Thought Leaders
INNOVATE® Milwaukee
DEEPAK ARORA
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CEO OF WEAR-TECH
I was born to be an entrepreneur. But I didn’t feel the urgency to step into that role until tragedy struck. In that moment, everything changed. Technology is in my DNA, and I want to use it to make the planet a better place. I realized that technology isn’t just...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Professor Hugh Brady
Vice-Chancellor And President, University Of Bristol
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...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
KEN POLOTAN
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...
INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3
Vik Bhide
Director of Mobility-City of Tampa
Mobility or the ability to move around freely is at the heart of personal liberty. As Director of the City of Tampa’s Mobility department I have the privilege of overseeing many aspects of this essential function of civilization. In the context of mobility the challenges of our times manifest themselves...
INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1
JOAN M. STELTMANN
FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION CHANGING OUR MINDSET WILL MOVE THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL SECTORS CLOSER TOGETHER – ENHANCING BOTH. If you still say “Non-Profit”, it’s time to upgrade your thinking to “Not for-Profit”. Why? It conveys purpose and intention, without placing limitations on outcomes. For social service organizations,...
INNOVATE™ Oeiras
WYGROUP
SHAPED BY CURIOSITY
For the last 20 years, WYgroup has been one of the top leading players in digital marketing, technology, and creativity services in Portugal. We are currently the largest independent group for Marketing and Customer Experience Services in Portugal, with a collaborative framework of 7 companies that – together – can...
INNOVATE® Miami
Jorge Ruiz
Founder & CEO - Finconecta
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...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
DR. NIMA ZIRAKNEJAD – FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NZ TECHNOLOGIES
DR. NIMA ZIRAKNEJAD – FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NZ TECHNOLOGIES
Can we convert high-touch surfaces in such public spaces into safer and more hygienic areas? Research has shown that elevator buttons have caused the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 taught us that we need to eliminate high-touch surfaces. Through the pandemic, we developed an awareness to remain as hygienic as possible...
INNOVATE® Blockchain
NUKE GOLDSTEIN
CTO, CELSIUS NETWORK
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,...
INNOVATIONS in Pharmaceutical Development®
DR. GER BROPHY
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTOF BIOPHARMA PRODUCTION, AVANTOR
Bioproduction has taken a remarkable journey over the last several decades. In recent years, the demand for specific and powerful biologic therapies has continued to increase, underpinned by the ongoing development of monoclonal antibodies therapies (mAbs) and augmented by new platforms such as Cell and Gene Therapy and also nucleic...
INNOVATE® Detroit
MICHAEL HEALANDER
AIRSPACE LINK, INC - PRESIDENT AND CEO
As we look to the skies, we’re witnessing a revolution in mobility that will transform our communities for the better. Drones are no longer just cool gadgets or military tools – they’re becoming powerful forces for good that can make our lives safer, easier, and more eco-friendly. At Airspace Link,...
INNOVATE® Jacksonville
Theodore R. Willich
CEO - NLP Logix
NLP Logix teaches computers to do what humans can do or want to do. They automate. This means that at NLP Logix, they teach machines to do almost any repetitive business process that humans do, to help humans to do things faster and better. The company harnesses the power of...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
MAGNUS MÄHRING
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, HOUSE OF INNOVATION, STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (SSE)
For more than one and a half decade, Sweden has consecutively been ranked in the top three most innovative economies in the world (according to the United Nations’ Global Innovation Index). There is a longstanding tradition in Sweden to work collaboratively across different societal sectors — and in an interdisciplinary...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
ADRIAN GORE
FOUNDER, DISCOVERY
One of these cognitive errors is a failure to recognise the impact that outliers have in our increasingly interconnected world. Take for instance, the decision to create the Vitality programme. It is one outlier decision that had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on our entire business. A few...
