Thought Leaders
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
TONY LAWRENCE
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER (CRO), MIGHTY KINGDOM
Adelaide has a decades-long history with games. Ratbag Games opened a studio in the 1990s and had success with its Powerslide games before it was acquired by Midway Games in the mid-2000s, and then closed quite suddenly. Krome, an Australian based game developer picked up where Midway left off, lasting...
INNOVATE® St. Louis
Jay King
CEO - Simploy
St. Louis was born of innovation, and the city has always been shaped by the pioneer mentality. Since its founding in 1764 by Pierre Laclede as an outpost on the Mississippi River, St. Louis has been a place where entrepreneurs and thinkers gather. Innovation in the city began with Laclede’s...
INNOVATE® Georgia
JAMES WANG
DJJ TECHNOLOGIES NTL, LLC - FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER
In the business world, few principles are more critical than the ones I hold dear: take care of your employees and customers. This ethos, rooted deeply in the Golden Rule, has shaped every aspect of my journey and remains the cornerstone of DJJ Technologies. By treating others how we want...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
William Britton
AutonoMe - Founder
Prior to Founding AutonoMe William was a local lecturer teaching adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism for a number of years. It was here that he established his passion and began to see the world through the eyes of people with Learning Disabilities. This helped William see how his skills...
INNOVATE® Utah
The early seventies saw the launch of the pocket calculator. As a kid at that time growing up in Palo Alto, I went door to door selling the Litronix 1100, one of the early pocket models. My father, an attorney who represented many startups including Litronix, would bring them home for me to sell....
INNOVATE® Blockchain
BRIAN HARSTINE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACQUIRE
Nearly every socio-economic sector is asking more questions, new questions, and challenging the way they have been doing just about everything, all the way down to their own personal finances and investment decisions. I came across an observation recently; when mass groups of people increase their awareness and knowledge of...
INNOVATE® Miami
Jorge Ruiz
Founder & CEO - Finconecta
Jorge Ruiz, Founder & CEO, Finconecta Innovation itself has evolved. It used to be that you could create something, patent that something, and it would serve its purpose until a new and superior product came along and replaced it. Now, innovation is not just about solving a problem that...
INNOVATE® Georgia
DAN AMOS
CHAIRMAN AND CEO, AFLAC INCORPORATED
Several years ago, a member of my team asked me a question. “Dan, when is the last time you had a day when you did absolutely nothing that involved Aflac?” Without missing a beat, I said, “When was the pager invented?” The responsibility of my job means I must be...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
KIENO KAMMIES
CO-FOUNDER, INNOVATION CITY
I’m a capitalist with a social conscience. We should be trying to make a difference in other people’s lives so that they can also see the path ahead. Your future can only happen once you start living what you want to be. It is especially true in business as well....
VOICES of the Future
KUSHAL SHAH
ETHICS, INNOVATION, AND IMPACT
When talking with Kushal Shah, the Managing Director of e& capital, I am struck by the depth and range of his experiences. Kushal, a man whose life journey began in the serenity of Nairobi, Kenya, opened our conversation with a profound reflection on his roots. “I was born and brought...
VOICES of the Future
ERIK ALMQVIST
FOUNDER AND CEO, SENSE STRATEGY, & OWNER ALMQVIST FAMILY OFFICE
LEGACY OF INNOVATION Two of the most well-known rules in the global ICT industry are “For every ten percent increase in broadband penetration there is a 1 percent increase in GDP”, and “For every doubling of broadband speed, there is a 0.3 percent increase in GDP”. Both were devised by...
AI Québec
NARJES BOUFADEN
FOUNDER AND CEO, KEATEXT
For decades, in-store customer experience has been a cornerstone of the competitive battlefield for brands. Creating a successful customer experience instore relies on tangible assets like product displays and brand representatives to ensure that customers are well served with a personalized shopping experience. Now, the disruption of the global pandemic...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Craig Mandeville
Founder and CEO, Forcura
Craig Mandeville Founder and CEO That’s it. And if everything we do in between that leads to that, then we’re providing true value. My wife used to work for a home health agency, facilitating patients discharged from the Mayo Clinic who were going into post-acute care. She was faxing things...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
Carlos Guillén Gestoso
President And Professor Of Atlântica - Instituto Universitário
It requires an effective link between the university and the business sector, which encourages higher education institutions to train professionals and what the labour market demands, in order to encourage companies to invest in research and development as a strategic activity to incorporate knowledge and progress. We understand that the...
INNOVATE™ Botswana Vol.1
MR. THABO THAMANE
CEO, CEDA
In our view, innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that in the end results in the introduction of new goods or services; or at the very least results in improvement in offering goods or services. In short innovation results in the creation of value. On the other hand entrepreneurship...
INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo
RUTH CASSELMAN
CEO, ACCELERATOR CENTRE
Before I became the CEO of the Accelerator Centre, before I joined the board of the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), I was a founder. I co-founded Alert Labs with a simple but ambitious goal: to help buildings save water, operate more efficiently, and reduce risk through smart technology. Like...
INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada
MICHAEL SANDERSON
DIRECTOR - ARTHUR L. IRVING ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTRE, SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
When talking about innovation and entrepreneurship, we conjure images of revolutionary products and world-changing ideas. What is often missed in the discussion is the impact that these concepts have on the student. To help illustrate and understand this, I think it is important that I share a little bit of...
INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2
Rob Fry
CTO - JASK (Now Sumo Logic)
I started in the technology field back in 1996 doing computer and network setups for regional city governments who could not afford or did not know what to ask for when needing help. I ended up riding the “Internet Revolution” shortly after and found myself in Silicon Valley in 2005...
INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3
DENNIS SCHMITT
NUROTECH CORP - FOUNDER & CEO
It is hard for me to accept being a visionary leader, as it is difficult for me to reconcile where I am now, with where I was 15 years ago. I didn’t envision a future where I’m the CEO/Founder of a multi-million dollar Biotech company on the precipice to lead...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
DEREK WATFORD
HIGH POINT GAMER
Pioneering Esports has been a journey filled with many lessons on the upside and downside of innovation. I have learned that innovation can be a lonely place for a visionary. I established my presence in the Esports industry early on by co-founding High Point Gamer (HPG) to produce competitive...
INNOVATE™ Bengaluru
Geetha Panda
Mentoring Involves Leading by Example
As more women reach out for leadership positions within the proliferating innovative companies, mentorship plays a crucial role in nurturing their talent. We spoke to Geetha Panda who contributes as a mentor in her dual roles as the Global Director, Service Desk & Large Platform Security Capability, DXC Technology and...
INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2
Dr. Michael Avaltroni
Dean of the Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Pharmacy & Health Scien
A recent published study described how in 1950, medical knowledge was on pace to double every 50 years. In 2020, this rate is projected to be 73 days. Healthcare providers, then, have at once a huge set of challenges—and an even larger set of opportunities. Adapting to this new healthcare...
INNOVATE® Georgia
DR. FORREST SHRIVER
SENTINEL DEVICES - CEO & FOUNDER
We are on the precipice of major change – change that will define both America and the world for generations to come. Economically, politically, and technologically, the next ten years will be a trend-setter for the next hundred years. Wars and rumors of wars, worries over the future of work...
INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2
Tommy Hodinh
Chairman & CEO MagRabbit, Inc.
On March 8th, 1965 I watched the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade land on the beach of DaNang, Vietnam. As a 14-year-old Vietnamese teenager, I had lived my entire life under the threat of war. With the arrival of 2000 U.S. Marines that day, I had my first taste of hope....
TONY LAWRENCE
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER (CRO), MIGHTY KINGDOM
Adelaide has a decades-long history with games. Ratbag Games opened a studio in the 1990s and had success with its Powerslide games before it was acquired by Midway Games in the mid-2000s, and then closed quite suddenly. Krome, an Australian based game developer picked up where Midway left off, lasting...
Jay King
CEO - Simploy
St. Louis was born of innovation, and the city has always been shaped by the pioneer mentality. Since its founding in 1764 by Pierre Laclede as an outpost on the Mississippi River, St. Louis has been a place where entrepreneurs and thinkers gather. Innovation in the city began with Laclede’s...
JAMES WANG
DJJ TECHNOLOGIES NTL, LLC - FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER
In the business world, few principles are more critical than the ones I hold dear: take care of your employees and customers. This ethos, rooted deeply in the Golden Rule, has shaped every aspect of my journey and remains the cornerstone of DJJ Technologies. By treating others how we want...
William Britton
AutonoMe - Founder
Prior to Founding AutonoMe William was a local lecturer teaching adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism for a number of years. It was here that he established his passion and began to see the world through the eyes of people with Learning Disabilities. This helped William see how his skills...
The early seventies saw the launch of the pocket calculator. As a kid at that time growing up in Palo Alto, I went door to door selling the Litronix 1100, one of the early pocket models. My father, an attorney who represented many startups including Litronix, would bring them home for me to sell....
BRIAN HARSTINE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACQUIRE
Nearly every socio-economic sector is asking more questions, new questions, and challenging the way they have been doing just about everything, all the way down to their own personal finances and investment decisions. I came across an observation recently; when mass groups of people increase their awareness and knowledge of...
Jorge Ruiz
Founder & CEO - Finconecta
Jorge Ruiz, Founder & CEO, Finconecta Innovation itself has evolved. It used to be that you could create something, patent that something, and it would serve its purpose until a new and superior product came along and replaced it. Now, innovation is not just about solving a problem that...
DAN AMOS
CHAIRMAN AND CEO, AFLAC INCORPORATED
Several years ago, a member of my team asked me a question. “Dan, when is the last time you had a day when you did absolutely nothing that involved Aflac?” Without missing a beat, I said, “When was the pager invented?” The responsibility of my job means I must be...
