Thought Leaders

INNOVATE® Tampa Bay Vol.3

Greg Ross Munro

Greg Ross-Munro

Founder And Chief Executive Officer - Sourcetoad

  Greg Ross-Munro, Founder And Chief Executive Officer – Sourcetoad That’s when one of the marketing managers from a completely different office walked over to chat with the IT director. She had an idea for integrating marketing data from the CMS into the shipboard signage system that was running on...

INNOVATE® Georgia

LEVI PERKINS

CEO, HANNIBAL AI

When in the shadows of giants, we assume the path to success is to stand on their shoulders. But in the world of technology, I’ve found that it’s not enough to just stand tall; we must also be nimble, ready to jump to the next giant as the ground shifts...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

AMIR ELION

THINK BIG LEADERS - CEO, INNOVATION AND AI ADVISOR, SPEAKER

Many years ago, when I was facilitating internal innovation workshops at Motorola, word got out, and executives would ask me to run “The Innovation Workshop” for their teams. I told them that I don’t have an innovation workshop, and that they should tell me what they aiming to achieve, and...

INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2

Amber Gunst

JAMIE RENEE

CEO - Austin Technology Council

Austin is boomingAustin is the fastest-growing city in the United States for three years straight and is frequently listed as the best place to live. When asked why Austin has seen so much prosperity over the last 15 years, there is one answer: innovation. Austin InnovationThe focus on innovation in...

INNOVATE® Nashville

SILAS DEANE

VICE PRESIDENT, COURTS AND JUSTICE, TYLER TECHNOLOGIES

I started my company, VendEngine, with zero outside investment, credit, or employees – nothing but an idea. Ten tough years later, managing the business on cash flow management, I sold it to an S&P 500 business for $89 million. It was an atypical entrepreneur’s journey. I’d do it all again....

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

PEDRO MATIAS

PEDRO MATIAS - EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT, ISQ GROUP

Innovation, innovation, innovation… this has been the watchword over the past few decades, ever since manuals on the subjects of economics and management associated the word “innovation” with developed nations and dynamic, competitive economies. It is a fact that innovation has always existed, not only in modern societies but over...

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® Georgia

MATHEW WITTE

ORTEC AMERICAS - CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER

Innovation. Optimization. Transformation. Those three words describe my unwavering passion for driving change at some of the biggest manufacturers and distributors across the globe. At ORTEC, we are not just in the business of providing advanced analytics and optimization – we are in the business of shaping the future, empowering...

INNOVATIONS in Pharmaceutical Development®

Bob Kain

Bob Kain

Co-Founder and CEO - LunaPBC

Bob Kain Co-Founder And CEO – LunaPBC I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life distinguished by constant progression, from understanding to impacting, particularly in my career. Trained as a physicist, I was fueled by a deep drive to understand some of the most complex “whys” of our world. Quickly...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

DR. SIMIN CAI

DR. SIMIN CAI

CEO, GO!FOTON

FINDING THE ADDED DIMENSION“Innovation begins with the perception of a previously unnoticed additional dimension in a given frame of reference. It results from grasping a property of the status quo that’s been missed, and then following through on this changed awareness to implement either a solution to a problem or...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

KADI OJA

HEAD OF FLAGSHIP EVENTS, MINDVALLEY

We live in a paradox. Billions of us are more connected than ever through apps, platforms, and now AI – yet loneliness is at an all-time high. Nearly half of adults worldwide report feeling disconnected from others. If technology connects us, why do so many of us feel so alone?...

INNOVATE® Gainesville

DR. W. Kent Fuchs

DR. W. Kent Fuchs

The 12th President - The University Of Florida

The University of Florida is one of the nation’s very best public universities. Our home of Gainesville is a beautiful, thriving university city. Yet what truly sets us apart is our shared promise for the future.We have the opportunity over the next decade to become a center for innovation, a...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

THERESA A LYONS

FOUNDER, LYONS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

A LEGACY IN THE MAKINGOur clients are the heartbeat of our existence. They remind us why we chose this path. They are the reason we fight, innovate, and care. We carry their battles as if they were our own because, in truth, they are. The discipline of law falls under...

INNOVATE™ South Africa

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

NERISSA ALLEN B.SC.

PRESIDENT & CEO, BLACK BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF BC (BBABC)

I think we over analyze the meaning of “ Innovation “. Innovation is simply thinking beyond the now. Innovation thrives from adversity and challenge, so, you will find most successful entrepreneurs are innovators. Through our work at the BBABC, we must find practical methods to help businesses create sustainable growth...

INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

Joel B. Bruckman

Joel B. Bruckman

Attorney - Freeborn & Peters LLP

I support innovators by providing them with a comprehensive approach to data privacy and cybersecurity to both protect them and free them to function at full capacity. This includes providing clients with: i) a clear understanding of the data privacy laws and regulations applicable to their businesses; ii) guidance in...

