Thought Leaders

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

OMID EKHLASI

FOUNDER & CEO, TECHARENA

The Power of Gathering Over ten years ago, Techarena began in a small movie theater in southern Sweden. A group of founders stood on stage to pitch their ideas, full of hope and determination. Only eight people came to watch. It would have been easy to feel discouraged, but something...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

SARAH DETOMA

AQUATIK ESPORTS - DIRECTOR OF GROWTH

Just over a year ago, I started my journey in the esports industry as an intern. Fast forward to today, and I am the director of an esports/media company while also leading our newest endeavor – Aquatik Studios. Interestingly, Aquatik is my first job post-college. I made sure to take...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

PHIL RANTA

PHIL RANTA

CEO, WORMHOLE LABS

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...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

BRADLEY COWARD, CORPORATE ADVISOR & CO FOUNDER TRADEACE INC.

BRADLEY COWARD, CORPORATE ADVISOR & CO FOUNDER TRADEACE INC.

IT’S HUMAN NATURE TO RESIST CHANGEAccelerated change is the clarion cry of entrepreneurs and the Achilles heel of large organizations and industries. Many entrepreneurs today use the mantra: “Go big or go home,” and so it is with innovation. Innovation by its very nature needs to sit, enabled by technology,...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

SHELLY BARDAI

DIRECTOR, BANKING, RBCx

As a young woman, I had dreams, aspirations and a relentless drive to make my dreams a reality. I landed a job at a startup in my early twenties, and over the next two decades, I witnessed a massive revolution in everything from AI, social media to autonomous vehicles and...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

Ryne Cooper

Director of Growth at Data Holdings

Innovation is not the work of one person. It happens when people come together, share ideas, and support each other. Milwaukee is full of individuals and organizations pushing boundaries, taking risks, and making an impact. The real strength of this city lies in its people, their resilience, creativity, and willingness...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

JOAN M. STELTMANN

JOAN M. STELTMANN

FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION

FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION CHANGING OUR MINDSET WILL MOVE THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL SECTORS CLOSER TOGETHER – ENHANCING BOTH. If you still say “Non-Profit”, it’s time to upgrade your thinking to “Not for-Profit”. Why? It conveys purpose and intention, without placing limitations on outcomes. For social service organizations,...

INNOVATION Quebec

RICHARD CHÉNIER

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL DU CENTECH

La prochaine décennie offrira plusieurs opportunités stratégiques à saisir en matière d’entrepreneuriat et d’innovation, particulièrement technologique. Plusieurs avancées scientifiques, jadis considérées comme fondamentales, transitent en effet actuellement à une vitesse fulgurante vers des applications réelles. Ces nouvelles applications se doivent d’agir comme catalyseur de solutions concrètes pour répondre à nos...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

MÓNICA BETTENCOURT-DIAS

MÓNICA BETTENCOURT-DIAS

CEO, INSTITUTO GULBENKIAN DE CIÊNCIA

“I truly believe science is the most important tool to build a fair and sustainable world. To move in that direction, science needs to be democratized, and become accessible everywhere, to people of all origins and educational backgrounds.” In 2020, like no year before, science stood out in many different...

INNOVATION Quebec

LAYLA NASR

CEO, MAKILA AI

En Amérique du Nord comme en Europe, la collaboration entre le milieu de la recherche scientifique et le milieu de la pratique professionnelle contribue au développement d’un savoir essentiel et bénéfique pour l’ensemble de la société. En matière de technologies et notamment en ce qui concerne l’intelligence artificielle, la diversité...

INNOVATION Quebec

PREFACE BY MURIELLE LABERGE

RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF QUÉBEC EN OUTAOUAIS

Innovation is intrinsically linked to the constant quest for improvement. It requires a creative and agile mindset to come to fruition. It is this mindset that drives individuals seeking to improve well-being and create a better world to dedicate themselves to social innovations based on human values such as solidarity,...

