Thought Leaders
INNOVATE™ Alberta
JEFF LAFRENZ
CEO, VIZWORX
Innovation is a way of looking at the world around us. It has no geographic limits. It has no age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or culture limits. It applies to every industry, every profession. It is about being curious and not accepting the status quo. It is about asking why...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
William Britton
AutonoMe - Founder
Prior to Founding AutonoMe William was a local lecturer teaching adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism for a number of years. It was here that he established his passion and began to see the world through the eyes of people with Learning Disabilities. This helped William see how his skills...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
STEVEN COLLENS
CEO, MATTER
I’ve been the chief executive officer at MATTER — the global healthcare innovation hub headquartered in Chicago — since it was founded in 2015. Over the last five years, one of the most interesting dynamics we’ve observed — coming both from entrepreneurs developing novel technologies, as well as from large...
VOICES of the Future
DR. MARK ESPOSITO
BEYOND THE HORIZON
Dr. Mark Esposito is a luminary at the intersection of economics, strategy, and the future. In our conversation, he unfolds our future, offering an insightful exploration into the themes of technological transformation, human-centric systems, and the architecture of tomorrow’s global systems. As a distinguished figure in the discourse of the...
INNOVATE® Seattle
FRANÇOIS BANEYX
COMOTION - DIRECTOR AND VICE PROVOST FOR INNOVATION
For over 150 years, the University of Washington (UW) has nurtured scholarly endeavors that have yielded discoveries and inventions with profound effects on people’s lives. From medical devices and vaccines to deep-sea mapping and natural language processing, our researchers have uncovered bold new insights that have pushed the boundaries of...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
HEATHER CROALL
DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ADELAIDE FRINGE
Innovation is a core value at Adelaide Fringe. It’s something I’ve focused on since I took on the role as Director and Chief Executive in 2015, implementing an agile and inclusive model to help artists, producers and presenters thrive in South Australia’s arts industry. Adelaide is the ultimate city for...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
SEAN MENDEZ CATLIN
MANAGING PARTNER, MC & J LAW
Sean Méndez-Catlin is the 1Up Lawyer, giving you a 1Up on the competition and an extra life. He has been playing games since he was a Kid. He started with the N64 and has continued to play as he went through school and now as an attorney. Listening to his...
INNOVATE® Georgia
RICH STINSON
SOUTHWIRE - PRESIDENT & CEO
The promise of an all-electric future in North America is here. We’re experiencing a shift from an oil, coal, and gas-based economy to an electrified one. Electric vehicles, data centers, renewables, and other factors are accelerating demand. Society today wants and assumes that everything that can be electric probably will...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
CLAUDIA DE MOOR
HR & FINANCE MANAGER, VOSSCHEMIE BENELUX & V-SURE
HR & FINANCE MANAGER, VOSSCHEMIE BENELUX & V-SURE Get to know your neighbour – entrepreneur and get out. I’ m active in Voka Lokaal Netland, Lier4business, JOL (youth entrepreneurship Lier) and I also do voluntary work. The region of Lier supports entrepreneurship and we like to support this with interesting...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
JENS DOLK
CEO, AN INNOVATOR OF THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY, K-MÄRKT AB
I’ve never been afraid of weird ideas. In fact, that’s kind of the point with K-märkt. When we started, we didn’t just want to run a great restaurant – we wanted to challenge the entire way restaurants operate. Why? Because if we’re going to make food more sustainable, we can’t...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
KHENSANI NOBANDA
GROUP EXECUTIVE: GROUP MARKETING AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS, NEDBANK GROUP
Brands have the potential to deliver tangible value to consumers – and more broadly to society – by being purpose-led and value-driven. South Africa is undeniably a land of opportunity and possibility. The issues we face are challenges and call-to-actions for innovators and innovation-enablers to provide the tools to overcome...
INNOVATE® Minnesota
Amy Fisher
Vice president - Padilla
BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERS, ONE BRAND AT A TIME Innovation has been described as a business strategy, a brand value, even an organizational characteristic. It implies continuous ideation, creativity, and execution based on an ability to understand and meet the needs of customers, employees, investors, and other key stakeholders. Innovation is...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
MIKE ABEL
FOUNDING PARTNER: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, M&C SAATCHI GROUP SOUTH AFRICA
Innovation for innovation sake has absolutely no purpose. It requires direction. It needs to convey a message, inspire curiosity, drive real change, shape the future, and influence action. It must have meaning. Combine this with entrepreneurship, and suddenly the world moves forward. Innovation thrives when curious and imaginative people ask...
VOICES of the Future
ERIK ALMQVIST
FOUNDER AND CEO, SENSE STRATEGY, & OWNER ALMQVIST FAMILY OFFICE
LEGACY OF INNOVATION Two of the most well-known rules in the global ICT industry are “For every ten percent increase in broadband penetration there is a 1 percent increase in GDP”, and “For every doubling of broadband speed, there is a 0.3 percent increase in GDP”. Both were devised by...