INNOVATE® Minnesota
Peter Frosch
CEO - Greater MSP
Entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t new to Minnesota. They’re the source of our current economic success and the key to even greater future prosperity, equity and growth. We have the potential to be the problem-solving capital of the new economy and the GREATER MSP Partnership is working to make that vision...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
VICTOR HOSKINS
PRESIDENT & CEO, FAIRFAX COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Embracing the fast-paced technological transformation before us, we know that innovation is not just about having the brightest ideas or the most advanced technology. It is about cultivating an ecosystem where transformative ideas can flourish and where technology meets skilled hands and minds prepared to wield it. Fairfax County is...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
RENÉ LASSERON
CEO, FIENTA
I still remember the scrappy early days of Fienta. There was no office to unlock in the morning, there weren’t even salaries to draw. There were just two of us, an idea, and all the determination we could muster. Those lean beginnings taught me a lesson I still live by:...
INNOVATE™ Bengaluru
Prof. Vijay Chandru
Mentor and Investor
Mentor and Investor “True tech innovation in India is happening in life sciences, nanoscience, chemistry, mechanical engineering and the like”, says Prof. Vijay Chandru, one of the earliest academics in India to move from an impressive career in academics to highly successful deep science entrepreneurship. “If you look at creativity...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
Ann Molin
Hack for Earth - Founder & CEO
What if the next big breakthrough didn’t come from a boardroom or a lab, but from a team of global citizens with bold ideas? This is the essence of citizen-driven innovation—the foundation of the Hack for Earth movement that taps into the collective creativity of people from all around the...
INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1
Jenn Foster
CEO - Elite Online Publishing
We often hear about the groundbreaking moment that inspires people, but for me, it was a series of moments that guided me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit; it runs in my blood. My grandfather and father were wonderful examples of leadership and the freedom that owning a company brings....
INNOVATE™ Estonia
OLIVER VÄÄRTNÕU
CYBERNETICA AS - CEO
At Cybernetica AS, we believe that technology is not just a tool; it is a force that shapes the future. We don’t simply build systems—we pioneer a philosophy rooted in cybernetics, the art of guiding and adapting systems. Inspired by the Greek word kybernētēs, meaning “steersman” or “governor,” we actively...
INNOVATE® Blockchain
SAMUEL ARMES
PRESIDENT, THE FLORIDA BLOCKCHAIN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (FBBA)
Florida has always been something magnificent. Florida was formed by visionaries that believed it to be a launching pad for not just the future of the State itself, but for the United States as a whole. From Henry Flagler’s dream of a tropical paradise known as Miami, to Walt Disney’s...
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
MATTHEW UNGER
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Have you ever experienced the sinking feeling of discovering that your identity or credit card information has been stolen? I have. As a technologist, this experience led me on a personal journey to create new standards of trust, security, accountability, and privacy for every individual, every business, every transaction. While...
DEEPAK ARORA
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CEO OF WEAR-TECH
I was born to be an entrepreneur. But I didn’t feel the urgency to step into that role until tragedy struck. In that moment, everything changed. Technology is in my DNA, and I want to use it to make the planet a better place. I realized that technology isn’t just...
Professor Hugh Brady
Vice-Chancellor And President, University Of Bristol
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...
KEN POLOTAN
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...
Vik Bhide
Director of Mobility-City of Tampa
Mobility or the ability to move around freely is at the heart of personal liberty. As Director of the City of Tampa’s Mobility department I have the privilege of overseeing many aspects of this essential function of civilization. In the context of mobility the challenges of our times manifest themselves...
JOAN M. STELTMANN
FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION CHANGING OUR MINDSET WILL MOVE THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL SECTORS CLOSER TOGETHER – ENHANCING BOTH. If you still say “Non-Profit”, it’s time to upgrade your thinking to “Not for-Profit”. Why? It conveys purpose and intention, without placing limitations on outcomes. For social service organizations,...
WYGROUP
SHAPED BY CURIOSITY
For the last 20 years, WYgroup has been one of the top leading players in digital marketing, technology, and creativity services in Portugal. We are currently the largest independent group for Marketing and Customer Experience Services in Portugal, with a collaborative framework of 7 companies that – together – can...
Jorge Ruiz
Founder & CEO - Finconecta
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...
DR. NIMA ZIRAKNEJAD – FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NZ TECHNOLOGIES
DR. NIMA ZIRAKNEJAD – FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NZ TECHNOLOGIES
Can we convert high-touch surfaces in such public spaces into safer and more hygienic areas? Research has shown that elevator buttons have caused the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 taught us that we need to eliminate high-touch surfaces. Through the pandemic, we developed an awareness to remain as hygienic as possible...