AI Québec

GILLES SAVARD

GILLES SAVARD

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL -IVADO

Moteur d’innovation, les données sont au cœur de la transformation numérique qui s’impose partout. Liées à plusieurs technologies numériques habilitantes arrivant à maturité dont, l’infonuagique, l’internet des objets, le 5G, le 3D, la réalité augmentée, la robotique, etc., ces données et leur valorisation par l’analytique sont les véritables activateurs de...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

BEN BAKER

FOUNDER, BEN BAKER STUDIOS

“Mr. President, it’s great to see you today; here is the plan.” Those are words I have spoken to the past five American Presidents and many other world leaders as a photographer trusted to create iconic images that will stand the test of time. How did a kid from a...

INNOVATE® Milwaukee

SID BHATNAGAR

CEO AT ASQ

We are living in a defining moment for our global workforce. The convergence of rapid technological advancement, economic uncertainty, and evolving societal expectations transforms how we work, learn, and lead. Two forces are more critical than ever: continuous upskilling and staying grounded in community. These aren’t just buzzwords. Upskilling and...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

SHAYNE JAENISCH

CEO, TINDO SOLAR

LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, MISSION, VISION, SUSTAINABILITY GOALS, COMPANY VALUES, ETHICAL PRACTICES. For me these words are more than a fancy poster on a wall, a page on the company website or a nicely-written corporate profile. For me, the importance of aligning concepts such as culture, values, ethics and leadership, defines the...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

JEFF WHITE

PRESIDENT & CEO, NEW BRUNSWICK INNOVATION FOUNDATION

The business day begins in New Brunswick an hour before our colleagues in Montreal and Toronto get started. I think that’s appropriate, because from the age of sail to today’s AI revolution, our entrepreneurs have been working at the forefront of innovation, international trade and technological change. New Brunswick has...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

Chuck Nees

Chuck Nees

Managing Partner - Braswell Nees Group

Don’t just Invent. Innovate! New Jersey has a rich history of inventions – the first steam locomotive, baseball, radar, Bell Labs & Thomas Edison’s anything… Each has proven the test of time as inventions, but how many companies survived the commercial challenges of the S-curve? That time when the novelty,...

INNOVATE® Blockchain

Soula Parassidis

CEO, LIVING OPERA

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE“It’s cancer.” That’s not a sentence you want to hear your doctor say when you’re only 23 years old. Seven days earlier having graduated with my degree in opera, and now I was sitting in a hospital. They say thyroid cancer is the “best” kind...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

MARC CORTHOUT

OPEN MANUFACTURING CAMPUS

The evolution of digital technology and the resulting exponential complexity increase in the products that we use all the time, also affects production technologies deeply and requires close cooperation between many companies, each delivering their unique process technology and modules. At the same time Industry 4.0 and the innovation towards...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

ISABEL KEULEN

CEO, SSE VENTURES & SSE BUSINESS LAB

THE NORDIC’S LEADING STARTUP HUB! I believe that SSE Business Lab’s success in fostering unicorns and groundbreaking companies isn’t coincidental. It’s the result of a carefully designed ecosystem where ambition meets mentorship and capital is intertwined with experience. At the core is a powerful alumni network. Unlike many ecosystems where...

INNOVATE® Philadelphia

JOE VOLPE

CO-FOUNDER, CESCAPHE

As the co-founder of Cescaphe, I never set out to disrupt the hospitality and events industry, I set out to create an experience I couldn’t find elsewhere. When we launched Cescaphe, the traditional wedding and event model was fragmented, making for an unpleasant client experience, when it should be a...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

Marco Costa

Marco Costa

Chief Operating Officer International, Talkdesk

When Talkdesk came into existence there was no contact centre entirely hosted in the cloud. We were game changers and that is what we aim to continue to be and do. We do not rest on our laurels and continue to lead, build the future of contact centres and set...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Andrew Hsu

President of the College of Charleston

Both society and technology are changing ever more rapidly. Higher education is historically designed to be steady and slow in changing. The conflict caused between slow-moving institutions and a rapidly changing world has become ever more obvious – to the point, for many, that it has reached a definitive inflection...