INNOVATE® Phoenix
Adham Ghazali
CEO and Co-Founder - Imagry
Introduction With offices in both the U.S. and Israel, Imagry is an autonomous vehicle platform developer that is dedicated to pioneering the future of this technology. By pushing the limits of artificial intelligence and computer vision, Imagry’s mapless autonomous driving platform eliminates the need for the time-consuming HD mapping process....
INNOVATION Quebec
KATHY MALAS
Adjointe au Président-directeur général, Pôle d’Innovation
Adjointe au Président-directeur général, Pôle d’Innovation, d’intelligence artificielle et de Projets, direction générale, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). Membre du conseil d’admisnistration, Conseil de l’innovation du Québec. Membre du conseil d’administration, Quartier de l’innovation en santé. Chercheuse professionnelle de la santé, Axe Carrefour de l’innovation, CRCHUM. Professeure associée,...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
JAYSHREE NAIDOO
CEO, YIEDI
Just over two decades ago I sat in a university lecture hall while pursuing an E Commerce course and we were introduced to our guest speaker for the day, she worked at a large bank, just like me, but her title fascinated me, she was called a “futurist”. Her main...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
ALEXANDER STOROZHUK
FOUNDER - PRNEWS.IO AND MEDIALISTER
Starting out in Ukraine in 2004, I saw an opportunity: smaller businesses needed a way to share their stories, yet few platforms catered to them. As a university student, I built a basic news distribution system, and over the years, that idea grew into PRNEWS.IO — a platform that today...
AI Québec
YOSHUA BENGIO
FULL PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITÉ
My first passion will always remain understanding intelligence. This includes the artificial intelligences we are currently developing, but the natural ones as well. In recent years, my thinking about artificial and human intelligence has hinged on AI for social good. How can we ensure that what we do will benefit...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
Riaz Meghji
Author, Keynote Speaker, Television Broadcaster
OUR FUTURE IS HUMAN In 2020, everything changed, except for who we are. When social distancing became our next normal, so did our deep desire to stay connected in isolation. No, I’m not just talking about Zoom happy hours. Virtual workouts, weddings, and graduations are just a few examples of...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
MIKAEL AHLSTRÖM
SPEAKER, FACILITATOR, ENTREPRENEUR AND CEO, THE PARK
One day in the mid-90s, while running a sports store in Stockholm, I was introduced to the internet, and a whole new world opened up. With an old friend from pre-school, we launched TheAlps.com with every ski resort, hotel, and thousands of slopes, and where passionate skiers and snowboarders could...
VOICES of the Future
DAVID SHRIER
THE HARMONY OF HUMAN INGENUITY AND AI
David Shrier, a notable professor at Imperial College London and co-director of the Trusted AI Institute, stands at the intersection of technology and humanity. His work, transcending academia, delves into the commercialization of AI and digital assets, influencing top tier corporations and governments alike. Through our conversation, it is clear...
JEFF LAFRENZ
CEO, VIZWORX
Innovation is a way of looking at the world around us. It has no geographic limits. It has no age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or culture limits. It applies to every industry, every profession. It is about being curious and not accepting the status quo. It is about asking why...
William Britton
AutonoMe - Founder
Prior to Founding AutonoMe William was a local lecturer teaching adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism for a number of years. It was here that he established his passion and began to see the world through the eyes of people with Learning Disabilities. This helped William see how his skills...
STEVEN COLLENS
CEO, MATTER
I’ve been the chief executive officer at MATTER — the global healthcare innovation hub headquartered in Chicago — since it was founded in 2015. Over the last five years, one of the most interesting dynamics we’ve observed — coming both from entrepreneurs developing novel technologies, as well as from large...
DR. MARK ESPOSITO
BEYOND THE HORIZON
Dr. Mark Esposito is a luminary at the intersection of economics, strategy, and the future. In our conversation, he unfolds our future, offering an insightful exploration into the themes of technological transformation, human-centric systems, and the architecture of tomorrow’s global systems. As a distinguished figure in the discourse of the...
FRANÇOIS BANEYX
COMOTION - DIRECTOR AND VICE PROVOST FOR INNOVATION
For over 150 years, the University of Washington (UW) has nurtured scholarly endeavors that have yielded discoveries and inventions with profound effects on people’s lives. From medical devices and vaccines to deep-sea mapping and natural language processing, our researchers have uncovered bold new insights that have pushed the boundaries of...
HEATHER CROALL
DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ADELAIDE FRINGE
Innovation is a core value at Adelaide Fringe. It’s something I’ve focused on since I took on the role as Director and Chief Executive in 2015, implementing an agile and inclusive model to help artists, producers and presenters thrive in South Australia’s arts industry. Adelaide is the ultimate city for...
SEAN MENDEZ CATLIN
MANAGING PARTNER, MC & J LAW
Sean Méndez-Catlin is the 1Up Lawyer, giving you a 1Up on the competition and an extra life. He has been playing games since he was a Kid. He started with the N64 and has continued to play as he went through school and now as an attorney. Listening to his...
