Thought Leaders
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
PHILIP VON SEGEBADEN
HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS, NOVATRON FUSION GROUP.
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...
INNOVATE® Minnesota
Peter Frosch
CEO - Greater MSP
Entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t new to Minnesota. They’re the source of our current economic success and the key to even greater future prosperity, equity and growth. We have the potential to be the problem-solving capital of the new economy and the GREATER MSP Partnership is working to make that vision...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
MPUME NGOBESE
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR, JOE PUBLIC JOHANNESBURG
With digital media usage higher than ever, more than 38 million people in South Africa are active on the internet, and 27-million consume social media content by liking, sharing, posting and commenting on everything from politics and the pandemic, to funnies and pictures of ‘fur babies’. Consumers have so many...
AI Québec
STEVEN WEST
PROFESSOR, CBE, DL.
On the 27th March I attended a meeting on campus with colleagues from the NHS, army logistics, architects, designers and building contractors. Over the next two hours we agreed the site was viable and the preferred option to support the region. I made the decision there and then to handover...
Global Innovation Spotlight
FRANK LEYHAUSEN
CEO AF1 GMBH, COLOGNE, GERMANY
In almost all countries of the developed world, the labor market is under pressure. The reason: Demographic change has shrunk the number of people of working age. Seriously? I don’t think so! In Western society, age is and always has been associated with the loss of skills and abilities. For...
INNOVATE™ Toronto
ABDULLAH SNOBAR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DMZ AND CEO OF DMZ VENTURES
Let’s be real: Toronto tech has been hitting it out of the park lately. The ecosystem has soared to new highs. Venture funding deals are crushing new records. The GTA is rich with leading innovation hubs. Merger and acquisition activity is revving up. We’re now rated as North America’s fastest-growing...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
WYGROUP
SHAPED BY CURIOSITY
For the last 20 years, WYgroup has been one of the top leading players in digital marketing, technology, and creativity services in Portugal. We are currently the largest independent group for Marketing and Customer Experience Services in Portugal, with a collaborative framework of 7 companies that – together – can...
INNOVATE™ Flanders
ANNELEEN VANDER ELSTRAETEN
MANAGING PARTNER, FOUR & FIVE
WHY INNOVATORS NEED A NEW BREED OF LAW FIRM When I first started my legal career, founding my own law firm wasn’t even a consideration. I was content working at a top-tier firm, focusing on drafting contracts and managing legal transactions. But everything changed during a business trip to Silicon...
AI Québec
ANNE-MARIE HUBERT
LEADER, MARCHÉ DE L’EST
La notoriété de l’écosystème d’innovation en intelligence artificielle (IA) du Québec repose sur trois grandes raisons : un bassin de talents phénoménal, des partenariats collaboratifs et un engagement marqué à l’égard du design éthique. En fait, c’est ici qu’a été lancée la déclaration de Montréal pour un développement responsable de...
INNOVATE® Miami
Felecia Hatcher
Pearson, Co-Founder, Tribe Co-Work & Urban Innovation Lab + Blacktech Week; Founder, Code Fever
The huge influences of the Caribbean, of South America, and Central America that we have here in Miami makes the entrepreneurial ecosystem unique across the States and arguably across the globe. So many people start a business out of necessity, which forces them to be really creative with limited resources—again,...
Andrew Rae
Woodgreen Ventures - Encouraging Trend Line is in Great Opposition to a Historical Strug
Encouraging Trend Line is in Great Opposition to a Historical Struggle this City and Country has Faced at Multiple Levels Andrew is a former biotechnology equities analyst and a serial entrepreneur. Mr. Rae has partnered with many leading biopharmaceutical companies globally, including Ionis, Alexion and AstraZeneca, and has invested in...
Phoebe Cade Miles
Co-Founder - The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention
Phoebe Cade Miles Co-Founder – The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention In 2004, I helped my father, Dr. James Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, to establish the Cade Museum. Sixteen years later, it is inspiring the next generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. The Gatorade story had...
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...
INNOVATION Quebec
MARIE CLAUDE LAGACÉ
DIRECTRICE PRINCIPALE, INNOVATION ET TRANSFORMATION SOCIALE
Plus jeune, j’adorais tous les jeux, du hockey bottine avec mon frère jusqu’au jeu d’échecs avec mon père. J’avais une certaine aversion pour l’ennuyant Monopoly, qui prenait invariablement fin lorsqu’une personne (habituellement ma sœur) provoquait la faillite des autres. Pas de tueur à démasquer, pas d’épique bataille navale, de dessins...
INNOVATION Manitoba
CAMERON BERGEN, FOUNDER & CEO, MODE40
CHASE THE ONE PERCENT I’ve noticed something about the way we talk about the future. It’s always enormous. Transform everything. Ten times the output. A revolution by next quarter. The bigger the promise, the louder the room. I spent two decades running real operations, and the truth is quieter than...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
THERESA TAYLER
OWNER AND FOUNDER, START ME UP PR
A renowned tech magnate once said, “If I were down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.” Not to talk myself out of a job, but one rarely needs to spend their LAST dollar on PR if they just “keep it real” from day one. Growing...
