Outthinkers

Dr. Simone Ahuja is the founder of Blood Orange, a global innovation and strategy firm headquartered in Minneapolis, USA. She is co-author of the international bestseller, Jugaad Innovation , called “the most comprehensive book yet on the subject” on frugal innovation by the Economist . This practical innovation playbook makes clear how and why leaders must support the passionate and purpose-drive...

Alex Budak is a social entrepreneur, faculty member at Berkeley Haas, and the author of Becoming a Changemaker. He teaches, speaks, and writes to help people make a positive impact in their lives, career, communities, and society. At UC Berkeley, Alex created and teaches the transformative course, “Becoming a Changemaker,” and is a Lecturer and Faculty Director for Berkeley Executive Education pro...

Derek Lidow  is unique in having successful careers as CEO of a global publicly traded semiconductor company, a founder and CEO of an innovative and valuable startup, and now as a teacher and scholar of entrepreneurship and innovation. Derek is a professor of the practice at the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education at Princeton University. He is the author of  Startup Leadership: ...

Andrew Binns is managing director and co-founder of Change Logic, a Boston-based strategic advisory firm. He works with CEOs, boards, and senior teams as they lead significant business change. He is the lead author of the new book Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game and won the best article award 2020 for his article, with Charles O’Reilly in the California Ma...

As an award-winning and globally recognised leader, executive coach, company director, writer and speaker, Kirstin Ferguson is one of Australia’s most prominent leadership experts. Kirstin is also making a global impact, with UK-based Thinkers50 naming her one of the world’s top 30 “Thinkers to Watch” and she was shortlisted for the Distinguished Award in Leadership in 2021. Kirstin’s career inclu...

Hermann Simon i s the Founder and Honorary Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, today the world’s leading price consultancy with 41 offices and 1600 employees. From 1995 to 2009 he served as the CEO and is the firm’s Honorary Chairman today. He is an expert in strategy, marketing and pricing and the only German in the “Thinkers50 Hall of Fame” of the most influential management thinkers in the...

Vijay Govindarajan is the Coxe Distinguished Professor at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and is a Faculty Partner in the Silicon Valley incubator Mach 49. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His most recent best seller is Three Box Solution. His Harvard Business Revi...

Peter G. Klein is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Baylor University’s business school, and Faculty Director of Baylor's Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise. He is also Adjunct Professor of Strategy and Management at the Norwegian School of Economics and Carl Menger Research Fellow at the Mises Institute. Peter’s research focuses on the links between entrepreneurship,...

Julia Boorstin is the author of recently released book, When Women Lead . CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent and has been an on-air reporter for the network since 2006. She also plays a central role on CNBC’s bicoastal tech-focused program “TechCheck” delivering reporting, analysis, and CEO interviews with a focus on social media and the intersection of media and technology. In 2013, Jul...

A research fellow with MIT Sloan School's Initiative on the Digital Economy, Michael Schrage ’s research, writing and advisory work focuses on the ‘behavioral economics’ of models, prototypes and metrics as strategic resources for managing ‘innovation risk’ and opportunity. He is author of award-winning The Innovator’s Hypothesis [MIT Press 2014], Who Do You Want Your Customers To Become ? [H...

Bruce Usher is professor of professional practice and the Faculty Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. He teaches on the intersection of finance, social and environmental issues, and is a recipient of the Singhvi Prize for Scholarship in the Classroom, the Lear Award, and the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2019, Bruce published Renewable Energy:...

Dr. Mark Esposito is recognized internationally as a top global thought leader in matters relating to The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the changes and opportunities that new technology will bring to a variety of industries. He is Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer at Nexus FrontierTech, an AI scale-up venture and Co-Founder and Chairman of the Strategic Foresight Board for the Circular Ec...

Venkat Ramaswamy is Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. He is a globally-recognized thought leader, idea practitioner, and eclectic scholar with wide-ranging interests in innovation, strategy, marketing, branding, IT, operations, and the human side of the organization. Venkat's award-winning book in 2004, The Future of Competition , c...

