Thought Leaders

Every day, I’m reminded that the world of financial services is both exciting and challenging. We live in a time when consumers are flooded with options, yet too often, they’re still unsure where to turn for real guidance and personal connection. In my experience, the three biggest challenges facing our...

Innovation is the application of creative solutions to real-world problems – a basic maxim, and one that perhaps obscures the more complex processes that underpin its subject. In reality, innovation can require patient investment in both fundamental and applied research, cross-discipline and cross-sector collaboration, risk-taking, iteration, trust, vision and civic...

Mieke Verstraeten is a Managing Director at induver, the sixth-largest independent broker on the Belgian insurance market. She, along with her husband Sjarel De Bondt, is also a second-generation shareholder in the company. induver’s vision for insurance is straightforward: individuals or companies should only take insurance for risks they are...

My company, Prince Concepts, is a real estate development studio, laboratory and office based in Core City, Detroit. We acquire, develop, own and manage land and building projects. The studio works to express personal experience, philosophy and belief through built work. The laboratory tinkers – seeking truth and developing precision....

Gaming to this point has been a profoundly positive experience that has helped shape my life and who I am today. Providing me community, challenges, identity, entertainment and more, I can safely say I would not be the person I am today without gaming and its continued evolution. Currently, I...

I’ve spent over 25 years evangelizing New Jersey as a truly remarkable (if occasionally under-appreciated) center of innovation. It’s been my responsibility and pleasure – to show leaders the powerful advantages of plugging into our regional innovation ecosystem, in markets ranging from internet to biotech. Today, I’m more excited about...

Angela Renick Owner – A`Vie Events Angela Renick has been planning events in Gainesville for 30 years. She began in 1996 with a part-time wedding coordination business, which has continued to expand over the years. She has planned many events along the way during these years. In 2005, she opened...

I’m a serial tech entrepreneur with eight (8) businesses under my belt – one (1) of which I still own, two (2) of which have been successfully sold, one (1) which has failed, and four (4) in which I hold shares. With recognition from the likes of Fast Company, Destiny...

In 1986, I left my position at the University of Alberta to enter the world of high-technology startups. Back then, there were no business support platforms that we enjoy today, such as Startup Edmonton or Platform Calgary. Canadians were cynical of the high-tech sector and assumed it was all in...

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...

Railways has been my constant obsession in the last 30 years, after I assumed the role of developing the Railway business in Portugal. As a fresh Engineer from IST, I started my career at Alcatel as telecoms engineer. Soon my commercial attitude and aptitude drove me to new challenges with...

By 2030 , Quebec will witness the emergence of a tidal wave of new skills and therefore new companies in digital intelligence. Technical, professional and scientific profiles will be revisited, merged, transmuted into workforce profiles combining creative genius and advanced techniques that more effectively integrate the benefits of research. The...

The early seventies saw the launch of the pocket calculator. As a kid at that time growing up in Palo Alto, I went door to door selling the Litronix 1100, one of the early pocket models. My father, an attorney who represented many startups including Litronix, would bring them home for me to sell....

The College of Engineering at the University of South Florida is at the forefront of engineering research and education, cultivating knowledgeable, passionate engineers who are dedicated to needs-based, solutions-oriented engineering. We are innovators. We are explorers. For us, it’s all about helping people. After more than fifty years of pursuing...

‘THOUSANDS HAVE LIVED WITHOUT LOVE, NOT ONE WITHOUT WATER.’ (W.H. Auden, First Things First) As someone whose life has been spent on the innovative interface between education and the creative industries, I have always been fascinated by the relationships between what we need and what we want – ‘love’ or...

Leadership matters. That’s an undeniable truth — the quality and type of leadership we cultivate and practice are paramount. From my journey in big consulting fi rms to my own innovation advisory practice, from startups to Global 500 companies, the critical success factor remains: leadership is the foundation of open...

In a rapidly changing world, where the boundaries of what is possible continue to expand, the essence of innovation lies at the heart of progress. It is not confined to sterile laboratories or academic institutions; rather, it thrives in vibrant communities where collaboration, creativity, and a sense of place converge....

Introduction Justin Gray is a serial entrepreneur, who has launched four multi-million dollar companies, become a recognized speaker and been published over 350 times throughout his career. Justin is the CEO and founder of LeadMD, a role he’s held for the past ten years. He also co-founded PaidSuite, a SaaS...

In the grand tapestry of influential leaders who have shaped our world, few threads are as vibrant and enduring as the story of Fadi Ghandour. As I sit down with Fadi for our conversation, I’m reminded of his monumental contributions to entrepreneurship and social empowerment. His journey encapsulates the spirit...

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...

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...

In my pursuit to unravel the mysteries of what the future holds, I had the privilege of interviewing Kay Van-Petersen, an avant-garde thinker and a trailblazer in the realm of finance and technology. His insights, not just on where we are heading but on how we can shape our trajectory,...

Over two and half decades ago, I remember first picking up a mouse and keyboard to play Quake on a University lab computer for over eight hours straight. Fast forward to today, and that 3dfx Voodoo graphics card has been replaced with racks of memory laden GPU cards chained to...

We live in an era of rapid disruption where global forces are now demanding our full attention. Emerging economies, geopolitical inflections, health risks, cyber threats, and changing employment prospects are now top of mind. Against this backdrop are digital technologies that are accelerating innovations and transforming industries faster than economies...