VOICES of the Future

KHALED AL HURAIMEL

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

My conversation with Khaled Al Huraimel encapsulates a vision that transcends the present and leaps into a realm of sustainability and innovation. The backdrop is BEEAH Group’s headquarters in Sharjah, UAE, a masterpiece designed by the late Zaha Hadid, embodying the future Khaled envisions where technology, sustainability, and culture intertwine...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

TONY WEEKS

PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE BRENDA STRAFFORD FOUNDATION

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging tool that is rapidly changing how we live our lives and evolving at a very fast pace. Beyond the convenience benefits, AI offers significant potential in support of healthy aging, including predicting health risks and adverse events. By 2040, projections suggest that 10.8 million...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

TOM LAVEREN

TOM LAVEREN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VOKA - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MECHELEN-KEMPEN

The Mechelen-Kempen region is ideally located between the port and the airport and close to the two big metropolises of Brussels and Antwerp. It is a place where it is good to live, work and do business. Where craftsmanship is a brand. The region is booming and many fine and...

DR CAROLYN PORTER

DR CAROLYN PORTER

CEO, CYTOSEEK

Carolyn Porter is CEO of CytoSeek a discovery stage biotech company spun out of Bristol University developing the next generation of cell therapies for treatment of cancer. Carolyn has spent the majority of her career in the biotech sector working in University spin-out biotech companies, in translation of University innovations...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

CAROLINA LAHDO & FARIDEH WALLQVIST

CO-FOUNDERS, WIB CAPITAL

WiB Capital is a Stockholm-based ecosystem and platform designed to strengthen how early-stage founders and investors meet—through community, visibility, and clearer decision-making. It began with a small observation in a coworking office: people shared space, but rarely spoke. So we made a rule, say hi to everyone new who walks...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

MARC CORTHOUT

OPEN MANUFACTURING CAMPUS

The evolution of digital technology and the resulting exponential complexity increase in the products that we use all the time, also affects production technologies deeply and requires close cooperation between many companies, each delivering their unique process technology and modules. At the same time Industry 4.0 and the innovation towards...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

BARBARA VERANNEMAN

Never before in history, have our economy and society had to transform so radically so quickly. The industrial and societal transition we are experiencing is definitely about bits and bytes, but mostly about molecules: such as CO2 and H2 carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Therefore, chemistry, as a science and as...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

JOSE ESPINOZA

FOUNDER OF MOVE THE NEEDLE, LLC

Daysi Gardenia Bernita, migrated to the USA in the pursuit of the American Dream with her six month old son in tote. Though a successful engineer in her native country of Ecuador, the language barrier and need to provide for her son and family back home, relegated her to being...

Greg Ross Munro

Greg Ross-Munro

Founder And Chief Executive Officer - Sourcetoad

  Greg Ross-Munro, Founder And Chief Executive Officer – Sourcetoad That’s when one of the marketing managers from a completely different office walked over to chat with the IT director. She had an idea for integrating marketing data from the CMS into the shipboard signage system that was running on...

LEVI PERKINS

CEO, HANNIBAL AI

When in the shadows of giants, we assume the path to success is to stand on their shoulders. But in the world of technology, I’ve found that it’s not enough to just stand tall; we must also be nimble, ready to jump to the next giant as the ground shifts...

AMIR ELION

THINK BIG LEADERS - CEO, INNOVATION AND AI ADVISOR, SPEAKER

Many years ago, when I was facilitating internal innovation workshops at Motorola, word got out, and executives would ask me to run “The Innovation Workshop” for their teams. I told them that I don’t have an innovation workshop, and that they should tell me what they aiming to achieve, and...

Amber Gunst

JAMIE RENEE

CEO - Austin Technology Council

Austin is boomingAustin is the fastest-growing city in the United States for three years straight and is frequently listed as the best place to live. When asked why Austin has seen so much prosperity over the last 15 years, there is one answer: innovation. Austin InnovationThe focus on innovation in...

SILAS DEANE

VICE PRESIDENT, COURTS AND JUSTICE, TYLER TECHNOLOGIES

I started my company, VendEngine, with zero outside investment, credit, or employees – nothing but an idea. Ten tough years later, managing the business on cash flow management, I sold it to an S&P 500 business for $89 million. It was an atypical entrepreneur’s journey. I’d do it all again....

PEDRO MATIAS

PEDRO MATIAS - EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT, ISQ GROUP

Innovation, innovation, innovation… this has been the watchword over the past few decades, ever since manuals on the subjects of economics and management associated the word “innovation” with developed nations and dynamic, competitive economies. It is a fact that innovation has always existed, not only in modern societies but over...

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...

MATHEW WITTE

ORTEC AMERICAS - CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER

Innovation. Optimization. Transformation. Those three words describe my unwavering passion for driving change at some of the biggest manufacturers and distributors across the globe. At ORTEC, we are not just in the business of providing advanced analytics and optimization – we are in the business of shaping the future, empowering...

Bob Kain

Bob Kain

Co-Founder and CEO - LunaPBC

Bob Kain Co-Founder And CEO – LunaPBC I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life distinguished by constant progression, from understanding to impacting, particularly in my career. Trained as a physicist, I was fueled by a deep drive to understand some of the most complex “whys” of our world. Quickly...