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith , a New York Times #1 bestselling author, has written or edited 47 books which have sold over 3 million copies, been translated into 32 languages, and become listed bestsellers in 12 countries. Amazon recently recognized the ‘100 Best Leadership & Success Books Ever Written,' and included Marshall’s Triggers and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There . Marshall is th...

A legend and leader in the hotel world,  Horst Schulze 's teachings and vision have reshaped the concepts of service and hospitality across industries. Horst’s professional life began more than 65 years ago as a server's assistant in a German resort town. He has worked for both Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation before becoming one of the founding members of The Ritz-Carlton Hote...

FutureThink CEO Lisa Bodell ranks among the Top 50 Speakers Worldwide and is the best-selling author of Kill the Company and Why Simple Wins . She’s a global leader on simplification, collaboration, and innovation, whose keynotes leave audiences inspired to change and arm them with radically simple tools to get to the work that matters. Lisa brings a compelling perspective to the sought-after topi...

Dr. Anna Tavis is Clinical Professor and Academic Director of Human Capital Management Department at NYU School of Professional Studies, Senior Fellow with the Conference Board, and the Academic in Residence with Executive Networks. Anna has been named to Thinkers50 Radar for 2020. Her latest book, Humans at Work. The Art and Practice of Creating a Remote Workplace, was published in the spring of...

James L. Heskett is UPS Foundation Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Business School and author of his latest book, Win From Within: Build Organizational Culture for Competitive Advantage. He completed his Ph. D. at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and has been a member of the faculty of The Ohio State University as well as President of Logistics Systems, Inc. Since 2000, he h...

Emmanuel Probst is Global Lead, Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos, adjunct professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, and the author of Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Human Quest for Meaning Emmanuel’s background combines over 16 years of market research and marketing experience with strong academic achievements. At Ip...

Admiral James Stavridis , USN (Ret.) spent more than thirty years in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of four-star admiral. He was Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and previously commanded U.S. Southern Command, overseeing military operations through Latin America. At sea, he commanded a Navy destroyer, a destroyer squadron, and an aircraft carrier battle group in combat. He holds a Ph. D. from t...

Ben Casnocha is an entrepreneur and cofounder of Village Global, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded hundreds of startups and the co-author, with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, of The Start-Up of You: Adapt, Take Risks, Grow your Network, and Transform Your Career. He delivers keynote speeches on business and globalization and has appeared on CBS’s The Early Show, CNN , and CN...

Salim Ismail is the lead author of the bestselling business book, Exponential Organizations. A renowned technology strategist and serial entrepreneur with ties to Yahoo!, Google, and Singularity University, he consults with governments and the world’s top Fortune 500 companies on innovation and growth. His work has been featured in premier media outlets like the New York Times, Bloomberg Business...

Dr. Geoff Smart is the Chairman & Founder of ghSMART. Founded in 1995, ghSMART helps Fortune 500 CEOs & boards, billionaire entrepreneurs, and heads of state achieve their goals through hiring, developing, and leading talented teams. They serve clients globally from 12 offices in North America and Europe. For three consecutive years, Forbes named ghSMART the best management consulting firm...

Ajay Banga is the 14th President of the World Bank Group. Prior to this he was Vice Chairman at General Atlantic, which he joined after 12 years at the helm of Mastercard, leading the company through a strategic, technological and cultural transformation over 11 years as president and chief executive officer and one year as executive chair of the board of directors. Under Ajay leadership, Masterca...

Pete Newell is a nationally-recognized innovation expert whose work is transforming how the government and other large organizations compete and drive growth. He is the CEO of BMNT, an innovation consultancy and early-stage tech accelerator that helps solve some of the hardest real-world problems in national security, state and local governments, and beyond. Pete is a founder and co-author, with L...