Thought Leaders

I’ve spent years at the intersection of technology and human experience—building festivals that draw tens of thousands into shared, electric moments under the stars, while simultaneously harnessing AI and automation to make those moments possible. Through it all, I’ve come to believe that the defining skill of our era isn’t...

Five Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful StartupAn entrepreneur’s journey is never easy. It requires perseverance to make it through the tough times and vision and commitment to stay true to yourself when the unexpected happens. Failure should be an expectation, something that happens every day, from hiring...

Coming back from the brink of death sounds so dramatic, but that’s truly how I feel. In 2012, I was literally dying. I had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and, a few months into my treatment, I learned that my cancer was resistant to the drugs. My only treatment option...

We sometimes forget the purpose of our work. In healthcare, the goal to make a positive impact on patients is present every day. This was the goal of the introduction of the first AI system in breast cancer screening… in 1998. Over the past 20 years, and especially with the...

It’s rare these days to come across a business that doesn’t refer to itself as innovative. Unfortunately it’s become a far too common marketing term used without any real accountability attached or underlying evidence. True innovation is a clear comparative advantage in an increasingly globally competitive environment. It is incredibly...

Something I’ve found to be increasingly true in the communications profession is that there’s a wealth of untapped potential sitting under the surface. It’s why we’re seeing more and more chief communications officers join the ranks of executives at big tech organizations — and why progressive CEOs are investing more...

Area President, Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic How many times do you need to repeat an exercise before you truly become an expert?  According to Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers: The Story of Success” it takes 10,000 hours and he points to many successful examples of how “The 10,000 Hour Rule” has paid...

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...

Craig Mandeville Founder and CEO That’s it. And if everything we do in between that leads to that, then we’re providing true value. My wife used to work for a home health agency, facilitating patients discharged from the Mayo Clinic who were going into post-acute care. She was faxing things...

Providing a growing global population with abundant, safe, affordable and sustainable food and energy are among the defining challenges of this decade. The Global population is expected to grow from just under 8 billion in 2022 to over 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. Given the scale...

It was in 1991 that I joined École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) as a professor. Over the course of my teaching career, through the development of my research career and now, as CEO of ÉTS since 2019, I have been able to truly appreciate the extent to which this institution...

Geoff Martha President & CEO – Medtronic Millions of Americans are affected by pain and have been prescribed systemic opioids as part of their treatment plan. Whether for chronic or acute pain, prescribing systemic opioids continues, despite the limited evidence on the benefits of long-term systemic opioid therapy and evidence...

Deborah German was appointed founding dean of the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in December 2006 following a distinguished career at Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. She has overseen the construction of UCF’s 375,000-square-foot medical school at Lake Nona and is now...

Evans was founded on the mindset that execution of complex design-build projects is achieved through team synergy, a focus on client needs, and innovative problem solving. While design-build is an essential part of our business, Evans’ approach to all projects, regardless of the delivery method, is created with the same...

INNOVATE is a verb and it means to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. It is often thought of as it relates to technology, inventions, manufacturing, and business development. It is less often thought of as it relates to culture, social development, diversity,...

On joining Phlexglobal in 2007, and becoming immersed in the trial master file (TMF) space, I didn’t imagine that something that seemed to get so little focus (a TMF was really just a paper archive) could turn into such an innovative space. When I started, an eTMF was broadly an...

Chad Paris Ceo – Parisleaf I can vividly recall the moment I realized how special Gainesville is. I was in Mexico for my sister’s wedding and feeling homesick for a place I’d only called home for a short time. Beyond the confusion of feeling such a strong connection to a...

Perspectives on InnovationTo thrive in today’s competitive business landscape, SMES must embrace automation and streamline all its processes to ensure cost-effectiveness and compatibility with other players in the market. At New Valmar, we understand this well and have made significant investments in cutting edge technologies that augment our Enterprise Resource...

Ahti Heinla is one of Estonia’s most visionary minds – the co-founder of Starship Technologies and formerly the Chief Technical Architect of Skype. His impact on global communication and autonomous technology is immense, yet his story is deeply rooted in Estonia’s culture of curiosity, experimentation, and civic spirit. Heinla wrote...

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...

Five years ago I founded Lemon, an all-round software development company. In the midst of the pandemic I founded Road21, an ecosystem of 30 technology companies, with my co-founder Fabian Van Kerckhove. Lemon is now part of the ecosystem and I’ve learned to go from quantitative growth to qualitative growth....

Ravi Venkatesan was appointed CEO of Cantaloupe in September 2022, previously holding roles as COO and CTO. With 20+ years in the tech world, he also led innovations at Bakkt and Bridge2 Solutions and held leadership positions at Accenture and Cbeyond. He received his B.S. in electronics from Bangalore University...

I have spent most of my career in health sciences and innovation in both Canada and the United States. As we grapple with the challenges in our health systems across Canada, it is clear to me that while there are several areas that need attention (including policy and new funding...

To me, social impact is the reason for our organisation’s existence. A chamber of commerce is not there to serve the private interests of a few individual companies, but to help an entire region grow. I have always been a firm believer that you can only achieve prosperity through entrepreneurship,...