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...

My journey with RJ Young began while I was still a student at Ole Miss, working alongside my father and learning the business from the ground up. Back then, Nashville was a very different city – still rooted in tradition, but the seeds of change were beginning to sprout. Today,...

I’ve been lucky to call many places around the world my home. As a career diplomat, I gained an understanding of life in other countries by experiencing it firsthand. My experiences with different cultures around the globe have afforded me the perspective that guides my professional career and allows me...

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-...

COMMUNICATING WITH TECHIES What to Look for in a Digital Agency Whether you want to augment an in-house team or bring an entirely new product to life, odds are, you’re going to entertain the idea of hiring an agency. By an “agency”, I mean everything from advertising companies offering digital...

Small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) across South Africa are key to unlocking a myriad of job opportunities through innovative thinking and products that seek to solve some of the country’s most pressing needs. But they also face numerous challenges, from funding to networks and access to markets. Perhaps the...

By studying the environment and seeing the full context—what people do, how they do it, and why – it creates a solid foundation for new ideas. But facts and research alone are not enough. True innovation also requires empathy for the user—the drive that keeps you going until you find...

Todd Sanders President & CEO – Greater Phoenix Chamber Every morning, as the sun rises above the mountains and the early morning city lights glitter with flashes of orange, we all wake up with a new chance—a fresh opportunity. Each sunrise in Phoenix, Arizona is the start of a new...

Dès mon arrivée à La Cité en 2010, j’ai constaté l’engagement et la passion de la communauté collégiale, la vitalité et la joie de vivre francophones, la culture de l’excellence dans un environnement des plus stimulants et fertiles, le désir profond de voir nos étudiants réussir, et des projets plus...

In my experience, innovation is often misunderstood. It is frequently seen as relating only to what a business takes to market. Of equal importance is the application of how a business is run. Tapping into innovation can be a crucial process for improving the internal workings of enterprises. As entrepreneurs,...

The Future of HR: Embracing Technology Without Losing the Human Touch In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, HR stands at a crossroads. The integration of advanced technologies into our processes is no longer optional—it’s essential for attracting, retaining, and nurturing top talent. As leaders, we have an opportunity to shape...

Every brand has its genesis as a challenger. Forbes details how a business lifecycle evolves from startup, to growth; it then progresses to its maturity phase, and finally, is faced with the crossroads labeled ‘renewal’ or ‘decline’. B R A N D A L I S M is a phrase...

I forgot about my dream of being part of a city and space my children would one day want to call home. When I learned about Graham Weston’s vision for founding Geekdom, those dreams came flooding back to me. Graham’s overall vision for revitalizing downtown San Antonio was to build...

Cette reconnaissance du caractère distinctif du Québec dans différents domaines est le fruit d’un intense labeur qui réunit notamment la recherche universitaire et l’innovation. Fers de lance de l’innovation, les universités ont apporté « une action d’innover » à travers leurs structures de recherche d’envergure. L’innovation est un processus, une...

My journey as a mission-driven entrepreneur began right here in Maryland where I led a youth service demonstration program in Baltimore. After graduating from the Yale School of Management, I returned to the state determined to build businesses that aligned profit with purpose. From launching Honest Tea out of my...

As I engage in conversation with Kiara Kaur, the air fills with an electrifying sense of the future. At just seven years old, Kiara, a prodigious talent and a beacon of hope, articulates her vision with the clarity and passion of a seasoned leader. Her achievements are staggering: the world’s...

Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation EcosystemAcross the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s...

I grew up as a military kid and was taught the value of discipline and structure really early on in life. I went to the University of Florida on a scholarship from the Navy ROTC program (#gogators) and went on to earn my Master’s in Public Health and a Ph.D....

COMBATING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISISIn my two decades in higher education, I have witnessed seismic political, social and economic shifts that have had major effects on college communities throughout the nation. But today we are facing our greatest crisis because I see a generation of students crying out for mental...

Geoff Martha President & CEO – Medtronic Millions of Americans are affected by pain and have been prescribed systemic opioids as part of their treatment plan. Whether for chronic or acute pain, prescribing systemic opioids continues, despite the limited evidence on the benefits of long-term systemic opioid therapy and evidence...

I am a civil engineer electronic by training. In 1997 I joined AGC Mol (then still Glaverbel) a glass manufacturer at walking distance from my home. At first I managed the general services such as plan maintenance, purchasing, miscellaneous projects and evolved to site manager of the Mol plant in...

In both North America and Europe, collaboration between the communities of scientific research and professional practice plays a pivotal role in the advancement of knowledge that benefits society at large. When it comes to technologies, especially artificial intelligence, the diversity of skills and the wealth of knowledge from research communities...

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...

Have you ever tried to solve a Rubik’s cube? I have, and let me tell you, it’s not as easy as my then 9-year-old son made it look. There I was, twisting and turning that colorful puzzle, getting nowhere fast, while my kid solved it in under a minute. When...