Mentor
Steve Langan
Overview
Steve Langan is an experienced global CEO and CMO with nearly four decades in general insurance and consumer goods, leading businesses and brands across the UK, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the US. He combines deep P&L responsibility with a marketer’s instinct for customers and brand, and a track record of delivering growth, turnarounds and large-scale transformation.
Steve is currently a Non-Executive Director on the board of Sampo plc, the €25bn insurance and banking group based in Helsinki, where he brings international insurance experience, commercial discipline and a strong focus on customer, culture and performance.
His executive career included 16 years on the Group Executive Committee of specialist global insurer Hiscox, where he held multiple CEO roles – leading Hiscox UK & Ireland, Hiscox Europe, Hiscox Asia and, from 2018 to 2021, Hiscox USA. Alongside these roles he served as Group CMO from 2005 to 2021, responsible for positioning, brand and marketing across the Group.
Before joining Hiscox, Steve built his commercial and marketing grounding in global consumer goods. He was CEO of Diageo Italy, CMO of Diageo Ireland and CMO of Coca-Cola Brazil, having previously held senior FMCG marketing and commercial roles in the UK. This experience honed his skills in demand creation, category and brand strategy, and go-to-market execution at scale and across cultures.
Throughout his career, Steve has led several major IT and systems transformations in the UK and US, integrating technology change with front-line commercial priorities. He has also driven significant turnaround programmes across multiple geographies, often in challenging market conditions. A strong advocate for the power of transformation in people as well as businesses, he led a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives at Hiscox, reflecting his belief that diverse, empowered teams are critical to sustainable performance.
Steve brings deep cross-sector expertise in:
• Global insurance & financial services – senior leadership of specialist insurance businesses across the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, and board experience at Sampo plc.
• Growth, turnaround & international expansion – leading multi-country businesses through change, integration and performance improvement.
• Technology-enabled transformation – sponsoring and delivering large IT system transformations tightly linked to commercial and customer outcomes.
• Leadership & Culture– developing agile leaders and teams across cultures and geographies.
He is recognised for building successful businesses across the globe from the ground up, fixing broken ones, building category bursting brands, and inspirational leadership.
PDF Profile
Download PDFMajor Career Roles
Hiscox
Member of Group Executive Committee (2005-2021)
Hiscox UK, Europe, Asia & USA
CEO
for Guinness and Baileys (Diageo)
Global Brand Executive
Diageo Italia
CEO
Sampo plc
Non Exec, member of audit and risk committees (2022-current),
AJ Bell plc
Senior advisor (2022-25)
The Hepworth Wakefield
Chair (2022-current)
Other Career Highlights
Diageo Ireland
Marketing Director
Coca-Cola Brazil
Marketing Director
Bass Brewers
Brand Director
Kenneth Armitage Foundation
Chair
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