VOICES of the Future
BEATA MOŃKA
THE POWER OF PASSION
Beata Mońka is a visionary entrepreneur whose experiences and opinions, explores the nuances life’s work has been a beacon of creativity, connectivity, and transformative leadership. Our conversation, set against the backdrop of a series celebrating the most influential minds of our time, unfolds as a symphony of ideas and insights...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
OLLE LAGERQUIST
CO-CHAIR, ERIN
Innovation Increases RelevanceInnovation changes its meaning from person to person; however, I see it as a new or improved method, process, approach, product, strategy, or service that increases impact and value. Innovation helps organizations, products, services, and entire regions stay relevant. As such, communities and regions that promote and grow...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
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...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
John Spence
Founder and Chairman - Karma Group
John Spence Founder and Chairman – Karma Group For nearly 30 years I’ve traveled all over the world to help businesses and people be more successful. I’ve worked for top tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Motorola, and Apple and have traveled to Palo Alto, Seattle, New York, Boston, Amsterdam,...
INNOVATION Quebec
MARIE CLAUDE LAGACÉ
SENIOR DIRECTOR, INNOVATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE, CONSEIL DE I’NNOVATION DU QUEBEC
Growing up, I used to play a lot, from hockey with my brother to chess with my dad. The only game that truly bored me to death was Monopoly, which inevitably ended with one of us (usually my sister) bankrupting others. No uncovering of a killer, no epic naval battle,...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
JEFF DESJARDINS
FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VISUAL CAPITALIST
In the media landscape, technology has been the ultimate disruptor—creating several inflection points that have changed the scope of reach for content and business models. To put the evolution of our industry and its future roadmap into perspective, we can take a closer look at the three waves of media....
VOICES of the Future
MARIA DA CONCEICAO
CLIMBING NEW HEIGHTS FOR HUMANITY
Maria Da Conceicao’s eyes sparkle with an intensity that reflects a life of profound challenges and extraordinary achievements. Born in Portugal, Maria’s story began with adversity. At just two years old, her mother fell ill, and an African immigrant cleaner, Maria Cristina Matos, took her under her wing. This new...
INNOVATE® Philadelphia: 250 Years of Innovation
NIGEL C. THIJS, SES
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AT NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER, PHILADELPHIA DIVISION
When I think about the future of innovation, I do not think about a single invention or a single breakthrough. I think about speed, collaboration, and adaptability. Innovation will belong to organizations that can learn quickly, test ideas early, and deliver real results without losing focus on mission impact. Philadelphia...
PHILIP VON SEGEBADEN
HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS, NOVATRON FUSION GROUP.
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...
Peter Frosch
CEO - Greater MSP
Entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t new to Minnesota. They’re the source of our current economic success and the key to even greater future prosperity, equity and growth. We have the potential to be the problem-solving capital of the new economy and the GREATER MSP Partnership is working to make that vision...
MPUME NGOBESE
CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR, JOE PUBLIC JOHANNESBURG
With digital media usage higher than ever, more than 38 million people in South Africa are active on the internet, and 27-million consume social media content by liking, sharing, posting and commenting on everything from politics and the pandemic, to funnies and pictures of ‘fur babies’. Consumers have so many...
STEVEN WEST
PROFESSOR, CBE, DL.
On the 27th March I attended a meeting on campus with colleagues from the NHS, army logistics, architects, designers and building contractors. Over the next two hours we agreed the site was viable and the preferred option to support the region. I made the decision there and then to handover...
FRANK LEYHAUSEN
CEO AF1 GMBH, COLOGNE, GERMANY
In almost all countries of the developed world, the labor market is under pressure. The reason: Demographic change has shrunk the number of people of working age. Seriously? I don’t think so! In Western society, age is and always has been associated with the loss of skills and abilities. For...
ABDULLAH SNOBAR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE DMZ AND CEO OF DMZ VENTURES
Let’s be real: Toronto tech has been hitting it out of the park lately. The ecosystem has soared to new highs. Venture funding deals are crushing new records. The GTA is rich with leading innovation hubs. Merger and acquisition activity is revving up. We’re now rated as North America’s fastest-growing...
WYGROUP
SHAPED BY CURIOSITY
For the last 20 years, WYgroup has been one of the top leading players in digital marketing, technology, and creativity services in Portugal. We are currently the largest independent group for Marketing and Customer Experience Services in Portugal, with a collaborative framework of 7 companies that – together – can...
ANNELEEN VANDER ELSTRAETEN
MANAGING PARTNER, FOUR & FIVE
WHY INNOVATORS NEED A NEW BREED OF LAW FIRM When I first started my legal career, founding my own law firm wasn’t even a consideration. I was content working at a top-tier firm, focusing on drafting contracts and managing legal transactions. But everything changed during a business trip to Silicon...
