Innovation

Frans Johansson
Author of The Medici Effect, speaks on Diversity and Innovation.
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Frans Johansson is the best-selling author of The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Cultures (Harvard Business Press, Republished 2017). Translated into 22 languages, The Medici Effect was named one of the top 10 best business books by Amazon.com. His acclaimed follow up, The Click Moment (Penguin Portfolio, 2012), obliterates the idea that in business we can plan and strategize our way to success. Known for his provocative, high-octane delivery style, Johansson is a widely sought-after leadership speaker. His presentations cover topics such as:
• how to successfully execute innovative ideas
• leverage different perspectives in an organization to create and execute new ideas
• how to apply ideas from other industries and cultures to drive innovation, growth and profit
• why and how diversity drives innovation
In his role as thought leader and CEO of The Medici Group, Frans has advised executive leadership at Fortune 500 companies such as Disney, IBM, Nike, and Synchrony (formerly GE Financial).
Johansson has lived all his life at the intersection where ideas from different fields and cultures meet and collide. He was raised in Sweden by his African- American-Cherokee mother and Swedish father. Johansson earned his B.S. in Environmental Science from Brown University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He founded both a Boston-based software company and a medical device company operating out of Baltimore and Stockholm, Sweden. He has written articles on healthcare, information technology and the science of sport fishing and has been featured on CNN's AC360, ABC's Early Morning Show and CNBC's The Business of Innovation series along with Jack Welch and Muhammad Yunus.  Frans currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the New York Hall of Science.
The Click of the Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World is Johansson's latest book.

Whitney Johnson
Author and Co-Founder, with Clayton Christensen, Rose Park Advisors’ Disruptive Innovation Fund
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Whitney Johnson is recognized as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world since 2015 (Thinkers50), Whitney Johnson is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption? specifically, a framework which she codifies in the critically acclaimed book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work. She is also the author of Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things  Happen When You Dare to Dream.  Her latest title, Build An “A” Team: Become a Boss People Love, will be released in May 2018 by Harvard Business Publishing.
She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after co-founding The Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street.
In addition to her work as a speaker and advisor, Whitney is one of Marshall Goldsmith’s original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, is a Linkedin influencer, and hosts the twice-monthly Disrupt Yourself Podcast. You can follow her on Twitter at @johnsonwhitney.

Diana Kander
New York Times Bestselling Author and Speaker on Innovation
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Diana Kander: Keynote Speaker on Innovation, Curiosity & Growth | New York Times Bestselling Author | Entrepreneur | Innovation Consultant
Better Questions Create Better Results. What opportunities are your people missing because they've become too comfortable with the way things have always been done?
Diana helps organizations turn curiosity into a competitive advantage. Through entertaining case studies, interactive exercises and practical tools, she shows audiences how to uncover blind spots, challenge assumptions and ask the questions that lead to better ideas, stronger customer relationships and new opportunities for growth.
Why Book Diana Kander?
Diana's message starts with a deceptively simple idea: the more experienced we become, the easier it is to stop questioning what we think we already know.
She calls this the Expert Plateau—the point where expertise can begin creating blind spots that prevent people from learning, improving and recognizing new opportunities.
Diana helps audiences break through those blind spots by developing curiosity as a daily habit.
Rather than simply telling people to “think outside the box,” she gives them practical tools for asking better questions, challenging outdated assumptions and turning curiosity into measurable business results.
What Makes Diana Kander Different?
• New York Times bestselling author — her books are taught in more than 100 universities
• Serial entrepreneur — built and sold millions of dollars of products and services
• Innovation expert — has helped organizations develop multi-billion-dollar products
• Curiosity specialist — turns curiosity from an abstract concept into a practical business skill
• Highly interactive — uses exercises and case studies to keep audiences involved
• Immediately actionable — audiences leave with tools they can start using right away
• Sales relevant — applies curiosity directly to customer relationships and revenue growth
• Highly customized — adapts her content to the organization, industry and audience
Why Is Diana Right for Your Audience?
Diana is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to challenge the status quo, ask better questions and discover opportunities they may currently be overlooking.
She is particularly effective for leadership conferences, sales kickoffs, innovation summits, association meetings and organizations navigating change or pursuing growth.
Book Diana when your audience needs to:
• Challenge outdated assumptions
• Build a culture of curiosity
• Identify opportunities hidden in everyday problems
• Reduce the risk associated with new ideas
• Become more innovative without simply adding more work
• Understand customers more deeply
• Improve sales conversations
• Eliminate habits and processes that no longer create value
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Understanding how expertise can create dangerous blind spots
• Better equipped to ask questions that uncover new opportunities
• More willing to challenge “the way we've always done it”
• Able to identify unnecessary activities that should be eliminated
• Better prepared to test new ideas while reducing risk
• More curious about customers, colleagues and competitors
• Equipped with practical tools for driving innovation
• Ready to turn curiosity into action
Diana Kander Keynote Programs
Unleash Your Curiosity! What if the biggest barrier to innovation isn't a lack of ideas—but believing you already know the answer?
Diana shows audiences how experience can create an Expert Plateau, where people stop questioning familiar assumptions and become less open to better ways of working.
Drawing from her work on The Curiosity Muscle, Diana helps participants develop simple habits that make curiosity part of how they approach problems, decisions and opportunities.
Through entertaining case studies and interactive exercises, audiences discover how to uncover blind spots, reduce the risk of new ideas and prevent yesterday's success from limiting tomorrow's growth.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, innovation events, corporate meetings and organizations focused on growth and transformation.
Innovate to Sell. What if your salespeople could win more business by becoming more curious—not more persuasive?
Diana applies her innovation principles directly to sales, helping teams rethink how they prioritize opportunities, understand customers and approach important conversations.
Drawing from Get Curious & Grow, she gives salespeople practical tools to eliminate distractions, uncover hidden customer needs and develop more innovative strategies for winning business.
Rather than another traditional sales presentation, Innovate to Sell helps salespeople rethink how they sell.
Ideal for: Sales kickoffs, national sales meetings, account-management teams and revenue organizations.
Customized Innovation Keynote. What innovation challenge does your organization need people to think differently about?
Diana can customize her innovation and curiosity content around the specific issues, opportunities and objectives facing an organization.
By connecting her frameworks directly to the audience's world, she helps participants see familiar challenges through a different lens—and identify opportunities they may have previously overlooked.
Ideal for: Executive meetings, industry conferences, transformation initiatives and organizations facing a specific innovation challenge.
Why Book Diana Kander Through The Sweeney Agency?
Diana Kander combines innovation expertise, practical business tools and an exceptionally engaging presentation style—but the real value comes from connecting her curiosity framework directly to the challenges and opportunities facing your audience.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
• Confirm Diana Kander's availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Diana Kander keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your industry and business objectives
• Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Diana with other leading innovation, sales and business-growth speakers
Is Diana Kander Right for Your Event?
Tell us where your organization needs people to ask better questions, challenge assumptions or uncover new opportunities.
We'll help you determine whether Diana is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning a leadership conference, sales kickoff, innovation summit or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Diana Kander as your keynote speaker.
 

