Innovation Talks

Jim Fava is a leading pioneer in sustainability. He is the co-founder of the Forum for Sustainability through Life Cycle Innovation, a multi-stakeholder and membership-based community organization for everyone interested in and working with Life Cycle approaches to enhance the sustainability of economic activities. He is the former Executive Director of the Antithesis Group, an organization that s...

Eisha Armstrong is the co-founder of Vecteris, an organization that supports B2B services companies in productizing their offerings. Eisha advises CEOs, product management professionals, and companies on cultivating a culture where innovation can flourish. Before co-founding Vecteris, she held senior business management at E.W. Scripps with CEB (now Gartner). Over her 20 years of experience launch...

Carla Johnson is a global keynote speaker, author, marketing and innovation strategist, and innovation architect. She is the author of RE:Think Innovation: How the World's Most Prolific Innovators Come Up with Great Ideas that Deliver Extraordinary Outcomes. Carla was formerly the Programme Director of Digital Marketing at HARBOUR.SPACE and the Director of Media Relations and Employee Communicatio...

Steve Johnson is an author, speaker, and coach dedicated to helping teams overcome the chaos in product management. He is a founding partner and the CEO of Product Growth Leaders, an organization that helps product leaders remove the confusion of managing products by providing a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities and a playbook of modern techniques. Before Product Growth Leaders, St...

Jim Fava is the former Executive Director of the Antithesis Group, an organization that supports businesses and governments in understanding and navigating risks and opportunities. Regarded as the “Father of Modern-Day Life Cycle Assessment,” Jim is on a mission to make the world a better place and has been one of the leading pioneers in sustainability. He has made significant contributions to the...

Alex Slawbsy is the Chief Growth Officer of InnoLead, an organization that creates content, events, and tools to help the world's largest network of corporate strategy, innovation, and R&D leaders drive change more successfully. Over the past 20 years, Alex has dedicated his time to researching, teaching, guiding, and leading corporate innovation strategy development, capability building, and...

Jim Fava is the former Executive Director of the Anthesis Group, an organization that supports businesses and governments in understanding and navigating risks and opportunities. Known for his holistic desire to make the world a better place, Jim has been deemed the “Father of Modern-Day Life Cycle Assessment” and regarded as one of the leading figures in the industry. A pioneer in sustainability,...

Marie-José van den Boomgaard is the Liaison Manager for Start-ups and Scale-ups at KPN, a Dutch telecommunications company. MJ has demonstrated her passion for open innovation throughout her role as Liaison Manager and through the 300 deals she has closed between KPN and scale-ups. In addition to her role at KPN, MJ is an active board member of Costa, an initiative from VNO NCW where the 25 top br...

Jim Fava is the former Executive Director of the Anthesis Group, which supports businesses and governments in understanding and navigating the risks and opportunities they face. Renowned as the "father of modern-day life cycle assessment," Jim has provided invaluable guidance, tools, and expertise on strategies and actions that enable organizations to operate in a more environmentally responsible...

Huub Rutten is the co-founder and Vice President of Product Research and Design at Sopheon. Huub has over 20 years of experience in language management and holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Radboud University in the Netherlands. He plays a pivotal role in developing Sopheon’s linguistics and knowledge management technologies and leads the organization into solutions for innovatio...

Huub Rutten is the Co-Founder and Vice President for Product Research and Design at Sopheon. With over two decades of experience in language management and a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Radboud University in the Netherlands, Huub is instrumental in developing Sopheon’s linguistics and knowledge management technologies and continues to lead the organization into solutions for innova...

  Frank Mattes is a thought leader, startup mentor, and expert in corporate business-building. He is the founder and CEO of Lean Scaleup LLC, which co-created the Lean Scaleup Framework, the best practice for overcoming corporate scaling-up problems and creating profitable businesses. As an advisor and mentor, Frank helps corporations accelerate the learning cycle in building new businesses, allow...