NUKE GOLDSTEIN
CTO, CELSIUS NETWORK
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,...
DR. GER BROPHY
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTOF BIOPHARMA PRODUCTION, AVANTOR
Bioproduction has taken a remarkable journey over the last several decades. In recent years, the demand for specific and powerful biologic therapies has continued to increase, underpinned by the ongoing development of monoclonal antibodies therapies (mAbs) and augmented by new platforms such as Cell and Gene Therapy and also nucleic...
MICHAEL HEALANDER
AIRSPACE LINK, INC - PRESIDENT AND CEO
As we look to the skies, we’re witnessing a revolution in mobility that will transform our communities for the better. Drones are no longer just cool gadgets or military tools – they’re becoming powerful forces for good that can make our lives safer, easier, and more eco-friendly. At Airspace Link,...
Theodore R. Willich
CEO - NLP Logix
NLP Logix teaches computers to do what humans can do or want to do. They automate. This means that at NLP Logix, they teach machines to do almost any repetitive business process that humans do, to help humans to do things faster and better. The company harnesses the power of...
MAGNUS MÄHRING
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, HOUSE OF INNOVATION, STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (SSE)
For more than one and a half decade, Sweden has consecutively been ranked in the top three most innovative economies in the world (according to the United Nations’ Global Innovation Index). There is a longstanding tradition in Sweden to work collaboratively across different societal sectors — and in an interdisciplinary...
ADRIAN GORE
FOUNDER, DISCOVERY
One of these cognitive errors is a failure to recognise the impact that outliers have in our increasingly interconnected world. Take for instance, the decision to create the Vitality programme. It is one outlier decision that had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on our entire business. A few...
Peter Frosch
CEO - Greater MSP
Entrepreneurship and innovation aren’t new to Minnesota. They’re the source of our current economic success and the key to even greater future prosperity, equity and growth. We have the potential to be the problem-solving capital of the new economy and the GREATER MSP Partnership is working to make that vision...
VICTOR HOSKINS
PRESIDENT & CEO, FAIRFAX COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Embracing the fast-paced technological transformation before us, we know that innovation is not just about having the brightest ideas or the most advanced technology. It is about cultivating an ecosystem where transformative ideas can flourish and where technology meets skilled hands and minds prepared to wield it. Fairfax County is...
Prof. Vijay Chandru
Mentor and Investor
Mentor and Investor “True tech innovation in India is happening in life sciences, nanoscience, chemistry, mechanical engineering and the like”, says Prof. Vijay Chandru, one of the earliest academics in India to move from an impressive career in academics to highly successful deep science entrepreneurship. “If you look at creativity...
Ann Molin
Hack for Earth - Founder & CEO
What if the next big breakthrough didn’t come from a boardroom or a lab, but from a team of global citizens with bold ideas? This is the essence of citizen-driven innovation—the foundation of the Hack for Earth movement that taps into the collective creativity of people from all around the...
Jenn Foster
CEO - Elite Online Publishing
We often hear about the groundbreaking moment that inspires people, but for me, it was a series of moments that guided me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit; it runs in my blood. My grandfather and father were wonderful examples of leadership and the freedom that owning a company brings....
OLIVER VÄÄRTNÕU
CYBERNETICA AS - CEO
At Cybernetica AS, we believe that technology is not just a tool; it is a force that shapes the future. We don’t simply build systems—we pioneer a philosophy rooted in cybernetics, the art of guiding and adapting systems. Inspired by the Greek word kybernētēs, meaning “steersman” or “governor,” we actively...
SAMUEL ARMES
PRESIDENT, THE FLORIDA BLOCKCHAIN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (FBBA)
Florida has always been something magnificent. Florida was formed by visionaries that believed it to be a launching pad for not just the future of the State itself, but for the United States as a whole. From Henry Flagler’s dream of a tropical paradise known as Miami, to Walt Disney’s...
MATTHEW UNGER
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Have you ever experienced the sinking feeling of discovering that your identity or credit card information has been stolen? I have. As a technologist, this experience led me on a personal journey to create new standards of trust, security, accountability, and privacy for every individual, every business, every transaction. While...