Thought Leaders

FOSTERING A CULTURE OF LEADERS AND INNOVATIONI was fortunate to have an ambitious father who embedded leadership heavily into my life. I feel it is important for any leader to have a mentor, and this is the reason we focus so heavily on mentorship at Supashock. A mentor is someone...

Valley Bank is built on a foundation of more than 90 years of history, strengthened by a legacy of local relationship building, exceptional risk management and meticulous credit underwriting. This has afforded us with a reputation of trust and reliability in the communities we serve. But for an organization with...

TIM COWDEN, PRESIDENT & CEO, KANSAS CITY AREA DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL I’ve spent my career working in economic development, but at its core, this work has never been solely about buildings, incentives or corporate announcements. It’s about people. It’s about creating communities where businesses can grow, talent can thrive and future...

I studied molecular science because I wanted to understand how things work. I built a strong knowledge of molecular processes, but the turning point came when my mother was diagnosed with melanoma. I could explain the disease in detail, but I couldn’t change its course. That loss shifted my focus...

BUILDING BRIDGES THROUGH THE POWER OF PLAY It started with a simple Nintendo Entertainment System and a curious peek past bedtime. My dad had bought the console, seemingly for me, but never watched me play. One night, I heard familiar game music playing from the living room. Sneaking out of...

When I joined Ülemiste City the vision of a smart city for smart people was already in place. Today, the vision has grown into a future-focused urban environment with 18 000 talents from more than 73 countries and 400 companies. Based on the labor tax from business ventures, the contribution...

The future of healthcare is undergoing a transformative revolution, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and an increasing commitment to greater equity across patient populations. From the time that CyberMed was established, one of the prevailing issues that we are focusing on is how the technology can address...

If it’s a smooth road, it’s not worth traveling. I believe you only truly learn by making mistakes, stumbling, and having your experiments turn out differently than you expected (I don’t see those as failures). When we met, my co-founder just happened to be living in Miami, too. Since the...

Healthcare is personal. We are all one diagnosis away from being a patient. To a doctor, the relationship with a patient is one of the most sacred connections. To the patient, it is almost always a moment of anxiety and fear. As a family doctor, I’ve seen this moment of...

  Jorge Ruiz, Founder & CEO, Finconecta Innovation itself has evolved. It used to be that you could create something, patent that something, and it would serve its purpose until a new and superior product came along and replaced it. Now, innovation is not just about solving a problem that...

When in the shadows of giants, we assume the path to success is to stand on their shoulders. But in the world of technology, I’ve found that it’s not enough to just stand tall; we must also be nimble, ready to jump to the next giant as the ground shifts...

Fifteen years ago, when I became the founding CEO of The Water Council, I brought with me a background in government and nonprofit management. I faced a steep learning curve in understanding water technology and environmental issues. I’m still very much a novice, but over time I’ve learned a thing...

Innovating by OptimizingIn 1980 I founded Princeton Consultants based on the thesis that optimization could improve business decision making. Princeton University, from which I’d just graduated, and Bell Labs were pioneers in the academic study of optimization algorithms. “Optimization” gets used in many contexts. I define it as, “a decision-...

Imagine meeting (finally!) someone that you have long waited to meet. An investor. A potential officer. Leader. New business partner. Someone who is going to be big and influential to you or your project and work. And imagine that they asked you to reach out to them again later when...

I have always believed that innovation is not a destination – it’s a continuous journey and a culture you build one bold idea at a time. Innovation is not just born in boardrooms – it lives in the in-between moments. In a hallway conversation between a life sciences founder and...

I’m a futures strategist who combines human behaviour and future studies to create keynotes, masterclasses and books that help people, businesses and brands build the courage and clarity they need to forge the future they want. Driven by the real world, by humanity and ‘the now’, as a Futures Strategist...

THE LIFESTYLE OF NOT GIVING UP Entrepreneurship isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle. A way of living built on persistence, humility, and the willingness to reinvent yourself again and again. When you decide to follow an idea, you don’t just commit to a vision. You commit to setbacks, uncertainty, and...

Innovation goes beyond creating something new; it’s about making a meaningful difference. My journey, from Pakistan to the World Bank and into the realms of technology and communications, has been driven by this ethos. The turning point was recognizing gaming’s potential as a tool for impactful communication. With a background...

Never before in history, have our economy and society had to transform so radically so quickly. The industrial and societal transition we are experiencing is definitely about bits and bytes, but mostly about molecules: such as CO2 and H2 carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Therefore, chemistry, as a science and as...

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...

It might be odd to hear this from someone who leads incubation at a university, but not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur and not every startup will succeed. Our success has come as a result of embracing this experience, and how it develops students and innovators. Leveraging startup and...

MONIKA RADCLYFFE – LEADING THE CITY’S TECH CLUSTER GROWTH SETsquared Bristol is the Global No.1 University-led Business Incubator working with the University of Bristol. I have been the Centre Director since 2016, working with over 250 companies, including Bristol Pound, Interactive Scientific, Immersive Labs, YellowDog and Zeetta Networks. Bristol is...

For well over a century, higher education has treated its primary role as preparing young adults for their first job. In today’s world, where skills expire faster than degrees can be completed and technology reshapes industries overnight, that model needs to evolve. If we’re serious about our mission to foster...

We are living in the midst of a transportation revolution. When we look around, we can see fundamental changes in how people move around cities and towns across the world. In the San Diego region you can feel it every day. Everywhere you look people are driving electric cars, reducing...