Thought Leaders

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

Darin Brannan

ClearDATA - Darin Brannan

CEO & Co-Founder

When Darin Brannan co-founded hyper-growth startup ClearDATA in 2011, his mission was clear. He wanted to form a company that would make healthcare better, every single day. His vision to drive the mission was to modernize and protect Healthcare IT by building a state-of-the-art healthcare software platform and services to...

INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3

Greg Ross Munro

Greg Ross-Munro

Founder And Chief Executive Officer - Sourcetoad

  Greg Ross-Munro, Founder And Chief Executive Officer – Sourcetoad That’s when one of the marketing managers from a completely different office walked over to chat with the IT director. She had an idea for integrating marketing data from the CMS into the shipboard signage system that was running on...

INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1

Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson

President & CEO - Cleantech San Diego

As urban populations continue to grow and digital tools expand at warp speed, cities and public agencies around the globe are looking to new technologies to help manage resources in more sustainable and cost-effective ways. The San Diego region is no exception, where public leaders and organizations have made a...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

ANDREW BATEY

FOUNDER AND CO-CEO, BEATDAPP

Vancouver has the potential – and opportunity – to become a significant player in the global tech ecosystem. For emerging tech hubs like Vancouver, companies must prioritize collaboration and cross-functional effort to compete with established cities like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, and Miami. Beatdapp highlights this opportunity and...

INNOVATE® Georgia

JEFF UPHUES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT DC BLOX INC.

My journey in the technology and data center industry has been shaped by a relentless commitment to tenacity, teamwork, and trust. At DC BLOX, these principles are the driving force behind our approach to the industry. Tenacity has been the cornerstone of our success at DC BLOX. We started as...

INNOVATE® Maryland

TROY LEMAILE-STOVALL

CEO OF TEDCO

In my experience, most entrepreneurs develop their ideas from personal experiences and observations. Here in the DMV, we’re observing major shifts in federal spending. These changes are having a noticeable impact on both our personal and professional lives. My journey has led me to earn two STEM degrees, so having...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

Tommy Hodinh

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....

INNOVATE™ Alberta

PIERRE LEMIRE

CEO, KENT IMAGING

Struggle and EmergeFor 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...

INNOVATE™ Montréal

Lidia Divry

Lidia Divry

Chief Executive Director, CPA-CMA, MBA - TechnoMontréal

English: Greater Montréal, Québec’s economic heartland, definitely beats in tune with digital innovation. We have one of the richest tech ecosystems in terms of knowledge, know-how, and creativity. A source of great pride for Québec and Canada. We stand out on the global scene with our world-class academic institutions and...

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...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

ERKI ANI

CHAIRMAN OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD, ESTONIAN CLEANTECH ASSOCIATION AND CO-FOUNDER & CEO, JÄLLE TECHNOLOGIES

The technologies that fall under its umbrella shift over time—new breakthroughs emerge, trends take the podium, and success stories in sector X blind us to what’s happening in sectors Y and Z. It gets even trickier when you realize cleantech isn’t just a sector—it’s a mindset. It’s a commitment to...

INNOVATE™ Ottawa

Lise Bourgeois

Dès mon arrivée à La Cité en 2010, j’ai constaté l’engagement et la passion de la communauté collégiale, la vitalité et la joie de vivre francophones, la culture de l’excellence dans un environnement des plus stimulants et fertiles, le désir profond de voir nos étudiants réussir, et des projets plus...

AI Québec

ANNE-MARIE HUBERT

ANNE-MARIE HUBERT

EAST MARKET LEADER, EY CANADA

Québec is renowned for its vibrant artificial intelligence (AI) innovation ecosystem for three primary reasons: a phenomenal talent pool, collaborative partnerships and a strong commitment to building ethics into design. In fact, the region is home to the Montreal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, which is globally...

INNOVATE® Utah

Johnny Hanna

Business consultant Peter Drucker once said “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and I’m a believer. Culture is everything. It’s true that you can have a financially successful company leading by fear and threatening to fire people if they don’t follow your lead. But fear-based leadership styles and cultures pit people...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

DR. GREGORY D. LITTLE

PRESIDENT, MIDLANDS TECHNICAL COLLEGE

In this life, some our greatest joys and successes are deeply connected to our relationships. It’s easy to remember and see it in our personal lives, but it can be easy to forget in our professional and business lives. All too often, we get mentally and physically stuck behind our...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

C. PARKHILL MAYS III

CEO, STOPIT SOLUTIONS

I was born and raised in Central Florida and grew up with loving and caring parents to whom I attribute much of my success in life. After a good education at a small liberal arts university in western Virginia, I spent my first few years of adulthood working as an...

