Rob Thomson

Rob Thomson

Leadership, conflict and strategy

After 34 years in the Army, Rob is now Chief Executive Officer of AGL Communication, a leadership communication coaching and training company in London.

Educated at Cambridge University (History) and Kings College London (Defence Studies), Rob was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets in 1988, which became The Rifles in 2007. A frontline soldier, he has served on operations at home in Northern Ireland and abroad in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  He was awarded his Distinguished Service Order for service in Afghanistan in 2009 and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014, also for service in Afghanistan.

Most recently, Rob has been more of a soldier diplomat, first as the UK’s Defence Attaché in Paris and then as the Administrator of the UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus and Commander British Forces Cyprus. 

Rob has a love of history and is intrigued by all aspects of leadership, inspired in part by his time as an instructor at the British Army’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst but also by the privilege of command.  He also loves his new-found passion for road-biking, which offers wonderful thinking time.

Rob is married to Hils and they have 5 children.