DR. SIMIN CAI

DR. SIMIN CAI

CEO, GO!FOTON

FINDING THE ADDED DIMENSION“Innovation begins with the perception of a previously unnoticed additional dimension in a given frame of reference. It results from grasping a property of the status quo that’s been missed, and then following through on this changed awareness to implement either a solution to a problem or...

KADI OJA

HEAD OF FLAGSHIP EVENTS, MINDVALLEY

We live in a paradox. Billions of us are more connected than ever through apps, platforms, and now AI – yet loneliness is at an all-time high. Nearly half of adults worldwide report feeling disconnected from others. If technology connects us, why do so many of us feel so alone?...

DR. W. Kent Fuchs

DR. W. Kent Fuchs

The 12th President - The University Of Florida

The University of Florida is one of the nation’s very best public universities. Our home of Gainesville is a beautiful, thriving university city. Yet what truly sets us apart is our shared promise for the future.We have the opportunity over the next decade to become a center for innovation, a...

THERESA A LYONS

FOUNDER, LYONS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

A LEGACY IN THE MAKINGOur clients are the heartbeat of our existence. They remind us why we chose this path. They are the reason we fight, innovate, and care. We carry their battles as if they were our own because, in truth, they are. The discipline of law falls under...

STEPHEN OEHLEY

STEPHEN OEHLEY

FOUNDER, XTENDEVENT.COM

I’m just a boy from Benoni inspired by a loving family and good friends that put values first. My proudest contribution to this world will always be my son Nicholas, who inspires everyone around him. My career has primarily been B2B focused and spanned trade publishing, trade exhibitions, running a...

NERISSA ALLEN B.SC.

PRESIDENT & CEO, BLACK BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF BC (BBABC)

I think we over analyze the meaning of “ Innovation “. Innovation is simply thinking beyond the now. Innovation thrives from adversity and challenge, so, you will find most successful entrepreneurs are innovators. Through our work at the BBABC, we must find practical methods to help businesses create sustainable growth...

Joel B. Bruckman

Joel B. Bruckman

Attorney - Freeborn & Peters LLP

I support innovators by providing them with a comprehensive approach to data privacy and cybersecurity to both protect them and free them to function at full capacity. This includes providing clients with: i) a clear understanding of the data privacy laws and regulations applicable to their businesses; ii) guidance in...

KHALED AL HURAIMEL

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

My conversation with Khaled Al Huraimel encapsulates a vision that transcends the present and leaps into a realm of sustainability and innovation. The backdrop is BEEAH Group’s headquarters in Sharjah, UAE, a masterpiece designed by the late Zaha Hadid, embodying the future Khaled envisions where technology, sustainability, and culture intertwine...

TONY WEEKS

PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE BRENDA STRAFFORD FOUNDATION

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging tool that is rapidly changing how we live our lives and evolving at a very fast pace. Beyond the convenience benefits, AI offers significant potential in support of healthy aging, including predicting health risks and adverse events. By 2040, projections suggest that 10.8 million...

TOM LAVEREN

TOM LAVEREN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VOKA - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MECHELEN-KEMPEN

The Mechelen-Kempen region is ideally located between the port and the airport and close to the two big metropolises of Brussels and Antwerp. It is a place where it is good to live, work and do business. Where craftsmanship is a brand. The region is booming and many fine and...

DR CAROLYN PORTER

DR CAROLYN PORTER

CEO, CYTOSEEK

Carolyn Porter is CEO of CytoSeek a discovery stage biotech company spun out of Bristol University developing the next generation of cell therapies for treatment of cancer. Carolyn has spent the majority of her career in the biotech sector working in University spin-out biotech companies, in translation of University innovations...

CAROLINA LAHDO & FARIDEH WALLQVIST

CO-FOUNDERS, WIB CAPITAL

WiB Capital is a Stockholm-based ecosystem and platform designed to strengthen how early-stage founders and investors meet—through community, visibility, and clearer decision-making. It began with a small observation in a coworking office: people shared space, but rarely spoke. So we made a rule, say hi to everyone new who walks...

MARC CORTHOUT

OPEN MANUFACTURING CAMPUS

The evolution of digital technology and the resulting exponential complexity increase in the products that we use all the time, also affects production technologies deeply and requires close cooperation between many companies, each delivering their unique process technology and modules. At the same time Industry 4.0 and the innovation towards...

BARBARA VERANNEMAN

Never before in history, have our economy and society had to transform so radically so quickly. The industrial and societal transition we are experiencing is definitely about bits and bytes, but mostly about molecules: such as CO2 and H2 carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Therefore, chemistry, as a science and as...

JOSE ESPINOZA

FOUNDER OF MOVE THE NEEDLE, LLC

Daysi Gardenia Bernita, migrated to the USA in the pursuit of the American Dream with her six month old son in tote. Though a successful engineer in her native country of Ecuador, the language barrier and need to provide for her son and family back home, relegated her to being...

INNOVATE® Ecosystems