INNOVATE® Detroit

LAURA L. CHAVEZ-WAZEERUD-DIN

PRESIDENT AND CEO, SOUTHWEST DETROIT BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

Innovation isn’t just about technology or groundbreaking inventions; it’s about fostering environments where communities thrive, cultures converge, and everyone has a seat at the table. As President and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA), I have the privilege of leading an organization that has been a cornerstone of...

INNOVATE® Houston

DR. ANDRE THOMAS

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LIVE LAB, DEPARTMENT OF VISUALIZATION, TEXAS A&M

DR. ANDRE THOMAS,FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LIVE LAB, DEPARTMENT OF VISUALIZATION, TEXAS A&M Education is ripe for disruption. Society’s been told – and accepted – that the textbook is holy and contains all knowledge. We also accept that a professor standing in front of 200 students in a classroom...

INNOVATE® Jacksonville

We are passionate about innovation in our community

Fernando Dutra & Camille A. Wilson - Wilson Dutra Innovation Law

Fernando Dutra, Attorney & Camille A. Wilson, Patent Attorney

We are passionate about innovation in our community and take any opportunity to bring light to its rich tapestry of stories. So, for us, it was a no-brainer to bring the Innovate series to Jacksonville. We were incredibly excited to discover and collect the success stories in the community and...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

PROFESSOR TOM HAJDU

DIRECTOR, SIA FURLER INSTITUTE AND CHAIR OF CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

As the inaugural director of the Sia Furler Institute and the Chair of Creative Technologies at the University of Adelaide, I have been privileged to be a co-founder of the Art Intelligence Agency — a first-of its-kind convergence of creativity and machine learning. Creativity: The Core CompetencyIn recent years, there...

INNOVATION Quebec

GRAHAM CARR

PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

Montréal présente la plus forte concentration d’étudiants universitaires de toutes les villes d’Amérique du Nord. Offrant un mélange unique de français et d’anglais, elle attire des étudiantes et étudiants de plus de 155 pays du monde entier. Montréal n’est pas seulement le principal centre de recherche universitaire du Canada, elle...

AI Québec

MME DESMARAIS

MME DESMARAIS

COPRSSIDENTE DU CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION

Dans les années à venir, l’industrie de l’intelligence artificielle connaîtra une croissance exponentielle au Canada, comparable à celle du multimédia dans les années 2010. Grâce à son immense bassin de talents et à des leviers qui soutiennent le développement de son écosystème, comme Scale AI, le Canada se distingue comme...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

JUDITH SHEFT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSIT

Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation EcosystemAcross the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s...

Darin Brannan

ClearDATA - Darin Brannan

CEO & Co-Founder

When Darin Brannan co-founded hyper-growth startup ClearDATA in 2011, his mission was clear. He wanted to form a company that would make healthcare better, every single day. His vision to drive the mission was to modernize and protect Healthcare IT by building a state-of-the-art healthcare software platform and services to...

Greg Ross Munro

Greg Ross-Munro

Founder And Chief Executive Officer - Sourcetoad

  Greg Ross-Munro, Founder And Chief Executive Officer – Sourcetoad That’s when one of the marketing managers from a completely different office walked over to chat with the IT director. She had an idea for integrating marketing data from the CMS into the shipboard signage system that was running on...

Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson

President & CEO - Cleantech San Diego

As urban populations continue to grow and digital tools expand at warp speed, cities and public agencies around the globe are looking to new technologies to help manage resources in more sustainable and cost-effective ways. The San Diego region is no exception, where public leaders and organizations have made a...

ANDREW BATEY

FOUNDER AND CO-CEO, BEATDAPP

Vancouver has the potential – and opportunity – to become a significant player in the global tech ecosystem. For emerging tech hubs like Vancouver, companies must prioritize collaboration and cross-functional effort to compete with established cities like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, and Miami. Beatdapp highlights this opportunity and...

JEFF UPHUES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT DC BLOX INC.

My journey in the technology and data center industry has been shaped by a relentless commitment to tenacity, teamwork, and trust. At DC BLOX, these principles are the driving force behind our approach to the industry. Tenacity has been the cornerstone of our success at DC BLOX. We started as...

TROY LEMAILE-STOVALL

CEO OF TEDCO

In my experience, most entrepreneurs develop their ideas from personal experiences and observations. Here in the DMV, we’re observing major shifts in federal spending. These changes are having a noticeable impact on both our personal and professional lives. My journey has led me to earn two STEM degrees, so having...

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

Tommy Hodinh

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....

PIERRE LEMIRE

CEO, KENT IMAGING

Struggle and EmergeFor 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...

