CEO in high tech, former Ulster and Ireland rugby star. Sport to business
Ireland
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
Andrew Trimble is a former Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland at international level playing 70 caps.
Replacing the injured Brian O’Driscoll, he made his international debut for Ireland in 2005 against Australia. A week later against Romania he scored two tries. He played and scored in the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2012 Six Nations Championship and in 2014 scored three tries helping Ireland to the win the tournament. He played in the team that famously defeated the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016.
After 14 years of playing elite rugby, Andrew retired from the game and switched from the playing field to the boardroom. He had prepared for this switch by studying during his playing years.
Andrew holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Queen’s University Belfast, a Post Graduate in Management – Business Management from the University of London, and an MSc Finance degree from Queen’s University Belfast in 2017 where he graduated with distinction.
He had spent 14 years learning from the best coaches and practitioners in rugby. This insight provided a really solid background with which to move into business.
Andrew is now the CEO of Kairos, a cutting edge sports platform for elite sports teams that help improve performance through excellent planning and team communication.
“For me, rugby was always linear and straightforward. Life in business is just the opposite. It’s up and down, non-linear and in truth, it can be mayhem. My wife only needs to look me in the eye to know how my day has been, whether good or bad, and there have been some pretty bad ones.”
As a speaker, Andrew is straightforward and says it like it is. Andrew is of the belief that teamwork is better with a team of leaders, instead of just one person making decisions and the rest following. From his days as a rugby player he uses analogies from his experience, one of which is getting and executing simple processes well, what Andrew describes as ‘world-class basics’ in order to get results.
Post Andrew’s playing days, he can present bespoke planned keynotes or fireside chats.
“You’re far better having a team full of leaders than having one guy that everybody looks at.”
Speaking Topics
"Andrew's was very good. He was so open and honest. Great feedback on him. I thought he was a breath of fresh air".
"Jonathan, as expected Andrew went down really well. He's a joy to work with. Humble yet powerful in his story both in sport and business. Even those who wouldn't have known him took lots away."