Thought Leaders

INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1

Kevin L. Faulconer

Kevin L. Faulconer

Mayor - City Of San Diego

The region’s world-class universities, research institutions, and life sciences industry have a long history of groundbreaking discoveries that have saved lives across the globe, including several companies working around the clock right now in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.As Mayor, I have pushed to make the City of San...

INNOVATE™ Toronto

JOHN MACRITCHIE

JOHN MACRITCHIE

ASSISTANT VICE-PRESIDENT, ZONE LEARNING AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

It might be odd to hear this from someone who leads incubation at a university, but not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur and not every startup will succeed. Our success has come as a result of embracing this experience, and how it develops students and innovators. Leveraging startup and...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

JOHN HACK

CTO AND CO-FOUNDER, INTERFLEXION

CONVERSATIONAL PERFORMANCEAre your people ready to do the job you’ve prepared them for? Do your managers know how to give feedback? Are your salespeople really listening to customers? Managing performance starts with measuring performance. But how do you measure workplace conversations? Language is complex. Conversations are rarely grammatical. Context matters....

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

SOFIA M. WESTIN

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, FLÖDE

I grew up in the north of Sweden dreaming of becoming a fashion designer. Like many young creatives, I believed in the magic of making clothes, their power to express, connect, and transform. I worked hard to realize that dream and eventually found myself inside the industry I had once...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

DR. FRANCISCO PINTO BALSEMÃO

DR. FRANCISCO PINTO BALSEMÃO

FOUNDER OF IMPRESA

If we go back in History the invention of the wheel was a tremendous innovation. If we think about the future the spaceship that will transport human beings to a planet outside of the solar system will be a new unbelievable innovation. There are of course innovations of a smaller...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

RAQUEL FORTUNATO

RAQUEL FORTUNATO

GENIBET, CEO

I joined GenIbet Biopharmaceuticals in 2006, as a Project Manager, shortly after its creation as a spin-off company from iBET, a private nonprofit research organization in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. We were going, as I remember being told by iBET founder and then CEO Prof. Manuel Carrondo, to leverage iBET...

INNOVATION Quebec

CHRISTIAN AGBOBLI

VICE-RECTEUR À LA RECHERCHE, À LA CRÉATION ET À LA DIFFUSION

Cette reconnaissance du caractère distinctif du Québec dans différents domaines est le fruit d’un intense labeur qui réunit notamment la recherche universitaire et l’innovation. Fers de lance de l’innovation, les universités ont apporté « une action d’innover » à travers leurs structures de recherche d’envergure. L’innovation est un processus, une...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

Sara Frasca

Sara Frasca

Vice President, Innovation Enablement - Platypus Labs

The concept of innovation can be completely overwhelming. Images of Edison inventing the light bulb or Henry Ford revolutionizing manufacturing push the idea of innovation outside the reach of us mere mortals. If we define innovation as a gigantic, change-the-world, cure-cancer type breakthrough, the concept is relegated to a select...

INNOVATE® St. Louis

Judy Sindecuse

Judy Sindecuse

CEO and Managing Partner - Capital Innovators

The future of the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem will be deeper levels of corporate and startup engagement through structured programs. Corporates struggle to innovate and they must look to startups to assist them with this process. Startups have the ability to be nimble and adapt to new technological trends that...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

KIRSTY BISSET

KIRSTY BISSET

MANAGING DIRECTOR, HAVEYOUHEARD DURBAN

I’m a serial tech entrepreneur with eight (8) businesses under my belt – one (1) of which I still own, two (2) of which have been successfully sold, one (1) which has failed, and four (4) in which I hold shares. With recognition from the likes of Fast Company, Destiny...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

JOHAN HARTMAN & MATTIAS RANTALAINEN

CO-FOUNDERS, STRATIPATH

That’s what we, a pathologist and an AI researcher, discovered when ourresearch groups joined forces at Karolinska Institutet. Despite our differentscientific perspectives, we shared a common goal: to take research beyond theacademic setting and into clinical reality—where it can truly help patients. We began by tackling a major clinical gap...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

