Thought Leaders

Next stop: Mars. That’s the mindset that drives me. I’m scaling Retail Tech from MENA to the world with Satocci and our Scan & Pay revolution. I’ve spent fifteen years moving between banking, finance, sales and telecom, and here’s what I’ve learned: money always moves faster than the systems built...

As the executive director of the Maryland Sports Commission—an organization that attracts and retains amateur and professional sporting events across the state — sports tourism has never been just about events. It’s about people, communities, and the shared experiences that bring Marylanders together. Over the years, I’ve come to believe...

We are on the threshold of a creative renaissance powered by GenerativeAI—technology that frees us from specialized skills and speeds up the path from idea to execution. In mere hours, what once took months can be accomplished, fueling rapid experimentation and bold innovation. By automating tasks like image generation, software...

For me, as an immigrant in 2002, South Florida was the natural connection point, or gateway, between North and South America. The Research Park at Florida Atlantic is at the center of South Florida’s 6.5 million people. For longer than I have called South Florida home, this has been a...

It is the promise of innovation that brought me to Nashville and to Vanderbilt University. I was hired in August of 2021 to serve as Vanderbilt’s first Vice Provost for Career Advancement and Engagement. There were many elements of this opportunity which were attractive: joining a pre – eminent global...

Marty Paslick is HCA Healthcare’s chief information officer. He has been with the organization for more than three decades and leads its Information Technology Group (ITG), a team of more than 6,000 colleagues that provide IT strategy and support for HCA Healthcare and its 182 hospitals and more than 2,300...

The statistics are startling. Georgia routinely ranks in the top 10 states in the country in terms of population size and growth, yet we continue to rank near the bottom in the number of physicians per capita, at a dismal 41st. Recent data show that roughly 185 Georgians die from...

I often tell people that BrightMa didn’t start as a company — it started as a calling. My ancestors were enslaved farmers who worked the same South Carolina soil I walk today. Their sacrifice, resilience, ingenuity, and stewardship of the land are the foundation for everything I do. BrightMa Farms...

By launching the 2022-2027 Québec Research and Innovation Investment Strategy (QRIIS2) and creating the role of chief innovator, our government has committed to putting innovation front and centre in Québec’s economic development in the coming years. More than ever, we want to support all those who have the desire to...

DR. ANDRE THOMAS,FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LIVE LAB, DEPARTMENT OF VISUALIZATION, TEXAS A&M Education is ripe for disruption. Society’s been told – and accepted – that the textbook is holy and contains all knowledge. We also accept that a professor standing in front of 200 students in a classroom...

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...

Jobs are changing and evolving faster than anyone expected and humanity needs to embrace technology to accelerate for the better. People need more tools to upskill themselves out of poverty and away from the jobs robots will take. My vision is to create the tools to upskill humanity faster and...

Sustainability is a loaded – and vague – term nowadays. What is sustainability, and what does its impact mean for the future? Aruna Narayanan breaks down the barriers to understanding and decodes its complexities, while her insights serve as a guiding light of hope. This podcast was not just a...

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...

Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way.” — Tom Freston The term ‘innovation’ often evokes visions of rockets bound for Mars, self-driving cars, or the alluring promise of fusion energy. Yet to me, innovation is as crucial in our daily lives...

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...

Strategic Marketing, launching innovations and new technologies are my passions. I worked as a marketing leader for various companies in competitive markets. It was a privilege to work in these sectors. I look back on my very pleasant and extremely smart colleagues. Many of them supported me and made me...

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...

Philadelphia is a city that understands beginnings. As one of the oldest in the nation and the birthplace of independence, it is a place of ideas and possibilities. Just blocks from the Pennsylvania State House, where the founders gathered to imagine a new republic, another American institution was already taking...

Vancouver has the potential – and opportunity – to become a significant player in the global tech ecosystem. For emerging tech hubs like Vancouver, companies must prioritize collaboration and cross-functional effort to compete with established cities like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, and Miami. Beatdapp highlights this opportunity and...

We as a society cannot decouple our prosperity from our development. What we can’t do is decouple our prosperity from the challenges that we face. Those two go hand-in-hand. We simply can’t be prosperous without tackling certain challenges. Business can be and is a force for good. And in South...

YOU GO OVER THE EDGE ANYWAY, BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHERE YOU NEED TO GO, AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO GET THERE. Kayakers have a name for the spot that a river disappears from sight, just before it turns into a raging rapid. They call it the horizon line....

We have seen it before – the PC, internet, Web 2.0, smartphones – each wave bringing dramatic changes to society and our daily lives. And here it is again – blockchains, cryptocurrencies, smart-contracts, dApps, DeFi, NFTs – all leads to decentralization and Web3. The excitement has been building among entrepreneurs,...

In 1906, riots broke out in Verviers, Liège, caused by lamplighters protesting the electrification of city lighting. Today, Antwerp is experimenting with smart street lighting using software and smart sensors. This is just one example of how a twenty-first century city is in full digital transition. As alderman for the...