ANNE-MARIE HUBERT
LEADER, MARCHÉ DE L’EST
La notoriété de l’écosystème d’innovation en intelligence artificielle (IA) du Québec repose sur trois grandes raisons : un bassin de talents phénoménal, des partenariats collaboratifs et un engagement marqué à l’égard du design éthique. En fait, c’est ici qu’a été lancée la déclaration de Montréal pour un développement responsable de...
Felecia Hatcher
Pearson, Co-Founder, Tribe Co-Work & Urban Innovation Lab + Blacktech Week; Founder, Code Fever
The huge influences of the Caribbean, of South America, and Central America that we have here in Miami makes the entrepreneurial ecosystem unique across the States and arguably across the globe. So many people start a business out of necessity, which forces them to be really creative with limited resources—again,...
Andrew Rae
Woodgreen Ventures - Encouraging Trend Line is in Great Opposition to a Historical Strug
Encouraging Trend Line is in Great Opposition to a Historical Struggle this City and Country has Faced at Multiple Levels Andrew is a former biotechnology equities analyst and a serial entrepreneur. Mr. Rae has partnered with many leading biopharmaceutical companies globally, including Ionis, Alexion and AstraZeneca, and has invested in...
Phoebe Cade Miles
Co-Founder - The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention
Phoebe Cade Miles Co-Founder – The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention In 2004, I helped my father, Dr. James Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, to establish the Cade Museum. Sixteen years later, it is inspiring the next generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. The Gatorade story had...
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...
MARIE CLAUDE LAGACÉ
DIRECTRICE PRINCIPALE, INNOVATION ET TRANSFORMATION SOCIALE
Plus jeune, j’adorais tous les jeux, du hockey bottine avec mon frère jusqu’au jeu d’échecs avec mon père. J’avais une certaine aversion pour l’ennuyant Monopoly, qui prenait invariablement fin lorsqu’une personne (habituellement ma sœur) provoquait la faillite des autres. Pas de tueur à démasquer, pas d’épique bataille navale, de dessins...
CAMERON BERGEN, FOUNDER & CEO, MODE40
CHASE THE ONE PERCENT I’ve noticed something about the way we talk about the future. It’s always enormous. Transform everything. Ten times the output. A revolution by next quarter. The bigger the promise, the louder the room. I spent two decades running real operations, and the truth is quieter than...
BEATA MOŃKA
THE POWER OF PASSION
Beata Mońka is a visionary entrepreneur whose experiences and opinions, explores the nuances life’s work has been a beacon of creativity, connectivity, and transformative leadership. Our conversation, set against the backdrop of a series celebrating the most influential minds of our time, unfolds as a symphony of ideas and insights...
OLLE LAGERQUIST
CO-CHAIR, ERIN
Innovation Increases RelevanceInnovation changes its meaning from person to person; however, I see it as a new or improved method, process, approach, product, strategy, or service that increases impact and value. Innovation helps organizations, products, services, and entire regions stay relevant. As such, communities and regions that promote and grow...
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...
John Spence
Founder and Chairman - Karma Group
John Spence Founder and Chairman – Karma Group For nearly 30 years I’ve traveled all over the world to help businesses and people be more successful. I’ve worked for top tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Motorola, and Apple and have traveled to Palo Alto, Seattle, New York, Boston, Amsterdam,...
MARIE CLAUDE LAGACÉ
SENIOR DIRECTOR, INNOVATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE, CONSEIL DE I’NNOVATION DU QUEBEC
Growing up, I used to play a lot, from hockey with my brother to chess with my dad. The only game that truly bored me to death was Monopoly, which inevitably ended with one of us (usually my sister) bankrupting others. No uncovering of a killer, no epic naval battle,...
JEFF DESJARDINS
FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VISUAL CAPITALIST
In the media landscape, technology has been the ultimate disruptor—creating several inflection points that have changed the scope of reach for content and business models. To put the evolution of our industry and its future roadmap into perspective, we can take a closer look at the three waves of media....
MARIA DA CONCEICAO
CLIMBING NEW HEIGHTS FOR HUMANITY
Maria Da Conceicao’s eyes sparkle with an intensity that reflects a life of profound challenges and extraordinary achievements. Born in Portugal, Maria’s story began with adversity. At just two years old, her mother fell ill, and an African immigrant cleaner, Maria Cristina Matos, took her under her wing. This new...
NIGEL C. THIJS, SES
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AT NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER, PHILADELPHIA DIVISION
When I think about the future of innovation, I do not think about a single invention or a single breakthrough. I think about speed, collaboration, and adaptability. Innovation will belong to organizations that can learn quickly, test ideas early, and deliver real results without losing focus on mission impact. Philadelphia...