KIENO KAMMIES
CO-FOUNDER, INNOVATION CITY
I’m a capitalist with a social conscience. We should be trying to make a difference in other people’s lives so that they can also see the path ahead. Your future can only happen once you start living what you want to be. It is especially true in business as well....
KUSHAL SHAH
ETHICS, INNOVATION, AND IMPACT
When talking with Kushal Shah, the Managing Director of e& capital, I am struck by the depth and range of his experiences. Kushal, a man whose life journey began in the serenity of Nairobi, Kenya, opened our conversation with a profound reflection on his roots. “I was born and brought...
ERIK ALMQVIST
FOUNDER AND CEO, SENSE STRATEGY, & OWNER ALMQVIST FAMILY OFFICE
LEGACY OF INNOVATION Two of the most well-known rules in the global ICT industry are “For every ten percent increase in broadband penetration there is a 1 percent increase in GDP”, and “For every doubling of broadband speed, there is a 0.3 percent increase in GDP”. Both were devised by...
NARJES BOUFADEN
FOUNDER AND CEO, KEATEXT
For decades, in-store customer experience has been a cornerstone of the competitive battlefield for brands. Creating a successful customer experience instore relies on tangible assets like product displays and brand representatives to ensure that customers are well served with a personalized shopping experience. Now, the disruption of the global pandemic...
Craig Mandeville
Founder and CEO, Forcura
Craig Mandeville Founder and CEO That’s it. And if everything we do in between that leads to that, then we’re providing true value. My wife used to work for a home health agency, facilitating patients discharged from the Mayo Clinic who were going into post-acute care. She was faxing things...
Carlos Guillén Gestoso
President And Professor Of Atlântica - Instituto Universitário
It requires an effective link between the university and the business sector, which encourages higher education institutions to train professionals and what the labour market demands, in order to encourage companies to invest in research and development as a strategic activity to incorporate knowledge and progress. We understand that the...
MR. THABO THAMANE
CEO, CEDA
In our view, innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that in the end results in the introduction of new goods or services; or at the very least results in improvement in offering goods or services. In short innovation results in the creation of value. On the other hand entrepreneurship...
RUTH CASSELMAN
CEO, ACCELERATOR CENTRE
Before I became the CEO of the Accelerator Centre, before I joined the board of the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), I was a founder. I co-founded Alert Labs with a simple but ambitious goal: to help buildings save water, operate more efficiently, and reduce risk through smart technology. Like...
MICHAEL SANDERSON
DIRECTOR - ARTHUR L. IRVING ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTRE, SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
When talking about innovation and entrepreneurship, we conjure images of revolutionary products and world-changing ideas. What is often missed in the discussion is the impact that these concepts have on the student. To help illustrate and understand this, I think it is important that I share a little bit of...
Rob Fry
CTO - JASK (Now Sumo Logic)
I started in the technology field back in 1996 doing computer and network setups for regional city governments who could not afford or did not know what to ask for when needing help. I ended up riding the “Internet Revolution” shortly after and found myself in Silicon Valley in 2005...
DENNIS SCHMITT
NUROTECH CORP - FOUNDER & CEO
It is hard for me to accept being a visionary leader, as it is difficult for me to reconcile where I am now, with where I was 15 years ago. I didn’t envision a future where I’m the CEO/Founder of a multi-million dollar Biotech company on the precipice to lead...
DEREK WATFORD
HIGH POINT GAMER
Pioneering Esports has been a journey filled with many lessons on the upside and downside of innovation. I have learned that innovation can be a lonely place for a visionary. I established my presence in the Esports industry early on by co-founding High Point Gamer (HPG) to produce competitive...
Geetha Panda
Mentoring Involves Leading by Example
As more women reach out for leadership positions within the proliferating innovative companies, mentorship plays a crucial role in nurturing their talent. We spoke to Geetha Panda who contributes as a mentor in her dual roles as the Global Director, Service Desk & Large Platform Security Capability, DXC Technology and...
Dr. Michael Avaltroni
Dean of the Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Pharmacy & Health Scien
A recent published study described how in 1950, medical knowledge was on pace to double every 50 years. In 2020, this rate is projected to be 73 days. Healthcare providers, then, have at once a huge set of challenges—and an even larger set of opportunities. Adapting to this new healthcare...
DR. FORREST SHRIVER
SENTINEL DEVICES - CEO & FOUNDER
We are on the precipice of major change – change that will define both America and the world for generations to come. Economically, politically, and technologically, the next ten years will be a trend-setter for the next hundred years. Wars and rumors of wars, worries over the future of work...
Tommy Hodinh
Chairman & CEO MagRabbit, Inc.
On March 8th, 1965 I watched the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade land on the beach of DaNang, Vietnam. As a 14-year-old Vietnamese teenager, I had lived my entire life under the threat of war. With the arrival of 2000 U.S. Marines that day, I had my first taste of hope....