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...

OMID EKHLASI

FOUNDER & CEO, TECHARENA

The Power of Gathering Over ten years ago, Techarena began in a small movie theater in southern Sweden. A group of founders stood on stage to pitch their ideas, full of hope and determination. Only eight people came to watch. It would have been easy to feel discouraged, but something...

SARAH DETOMA

AQUATIK ESPORTS - DIRECTOR OF GROWTH

Just over a year ago, I started my journey in the esports industry as an intern. Fast forward to today, and I am the director of an esports/media company while also leading our newest endeavor – Aquatik Studios. Interestingly, Aquatik is my first job post-college. I made sure to take...

PHIL RANTA

PHIL RANTA

CEO, WORMHOLE LABS

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...

BRADLEY COWARD, CORPORATE ADVISOR & CO FOUNDER TRADEACE INC.

BRADLEY COWARD, CORPORATE ADVISOR & CO FOUNDER TRADEACE INC.

IT’S HUMAN NATURE TO RESIST CHANGEAccelerated change is the clarion cry of entrepreneurs and the Achilles heel of large organizations and industries. Many entrepreneurs today use the mantra: “Go big or go home,” and so it is with innovation. Innovation by its very nature needs to sit, enabled by technology,...

SHELLY BARDAI

DIRECTOR, BANKING, RBCx

As a young woman, I had dreams, aspirations and a relentless drive to make my dreams a reality. I landed a job at a startup in my early twenties, and over the next two decades, I witnessed a massive revolution in everything from AI, social media to autonomous vehicles and...

Ryne Cooper

Director of Growth at Data Holdings

Innovation is not the work of one person. It happens when people come together, share ideas, and support each other. Milwaukee is full of individuals and organizations pushing boundaries, taking risks, and making an impact. The real strength of this city lies in its people, their resilience, creativity, and willingness...

JOAN M. STELTMANN

JOAN M. STELTMANN

FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION

FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION CHANGING OUR MINDSET WILL MOVE THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL SECTORS CLOSER TOGETHER – ENHANCING BOTH. If you still say “Non-Profit”, it’s time to upgrade your thinking to “Not for-Profit”. Why? It conveys purpose and intention, without placing limitations on outcomes. For social service organizations,...

RICHARD CHÉNIER

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL DU CENTECH

La prochaine décennie offrira plusieurs opportunités stratégiques à saisir en matière d’entrepreneuriat et d’innovation, particulièrement technologique. Plusieurs avancées scientifiques, jadis considérées comme fondamentales, transitent en effet actuellement à une vitesse fulgurante vers des applications réelles. Ces nouvelles applications se doivent d’agir comme catalyseur de solutions concrètes pour répondre à nos...

MÓNICA BETTENCOURT-DIAS

MÓNICA BETTENCOURT-DIAS

CEO, INSTITUTO GULBENKIAN DE CIÊNCIA

“I truly believe science is the most important tool to build a fair and sustainable world. To move in that direction, science needs to be democratized, and become accessible everywhere, to people of all origins and educational backgrounds.” In 2020, like no year before, science stood out in many different...

LAYLA NASR

CEO, MAKILA AI

En Amérique du Nord comme en Europe, la collaboration entre le milieu de la recherche scientifique et le milieu de la pratique professionnelle contribue au développement d’un savoir essentiel et bénéfique pour l’ensemble de la société. En matière de technologies et notamment en ce qui concerne l’intelligence artificielle, la diversité...

PREFACE BY MURIELLE LABERGE

RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF QUÉBEC EN OUTAOUAIS

Innovation is intrinsically linked to the constant quest for improvement. It requires a creative and agile mindset to come to fruition. It is this mindset that drives individuals seeking to improve well-being and create a better world to dedicate themselves to social innovations based on human values such as solidarity,...