RICH STINSON
SOUTHWIRE - PRESIDENT & CEO
The promise of an all-electric future in North America is here. We’re experiencing a shift from an oil, coal, and gas-based economy to an electrified one. Electric vehicles, data centers, renewables, and other factors are accelerating demand. Society today wants and assumes that everything that can be electric probably will...
CLAUDIA DE MOOR
HR & FINANCE MANAGER, VOSSCHEMIE BENELUX & V-SURE
HR & FINANCE MANAGER, VOSSCHEMIE BENELUX & V-SURE Get to know your neighbour – entrepreneur and get out. I’ m active in Voka Lokaal Netland, Lier4business, JOL (youth entrepreneurship Lier) and I also do voluntary work. The region of Lier supports entrepreneurship and we like to support this with interesting...
JENS DOLK
CEO, AN INNOVATOR OF THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY, K-MÄRKT AB
I’ve never been afraid of weird ideas. In fact, that’s kind of the point with K-märkt. When we started, we didn’t just want to run a great restaurant – we wanted to challenge the entire way restaurants operate. Why? Because if we’re going to make food more sustainable, we can’t...
KHENSANI NOBANDA
GROUP EXECUTIVE: GROUP MARKETING AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS, NEDBANK GROUP
Brands have the potential to deliver tangible value to consumers – and more broadly to society – by being purpose-led and value-driven. South Africa is undeniably a land of opportunity and possibility. The issues we face are challenges and call-to-actions for innovators and innovation-enablers to provide the tools to overcome...
Amy Fisher
Vice president - Padilla
BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERS, ONE BRAND AT A TIME Innovation has been described as a business strategy, a brand value, even an organizational characteristic. It implies continuous ideation, creativity, and execution based on an ability to understand and meet the needs of customers, employees, investors, and other key stakeholders. Innovation is...
MIKE ABEL
FOUNDING PARTNER: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, M&C SAATCHI GROUP SOUTH AFRICA
Innovation for innovation sake has absolutely no purpose. It requires direction. It needs to convey a message, inspire curiosity, drive real change, shape the future, and influence action. It must have meaning. Combine this with entrepreneurship, and suddenly the world moves forward. Innovation thrives when curious and imaginative people ask...
ERIK ALMQVIST
FOUNDER AND CEO, SENSE STRATEGY, & OWNER ALMQVIST FAMILY OFFICE
LEGACY OF INNOVATION Two of the most well-known rules in the global ICT industry are “For every ten percent increase in broadband penetration there is a 1 percent increase in GDP”, and “For every doubling of broadband speed, there is a 0.3 percent increase in GDP”. Both were devised by...
Adham Ghazali
CEO and Co-Founder - Imagry
Introduction With offices in both the U.S. and Israel, Imagry is an autonomous vehicle platform developer that is dedicated to pioneering the future of this technology. By pushing the limits of artificial intelligence and computer vision, Imagry’s mapless autonomous driving platform eliminates the need for the time-consuming HD mapping process....
KATHY MALAS
Adjointe au Président-directeur général, Pôle d’Innovation
Adjointe au Président-directeur général, Pôle d’Innovation, d’intelligence artificielle et de Projets, direction générale, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). Membre du conseil d’admisnistration, Conseil de l’innovation du Québec. Membre du conseil d’administration, Quartier de l’innovation en santé. Chercheuse professionnelle de la santé, Axe Carrefour de l’innovation, CRCHUM. Professeure associée,...
ALEXANDER STOROZHUK
FOUNDER - PRNEWS.IO AND MEDIALISTER
Starting out in Ukraine in 2004, I saw an opportunity: smaller businesses needed a way to share their stories, yet few platforms catered to them. As a university student, I built a basic news distribution system, and over the years, that idea grew into PRNEWS.IO — a platform that today...
YOSHUA BENGIO
FULL PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITÉ
My first passion will always remain understanding intelligence. This includes the artificial intelligences we are currently developing, but the natural ones as well. In recent years, my thinking about artificial and human intelligence has hinged on AI for social good. How can we ensure that what we do will benefit...
Riaz Meghji
Author, Keynote Speaker, Television Broadcaster
OUR FUTURE IS HUMAN In 2020, everything changed, except for who we are. When social distancing became our next normal, so did our deep desire to stay connected in isolation. No, I’m not just talking about Zoom happy hours. Virtual workouts, weddings, and graduations are just a few examples of...
MIKAEL AHLSTRÖM
SPEAKER, FACILITATOR, ENTREPRENEUR AND CEO, THE PARK
One day in the mid-90s, while running a sports store in Stockholm, I was introduced to the internet, and a whole new world opened up. With an old friend from pre-school, we launched TheAlps.com with every ski resort, hotel, and thousands of slopes, and where passionate skiers and snowboarders could...
DAVID SHRIER
THE HARMONY OF HUMAN INGENUITY AND AI
David Shrier, a notable professor at Imperial College London and co-director of the Trusted AI Institute, stands at the intersection of technology and humanity. His work, transcending academia, delves into the commercialization of AI and digital assets, influencing top tier corporations and governments alike. Through our conversation, it is clear...