Thought Leaders

Decades of ups and downs, helping others start companies, starting my own companies (and sometimes failing) has taught me the power of pattern recognition. It is key to both innovation and entrepreneurship because it is also at the core of being an early adopter and a connector. That was how...

  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...

As founder and CEO, I lead an engineering company with my business partner Bruno Dejaeghere. Over the last 10 years I made it my ongoing mission to make this sustainable human-centric approach part of our organisation. I envision Absolem as a company that puts people and society first, without having...

When I arrived at the Pope Francis Center in downtown Detroit in 2015, our focus was on providing food and a space for respite for our friends experiencing homelessness. I quickly realized that while providing immediate relief is critical to staying alive, we were not doing enough to make a...

With 25+ years in clinical research, Michelle Shogren, CEO of Innovate In What You Do! LLC, started as a patient participant, then journeyed through nursing, clinical trial monitoring, and a significant role at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Her innovation-focused path culminated in founding her own company in 2022. Michelle is dedicated to...

ALBERTA – A PLACE OF OPPORTUNITYAPEX Alberta has had the opportunity to meet with stakeholders from across the province and ask them about their perspectives on the RPAS industry and the potential for the technology to change how we think and work. Here’s a cross-section of their thoughts on the...

Developing innovation is a dynamic and ongoing process essential for advancing human knowledge, solving critical problems, and driving progress across domains. It requires creativity, strategic thinking, and effective execution to transform new ideas into tangible benefits. Innovation creates opportunities, fuels growth, and drives development across diverse fields, passing the torch...

Innovation policy around the world puts massive emphasis on the importance of increasing entrepreneurship for economic, and more recently, social impact. In many cases, there is a fairly narrow focus on digital tech-based startups, “tech”- style entrepreneurs, and programming to increase the number of people who act like them. This...

With expertise in engineering, the cognitive sciences, and anthropology, I delight in looking at innovation from both a technological and a human perspective, and am fascinated by the intricacies of the process, and  how two aspects greatly impact its scope and quality. One is the benefit of deeply understanding the...

Angela Renick Owner – A`Vie Events Angela Renick has been planning events in Gainesville for 30 years. She began in 1996 with a part-time wedding coordination business, which has continued to expand over the years. She has planned many events along the way during these years. In 2005, she opened...

Curiosity, Authenticity & Abundance: Characteristics for a successful life and a thriving community. Sheryl Hunter is the President of Hunter Business Law – The Entrepreneur’s Law Firm – which serves growth-focused entrepreneurs and their business enterprises, from newbie founders to serial entrepreneurs and angel investors. In addition to managing her...

Sustainability is a loaded – and vague – term nowadays. What is sustainability, and what does its impact mean for the future? Aruna Narayanan breaks down the barriers to understanding and decodes its complexities, while her insights serve as a guiding light of hope. This podcast was not just a...

Innovation isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a way of life, a tool that shapes our world, and a mindset that fosters resilience. I believe in this principle so deeply that the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA)® townhouse on Capitol Hill is known as “Innovation House,” and we have my favorite phrase,...

This “Life of Events” that I chose and am very proud of is in no way a normal life. A professional in this area is not just a service provider. I sincerely believe that most of us view each event as nothing less than a mission that transcends schedules, other...

Building and construction are one of the largest industries in Australia, and women account for only 12.9% of its current workforce, with only 2.5% actively working in a trade. It is no secret that women are traditionally underrepresented in the construction industry, but in 2023, these percentages seem unacceptable. As...

Innovation is at the heart of everything I do as the CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), and something I expect my teams to integrate into all their initiatives. Being innovative means being bold—taking risks and toppling the traditional ways we’ve operated as providers of public transportation. My industry...

GuideWell is driven by our mission to help people and communities achieve better health, which is why our enterprise is not content that today’s health care industry will serve the needs of people tomorrow.   Better health demands better interactions with consumers, deeper knowledge of what health needs are, and...

Not only does Adelaide offer a great lifestyle and work-life balance for families, but in my field—artificial intelligence (AI)— the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) helps position the city as a global leader in research and innovation excellence. I’ve had the privilege of visiting many of the leading AI...

Embracing Community: A Founder’s Journey Through Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship often carries an aura of glamour and excitement, but beneath the surface lies a challenging journey demanding resilience, creativity, and—perhaps most importantly—a strong community of support. As the Founder & CEO of Upace and Co-Founder & Director of DC Startup Week, I’ve...

As data has shown, disadvantaged groups are notably underrepresented and underpaid across all industries. The educational and professional opportunities for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and persons with disabilities, are still not where they need to be in order to even the playing field. Further, those...

Life moves at a whirlwind pace, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the importance of passion in what we do. From the constant relocations of my childhood to the improvisational challenges of running a kitchen, my journey has been about finding joy in the present and embracing change...

THE INNOVATION MYTH – WHY OLD HABITS ARE STIFLING INNOVATION IN A NEW WORLD BY OLLY REID As John Holt once said, ‘’since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to...

Austin is boomingAustin is the fastest-growing city in the United States for three years straight and is frequently listed as the best place to live. When asked why Austin has seen so much prosperity over the last 15 years, there is one answer: innovation. Austin InnovationThe focus on innovation in...

Amnah Ajmal’s ascent to global corporate leadership is nothing short of riveting. She shines as Mastercard’s Executive Vice President, Market Development, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, covering 80 countries, and embodies the essence of inspiration. This conversation unveils her remarkable path through the ranks, highlighting a relentless pursuit of...