GILLES SAVARD

GILLES SAVARD

DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL -IVADO

Moteur d’innovation, les données sont au cœur de la transformation numérique qui s’impose partout. Liées à plusieurs technologies numériques habilitantes arrivant à maturité dont, l’infonuagique, l’internet des objets, le 5G, le 3D, la réalité augmentée, la robotique, etc., ces données et leur valorisation par l’analytique sont les véritables activateurs de...

BEN BAKER

FOUNDER, BEN BAKER STUDIOS

“Mr. President, it’s great to see you today; here is the plan.” Those are words I have spoken to the past five American Presidents and many other world leaders as a photographer trusted to create iconic images that will stand the test of time. How did a kid from a...

SID BHATNAGAR

CEO AT ASQ

We are living in a defining moment for our global workforce. The convergence of rapid technological advancement, economic uncertainty, and evolving societal expectations transforms how we work, learn, and lead. Two forces are more critical than ever: continuous upskilling and staying grounded in community. These aren’t just buzzwords. Upskilling and...

SHAYNE JAENISCH

CEO, TINDO SOLAR

LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, MISSION, VISION, SUSTAINABILITY GOALS, COMPANY VALUES, ETHICAL PRACTICES. For me these words are more than a fancy poster on a wall, a page on the company website or a nicely-written corporate profile. For me, the importance of aligning concepts such as culture, values, ethics and leadership, defines the...

JEFF WHITE

PRESIDENT & CEO, NEW BRUNSWICK INNOVATION FOUNDATION

The business day begins in New Brunswick an hour before our colleagues in Montreal and Toronto get started. I think that’s appropriate, because from the age of sail to today’s AI revolution, our entrepreneurs have been working at the forefront of innovation, international trade and technological change. New Brunswick has...

Chuck Nees

Chuck Nees

Managing Partner - Braswell Nees Group

Don’t just Invent. Innovate! New Jersey has a rich history of inventions – the first steam locomotive, baseball, radar, Bell Labs & Thomas Edison’s anything… Each has proven the test of time as inventions, but how many companies survived the commercial challenges of the S-curve? That time when the novelty,...

Soula Parassidis

CEO, LIVING OPERA

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE“It’s cancer.” That’s not a sentence you want to hear your doctor say when you’re only 23 years old. Seven days earlier having graduated with my degree in opera, and now I was sitting in a hospital. They say thyroid cancer is the “best” kind...

MARC CORTHOUT

OPEN MANUFACTURING CAMPUS

The evolution of digital technology and the resulting exponential complexity increase in the products that we use all the time, also affects production technologies deeply and requires close cooperation between many companies, each delivering their unique process technology and modules. At the same time Industry 4.0 and the innovation towards...

ISABEL KEULEN

CEO, SSE VENTURES & SSE BUSINESS LAB

THE NORDIC’S LEADING STARTUP HUB! I believe that SSE Business Lab’s success in fostering unicorns and groundbreaking companies isn’t coincidental. It’s the result of a carefully designed ecosystem where ambition meets mentorship and capital is intertwined with experience. At the core is a powerful alumni network. Unlike many ecosystems where...

JOE VOLPE

CO-FOUNDER, CESCAPHE

As the co-founder of Cescaphe, I never set out to disrupt the hospitality and events industry, I set out to create an experience I couldn’t find elsewhere. When we launched Cescaphe, the traditional wedding and event model was fragmented, making for an unpleasant client experience, when it should be a...

Marco Costa

Marco Costa

Chief Operating Officer International, Talkdesk

When Talkdesk came into existence there was no contact centre entirely hosted in the cloud. We were game changers and that is what we aim to continue to be and do. We do not rest on our laurels and continue to lead, build the future of contact centres and set...

Andrew Hsu

President of the College of Charleston

Both society and technology are changing ever more rapidly. Higher education is historically designed to be steady and slow in changing. The conflict caused between slow-moving institutions and a rapidly changing world has become ever more obvious – to the point, for many, that it has reached a definitive inflection...

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...

INNOVATE® Ecosystems