ANTHONY KITTEL

MANAGING DIRECTOR, REDARC

It’s rare these days to come across a business that doesn’t refer to itself as innovative. Unfortunately it’s become a far too common marketing term used without any real accountability attached or underlying evidence. True innovation is a clear comparative advantage in an increasingly globally competitive environment. It is incredibly...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

Troy LeMaile-Stovall

CEO OF TEDCO

CEO OF TEDCO From Southeast Houston to the boardrooms of the tech world, my journey has been anything but ordinary. Guided by a principle instilled in me by my mother, I’ve always believed that our primary purpose is to make a difference. This belief has not only shaped my personal...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Geoff Martha

Geoff Martha - President & CEO - Medtronic

President & CEO - Medtronic

Geoff Martha President & CEO – Medtronic Millions of Americans are affected by pain and have been prescribed systemic opioids as part of their treatment plan. Whether for chronic or acute pain, prescribing systemic opioids continues, despite the limited evidence on the benefits of long-term systemic opioid therapy and evidence...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

MIKE JOUBERT

MIKE JOUBERT

FOUNDER, BILLYBO GROUP

As a changemaker with over 35 years’ experience, I believe innovation is a critical tool to address a deeper human need to be better for a greater good. The culmination of a rewarding career has led me to creating the Billybo Group, a human-centred solutions collective. To help make a...

INNOVATE® Gainesville

Eric Godet, SR

Eric Godet

President/CEO - Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce

It has been about a year since I joined the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce as President/CEO. Having served both business and the Chamber in various capacities over the years, I have the professional experience for this job, but what I really bring to the table is passion—we can be...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

HEATHER CROALL

DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ADELAIDE FRINGE

Innovation is a core value at Adelaide Fringe. It’s something I’ve focused on since I took on the role as Director and Chief Executive in 2015, implementing an agile and inclusive model to help artists, producers and presenters thrive in South Australia’s arts industry. Adelaide is the ultimate city for...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

SEEMA ALEXANDER

PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER, VIRGENT AI

We are amid society’s most unprecedented era of technological innovation – the next industrial revolution driven by the mainstream adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). For CEOs, founders, and organization leaders, this period surpasses the advent and rise of the internet. New business categories will emerge, while many companies that resist...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

DR. CHRISTIAN GUTTMANN

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORDIC AI INSTITUTE & SENIOR RESEARCHER, KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET

I wrote my first lines of AI code at 13 on a home computer—little did I know I was joining the earliest wave of AI natives. By 17 I’d launched a startup building intelligent inventory systems so small retailers always knew what was on their shelves before their accountants did—a...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

ROGÉRIO COLAÇO

ROGÉRIO COLAÇO

DEAN, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO

At Instituto Superior Técnico we believe that although we cannot do more than the bigger ones, although we cannot do better than the best ones, we could be at least as big as the bigger ones and as best as the best ones. And we also believe that we can...

INNOVATE® Detroit

BONNIE FAHOOME

CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DESIGN CORE DETROIT

Detroit has been an epicenter of innovation for well over a century, leading the world in mass manufacturing, music and industrial design. In 1920, for example, Detroit police officer William Potts was credited with inventing the four-way and three-colored traffic light, a standard still used today for regulating traffic flow...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

FLORIAN VILLAUMÉ

CEO, TECHNL

Innovation in technology often conjures images of sprawling metropolises like Silicon Valley—a beacon of transformation where ideas scale into industry-defining movements. But technology thrives where it’s least expected, and I am proud to say Newfoundland and Labrador has earned its place in that conversation. With a population of just 545,000,...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

Stephen K. Klasko

Stephen K. Klasko

MD, MBA - President - Thomas Jefferson University; and CEO - Jefferson Health

Philadelphia will become a global solutions center when we prioritize a couple of core values: Here’s how I see creativity, and why I believe all of us can use it to make our city the world’s first option for solutions.Creativity comes in different shapes. There is a body of literature...

INNOVATE® Miami

Mayor Francis X. Suarez

Mayor Francis X. Suarez - If we want to create a Miami that’s here forever

Mayor of Miami

Innovation and a knowledge-based economy have to be at the forefront of industry in every city in the world. In Miami, we’re doing as much as possible to foster innovation, starting with the government itself. In the U.S., we’re number one for job creation, for startups, and for small-business growth....

