English (Mandarin on request).
Long-form bio, books, and verified consulting numbers: About · Clients and verified results · Books.
Book the date
Same form as above: date, city or virtual, format, audience, budget band. A straight answer comes back, usually within two business days.