Thought Leaders

  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...

Regardless of how technology manifests and grows, the cornerstone of any company and its ability to succeed depends on its strong leadership and culture. The people in the company are the most important. Finding key people to fill those opportunities is important, and technology assessment tools can help with that...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a passion for building high-tech imaging products. This passion has been the driving force of my professional life, and while I’ve managed to parlay it into a long, varied and rewarding career, it hasn’t always been easy. My successes have been...

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...

Composure. It’s a quality we look for in any leader, from political candidates to CEOs to college presidents. To assess a person’s leadership ability, composure is one of the main things we try to measure – how rattle-able they are under pressure and in crisis. Composure is about an inner...

ESPORTS ISN’T A SPORT, IT’S THE IDEA OF SPORTSSince the birth of video games, we’ve played to win. It began with high scores and simple 1v1 games, progressed through games with an objective of story completion and now, finally, an online free-for-all where a kid in Japan and an adult...

I started my company, VendEngine, with zero outside investment, credit, or employees – nothing but an idea. Ten tough years later, managing the business on cash flow management, I sold it to an S&P 500 business for $89 million. It was an atypical entrepreneur’s journey. I’d do it all again....

One of the most pressing challenges is the need for an educated workforce, particularly amid a changing understanding of what that means. Over the last 20 years, creating that workforce centered on STEM fields and getting a bachelor’s degree. It is time to move beyond the “hard hats vs. high...

I’ve had a passion for startups and innovation for a very long time. Actually, ever since I was just a little kid I’ve had that entrepreneurial spirit. I was the kid selling candy at school and mowing lawns on weekends and during summers. I always knew I would own a...

I am an ER doctor, a mom, a Black woman, and the CEO of a medical device company. These roles are not separate – they intertwine and fuel my vision for impact. My journey into entrepreneurship started in the chaos of the emergency room, where I treated countless patients for...

New Jersey has long been a destination for talented and ambitious people from all over the world. Its highly diverse population is a rich opportunity for employers, and Montclair State University plays a robust role in providing that population with an excellent higher education in a wide range of fields,...

Healthcare is personal. We are all one diagnosis away from being a patient. To a doctor, the relationship with a patient is one of the most sacred connections. To the patient, it is almost always a moment of anxiety and fear. As a family doctor, I’ve seen this moment of...

Innovation means different things to different people. For me it’s not about petri dishes and lab coats, it’s about the process through which great ideas are turned into tangible, measurable value. It’s an iterative process. It’s not just about having the idea, but about taking the necessary practical steps to...

No matter how big or small, they face strong competition in an unstable environment. In this context, the development of an IP strategy is essential to establish a path to the market. Although IP is a current topic in the business world, it is still too often misunderstood. According to...

Fusion energy—the process that powers the sun—has long been considered the holy grail of clean energy. Unlike traditional nuclear fission, fusion offers the promise of limitless, emission-free power without the hazardous waste. For decades, scientists have worked to make fusion commercially viable, and today, the world is closer than ever...

FOSTERING A CULTURE OF LEADERS AND INNOVATIONI was fortunate to have an ambitious father who embedded leadership heavily into my life. I feel it is important for any leader to have a mentor, and this is the reason we focus so heavily on mentorship at Supashock. A mentor is someone...

Parents and guardians, hear me! You play an essential role in developing and guiding our youth/young adults of this generation and the generations to come. I know this is not rocket science or new information, but I wanted to be as blatant as possible with my intentions for the next...

INNOVATION IN THE RETAIL SECTOR The retail sector has undergone a significant transformation in the past decade, especially in the post-pandemic era. The major drivers of change have been new technologies, such as AI, changing consumer behaviour, and external shocks such as supply chain disruptions and inflation. The retail sector...

 It’s not the strongest species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent one. It’s the species that has the ability to cope with drastic changes. That’s Darwinism in a nutshell. His ‘survival of the fittest’… also applies to the corporate ecosystem. Agility reduces fragility: the companies and organisations that...

Many people are fascinated by Unicorns, mythical horse-like animals with a spiralling horn on its forehead, who symbolise purity, rarity and magic. In Estonia you can meet real unicorns, companies who have achieved billion-dollar valuations. There are more of these per head of population than anywhere else on earth. Here...

It is no coincidence that Seqster was born in San Diego, a city with an underdog culture where small startups transform into large enterprises that address giant markets. Perfect weather drives innovation—always sunny, 72 degrees, and 70 miles of beaches. Perhaps the combination of unique culture and weather has drawn...

Just over two decades ago I sat in a university lecture hall while pursuing an E Commerce course and we were introduced to our guest speaker for the day, she worked at a large bank, just like me, but her title fascinated me, she was called a “futurist”. Her main...

FROM STRAWBERRIES TO THE STATES One of my first memories from when I was about 4-years old is about strawberries. I used to close my eyes and imagined one, then another. This little thought experiment was something I became obsessed with. I wanted to be like Lucky Luke, faster than...

Global logistics is facing strong growth, even in uncertain times, and an ever-increasing demand for quality and speed of service, all while ensuring that our overall quality of life is not strained. The focus here must be on sustainability. The aim is to make the best possible use of integrated...