Kevin L. Faulconer

Kevin L. Faulconer

Mayor - City Of San Diego

The region’s world-class universities, research institutions, and life sciences industry have a long history of groundbreaking discoveries that have saved lives across the globe, including several companies working around the clock right now in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.As Mayor, I have pushed to make the City of San...

JOHN MACRITCHIE

JOHN MACRITCHIE

ASSISTANT VICE-PRESIDENT, ZONE LEARNING AND STRATEGIC INITIATIVES TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

It might be odd to hear this from someone who leads incubation at a university, but not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur and not every startup will succeed. Our success has come as a result of embracing this experience, and how it develops students and innovators. Leveraging startup and...

JOHN HACK

CTO AND CO-FOUNDER, INTERFLEXION

CONVERSATIONAL PERFORMANCEAre your people ready to do the job you’ve prepared them for? Do your managers know how to give feedback? Are your salespeople really listening to customers? Managing performance starts with measuring performance. But how do you measure workplace conversations? Language is complex. Conversations are rarely grammatical. Context matters....

SOFIA M. WESTIN

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, FLÖDE

I grew up in the north of Sweden dreaming of becoming a fashion designer. Like many young creatives, I believed in the magic of making clothes, their power to express, connect, and transform. I worked hard to realize that dream and eventually found myself inside the industry I had once...

DR. FRANCISCO PINTO BALSEMÃO

DR. FRANCISCO PINTO BALSEMÃO

FOUNDER OF IMPRESA

If we go back in History the invention of the wheel was a tremendous innovation. If we think about the future the spaceship that will transport human beings to a planet outside of the solar system will be a new unbelievable innovation. There are of course innovations of a smaller...

RAQUEL FORTUNATO

RAQUEL FORTUNATO

GENIBET, CEO

I joined GenIbet Biopharmaceuticals in 2006, as a Project Manager, shortly after its creation as a spin-off company from iBET, a private nonprofit research organization in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. We were going, as I remember being told by iBET founder and then CEO Prof. Manuel Carrondo, to leverage iBET...

CHRISTIAN AGBOBLI

VICE-RECTEUR À LA RECHERCHE, À LA CRÉATION ET À LA DIFFUSION

Cette reconnaissance du caractère distinctif du Québec dans différents domaines est le fruit d’un intense labeur qui réunit notamment la recherche universitaire et l’innovation. Fers de lance de l’innovation, les universités ont apporté « une action d’innover » à travers leurs structures de recherche d’envergure. L’innovation est un processus, une...

Sara Frasca

Sara Frasca

Vice President, Innovation Enablement - Platypus Labs

The concept of innovation can be completely overwhelming. Images of Edison inventing the light bulb or Henry Ford revolutionizing manufacturing push the idea of innovation outside the reach of us mere mortals. If we define innovation as a gigantic, change-the-world, cure-cancer type breakthrough, the concept is relegated to a select...

Judy Sindecuse

Judy Sindecuse

CEO and Managing Partner - Capital Innovators

The future of the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem will be deeper levels of corporate and startup engagement through structured programs. Corporates struggle to innovate and they must look to startups to assist them with this process. Startups have the ability to be nimble and adapt to new technological trends that...

KIRSTY BISSET

KIRSTY BISSET

MANAGING DIRECTOR, HAVEYOUHEARD DURBAN

I’m a serial tech entrepreneur with eight (8) businesses under my belt – one (1) of which I still own, two (2) of which have been successfully sold, one (1) which has failed, and four (4) in which I hold shares. With recognition from the likes of Fast Company, Destiny...

JOHAN HARTMAN & MATTIAS RANTALAINEN

CO-FOUNDERS, STRATIPATH

That’s what we, a pathologist and an AI researcher, discovered when ourresearch groups joined forces at Karolinska Institutet. Despite our differentscientific perspectives, we shared a common goal: to take research beyond theacademic setting and into clinical reality—where it can truly help patients. We began by tackling a major clinical gap...