  Carla Johnson is a marketing and innovation strategist, author of ten books, and keynote speaker. She has partnered with leaders and Fortune 500 brands to train thousands of people to rethink the work they do and make an impact. Carla’s goal is to teach one million people how to become innovative thinkers by 2025. She is the Leap Advisor at Demand Spring and was previously the Programme Director...

  Cris Beswick is a highly acclaimed global authority on innovation strategy, leadership, and culture and is renowned for his groundbreaking work in assessing corporate innovation maturity. He co-authored the best-selling book 'Building a Culture of Innovation,' which received recognition from the CMI as a Top Innovation Book in 2017. With a position as adjunct faculty at a business school and adv...

  Dr. Sven Schimpf is the Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Group for Innovation Research and the Director of the Institute for Human Engineering and Empathic Design at Pforzheim University. He is involved in research, education, training, and mentoring in the field of innovation. Sven has conducted extensive studies on roadmapping and has a degree in Business Administration and a doctorate in E...

  Steve Johnson is a speaker and product coach consulting on modern methods that move ideas to market. He is the author of Turn Ideas Into Product and has served as an advisor and executive for technical organizations and industry associates. He is a former instructor and vice president at Pragmatic Marketing and a co-creator of QuartzOpen Framework. He is also a founding partner of the Product Gr...

  If you weren’t able to attend the Innov8rs Conference in Amsterdam, you missed out on some great speakers, a friendly, collaborative environment, and the latest industry updates on open innovation. My experience at the conference was so positive that it got me thinking about the definition of open innovation. It’s a question I love to ask my guests, and the answers vary from industry to industry...

  Tim Kidd is an innovator with over 20 years of experience working in large corporations. He began his career at DSM, where he held various positions spanning from research and development to new business development. Eventually, Tim became an innovation coach, providing guidance and support to DSM's top innovation teams and projects. In 2021, He embarked on a new venture by joining Stahl, where...

Marko Jak is a product and growth professional who builds high-growth products and brings together talented individuals and strategic expertise to reach remarkable outcomes. He has founded two ventures. The first involved leveraging a Machine Learning API for unstructured text data processing, revolutionizing how companies organize their job applications and access a broader pool of tech applicant...

Esther Gons is the CEO and co-founder of GroundControl, a software platform that specializes in measuring and de-risking innovation. GroundControl has worked with companies like Colgate/Palmolive, Euler Hermes, DHL, Enexis, and ABN Amro. Esther's expertise extends beyond her role at GroundControl. She is also the co-author of the award-winning book, Innovation Accounting, which offers practical gu...

  Jim Fava is the recently retired Executive Director at Anthesis Group, which supports businesses and governments in understanding and navigating the risks and opportunities they face. Throughout his career, Jim has provided invaluable guidance, tools, and expertise on strategies and actions that enable organizations to operate in a more environmentally responsible and sustainable manner. Renowne...

Kevin Brady is a corporate and product sustainability expert dedicated to enhancing organizations’ environmental, social, and financial performance. He established Enterprise Consulting, where he helps Fortune and Global 500 companies across diverse industries such as mining, energy, consumer goods, transportation, and retail. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to clean capitalism, Ke...

  Innovation is inherently a forward-looking practice and, as the world changes, so does the way we innovate. In the next decade, as the world encounters various challenges stemming from climate change, resource pressures, and global policy, companies will need to embrace disruption and develop an innovative culture that can react quickly and adapt to changing environments. But what do companies n...

  Rich Mironov is a tech start-up veteran, writer, and coach for product leaders with four decades of experience in Silicon Valley's product management landscape. With his expertise, he’s led six start-ups to success. Rich occasionally acts as the interim VP of Products or CPO for software companies, lending his expertise to drive their success. With a passion for sharing knowledge, Rich has been...

  April Dunford is the founder of Ambient Strategy, a consulting firm that helps technology companies grow. She has led marketing, product, and sales teams at companies like IBM, Siebel, and Sybase. April's work is focused on early and growth-stage startups—recognizing that weak positioning can be the difference between success and failure. She also works with large global companies, helping them...