Lidia Divry

Lidia Divry

Chief Executive Director, CPA-CMA, MBA - TechnoMontréal

English: Greater Montréal, Québec’s economic heartland, definitely beats in tune with digital innovation. We have one of the richest tech ecosystems in terms of knowledge, know-how, and creativity. A source of great pride for Québec and Canada. We stand out on the global scene with our world-class academic institutions and...

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...

ERKI ANI

CHAIRMAN OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD, ESTONIAN CLEANTECH ASSOCIATION AND CO-FOUNDER & CEO, JÄLLE TECHNOLOGIES

The technologies that fall under its umbrella shift over time—new breakthroughs emerge, trends take the podium, and success stories in sector X blind us to what’s happening in sectors Y and Z. It gets even trickier when you realize cleantech isn’t just a sector—it’s a mindset. It’s a commitment to...

Lise Bourgeois

Dès mon arrivée à La Cité en 2010, j’ai constaté l’engagement et la passion de la communauté collégiale, la vitalité et la joie de vivre francophones, la culture de l’excellence dans un environnement des plus stimulants et fertiles, le désir profond de voir nos étudiants réussir, et des projets plus...

ANNE-MARIE HUBERT

ANNE-MARIE HUBERT

EAST MARKET LEADER, EY CANADA

Québec is renowned for its vibrant artificial intelligence (AI) innovation ecosystem for three primary reasons: a phenomenal talent pool, collaborative partnerships and a strong commitment to building ethics into design. In fact, the region is home to the Montreal Declaration for a Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, which is globally...

Johnny Hanna

Business consultant Peter Drucker once said “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and I’m a believer. Culture is everything. It’s true that you can have a financially successful company leading by fear and threatening to fire people if they don’t follow your lead. But fear-based leadership styles and cultures pit people...

DR. GREGORY D. LITTLE

PRESIDENT, MIDLANDS TECHNICAL COLLEGE

In this life, some our greatest joys and successes are deeply connected to our relationships. It’s easy to remember and see it in our personal lives, but it can be easy to forget in our professional and business lives. All too often, we get mentally and physically stuck behind our...

C. PARKHILL MAYS III

CEO, STOPIT SOLUTIONS

I was born and raised in Central Florida and grew up with loving and caring parents to whom I attribute much of my success in life. After a good education at a small liberal arts university in western Virginia, I spent my first few years of adulthood working as an...

LAURA L. CHAVEZ-WAZEERUD-DIN

PRESIDENT AND CEO, SOUTHWEST DETROIT BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

Innovation isn’t just about technology or groundbreaking inventions; it’s about fostering environments where communities thrive, cultures converge, and everyone has a seat at the table. As President and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA), I have the privilege of leading an organization that has been a cornerstone of...

DR. ANDRE THOMAS

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LIVE LAB, DEPARTMENT OF VISUALIZATION, TEXAS A&M

DR. ANDRE THOMAS,FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LIVE LAB, DEPARTMENT OF VISUALIZATION, TEXAS A&M Education is ripe for disruption. Society’s been told – and accepted – that the textbook is holy and contains all knowledge. We also accept that a professor standing in front of 200 students in a classroom...

We are passionate about innovation in our community

Fernando Dutra & Camille A. Wilson - Wilson Dutra Innovation Law

Fernando Dutra, Attorney & Camille A. Wilson, Patent Attorney

We are passionate about innovation in our community and take any opportunity to bring light to its rich tapestry of stories. So, for us, it was a no-brainer to bring the Innovate series to Jacksonville. We were incredibly excited to discover and collect the success stories in the community and...

PROFESSOR TOM HAJDU

DIRECTOR, SIA FURLER INSTITUTE AND CHAIR OF CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

As the inaugural director of the Sia Furler Institute and the Chair of Creative Technologies at the University of Adelaide, I have been privileged to be a co-founder of the Art Intelligence Agency — a first-of its-kind convergence of creativity and machine learning. Creativity: The Core CompetencyIn recent years, there...

GRAHAM CARR

PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR, CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

Montréal présente la plus forte concentration d’étudiants universitaires de toutes les villes d’Amérique du Nord. Offrant un mélange unique de français et d’anglais, elle attire des étudiantes et étudiants de plus de 155 pays du monde entier. Montréal n’est pas seulement le principal centre de recherche universitaire du Canada, elle...

MME DESMARAIS

MME DESMARAIS

COPRSSIDENTE DU CONSEIL D’ADMINISTRATION

Dans les années à venir, l’industrie de l’intelligence artificielle connaîtra une croissance exponentielle au Canada, comparable à celle du multimédia dans les années 2010. Grâce à son immense bassin de talents et à des leviers qui soutiennent le développement de son écosystème, comme Scale AI, le Canada se distingue comme...

JUDITH SHEFT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSIT

Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation EcosystemAcross the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s...

INNOVATE® Ecosystems