ANTHONY KITTEL

MANAGING DIRECTOR, REDARC

It’s rare these days to come across a business that doesn’t refer to itself as innovative. Unfortunately it’s become a far too common marketing term used without any real accountability attached or underlying evidence. True innovation is a clear comparative advantage in an increasingly globally competitive environment. It is incredibly...

Troy LeMaile-Stovall

CEO OF TEDCO

CEO OF TEDCO From Southeast Houston to the boardrooms of the tech world, my journey has been anything but ordinary. Guided by a principle instilled in me by my mother, I’ve always believed that our primary purpose is to make a difference. This belief has not only shaped my personal...

Geoff Martha

Geoff Martha - President & CEO - Medtronic

President & CEO - Medtronic

Geoff Martha President & CEO – Medtronic Millions of Americans are affected by pain and have been prescribed systemic opioids as part of their treatment plan. Whether for chronic or acute pain, prescribing systemic opioids continues, despite the limited evidence on the benefits of long-term systemic opioid therapy and evidence...

MIKE JOUBERT

MIKE JOUBERT

FOUNDER, BILLYBO GROUP

As a changemaker with over 35 years’ experience, I believe innovation is a critical tool to address a deeper human need to be better for a greater good. The culmination of a rewarding career has led me to creating the Billybo Group, a human-centred solutions collective. To help make a...

Eric Godet, SR

Eric Godet

President/CEO - Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce

It has been about a year since I joined the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce as President/CEO. Having served both business and the Chamber in various capacities over the years, I have the professional experience for this job, but what I really bring to the table is passion—we can be...

HEATHER CROALL

DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ADELAIDE FRINGE

Innovation is a core value at Adelaide Fringe. It’s something I’ve focused on since I took on the role as Director and Chief Executive in 2015, implementing an agile and inclusive model to help artists, producers and presenters thrive in South Australia’s arts industry. Adelaide is the ultimate city for...

SEEMA ALEXANDER

PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER, VIRGENT AI

We are amid society’s most unprecedented era of technological innovation – the next industrial revolution driven by the mainstream adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). For CEOs, founders, and organization leaders, this period surpasses the advent and rise of the internet. New business categories will emerge, while many companies that resist...

DR. CHRISTIAN GUTTMANN

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORDIC AI INSTITUTE & SENIOR RESEARCHER, KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET

I wrote my first lines of AI code at 13 on a home computer—little did I know I was joining the earliest wave of AI natives. By 17 I’d launched a startup building intelligent inventory systems so small retailers always knew what was on their shelves before their accountants did—a...

ROGÉRIO COLAÇO

ROGÉRIO COLAÇO

DEAN, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO

At Instituto Superior Técnico we believe that although we cannot do more than the bigger ones, although we cannot do better than the best ones, we could be at least as big as the bigger ones and as best as the best ones. And we also believe that we can...

BONNIE FAHOOME

CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DESIGN CORE DETROIT

Detroit has been an epicenter of innovation for well over a century, leading the world in mass manufacturing, music and industrial design. In 1920, for example, Detroit police officer William Potts was credited with inventing the four-way and three-colored traffic light, a standard still used today for regulating traffic flow...

FLORIAN VILLAUMÉ

CEO, TECHNL

Innovation in technology often conjures images of sprawling metropolises like Silicon Valley—a beacon of transformation where ideas scale into industry-defining movements. But technology thrives where it’s least expected, and I am proud to say Newfoundland and Labrador has earned its place in that conversation. With a population of just 545,000,...

Stephen K. Klasko

Stephen K. Klasko

MD, MBA - President - Thomas Jefferson University; and CEO - Jefferson Health

Philadelphia will become a global solutions center when we prioritize a couple of core values: Here’s how I see creativity, and why I believe all of us can use it to make our city the world’s first option for solutions.Creativity comes in different shapes. There is a body of literature...

Mayor Francis X. Suarez

Mayor Francis X. Suarez - If we want to create a Miami that’s here forever

Mayor of Miami

Innovation and a knowledge-based economy have to be at the forefront of industry in every city in the world. In Miami, we’re doing as much as possible to foster innovation, starting with the government itself. In the U.S., we’re number one for job creation, for startups, and for small-business growth....

INNOVATE® Ecosystems