Brett King
Author of Bank 2.0 and speaker on financial services and the customer experience
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Brett King: Founder of Moven | Bestselling Author of Bank 4.0 and Branch Tomorrow | Speaker on the Future of Banking
Why Book Brett King?
His keynotes challenge audiences to look beyond today’s products and channels. Brett examines how artificial intelligence, changing customer behavior, and new competitors could reshape financial services—and what institutions should consider as they plan for that future.
Why Is Brett King Right for Your Audience?
Brett is a strong fit for banking conferences, credit union meetings, fintech events, payments forums, and leadership gatherings in financial services. He is especially relevant when executives need to test assumptions about branches, digital experiences, and the role of AI in serving customers.
Book Brett when your audience needs to:
• Understand forces changing the future of banking and payments
• Examine how AI could reshape financial services
• Reconsider the role of branches and traditional channels
• Learn from the rise of mobile banking and fintech challengers
• Anticipate changing customer expectations
• Start a strategic conversation about what to build next
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Clearer on the trends challenging established banking models
• Better able to question assumptions about where and how banking happens
• More aware of the opportunities and risks in AI-driven services
• Ready to discuss how customer behavior should shape future offerings
• Equipped with questions to guide their next strategic decisions
Keynote Programs
Towards Bank 5.0: The Algorithmic Bank
Brett explores how AI could change banking operations, security, and the customer experience in the decades ahead. Ideal for banking leaders, technology teams, and fintech audiences.
Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow: The End of Branch Banking as We Know It
Drawing on research behind Branch Tomorrow, Brett examines the changing role of branches as digital-first financial services grow. Ideal for banks and credit unions reconsidering their distribution strategy.
The Rise of the Challengers: How Neo-Banks Changed the Rules and How the Industry Responded
Brett reviews the emergence of digital challengers and the responses of established institutions. Ideal for executives weighing competitive threats and opportunities to adapt.
Optimal Humanity: Smart Economies & Emerging Solutions
Brett widens the lens beyond banking to explore how AI and other major developments could affect economies and society. Ideal for executive and cross-industry audiences seeking a broader view of the future.
Is Brett King Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the financial services questions it is facing, and the decisions you want the keynote to inform. We can help select Brett’s most relevant program, discuss customization, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.

Scott Klososky
Technology Speaker, Author, Consultant and Founder, TriCorps Technologies
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Throughout his career, Scott Klososky has stood on the nexus between technology and humanity. He has worked to define and help organizations discover the ideal blend of technology and human effort. He is widely recognized for his ability to forecast how technology will impact organizations, industries, and our world. He is the founder and principal at FPOV as well as a renowned consultant, speaker, and author.
Scott’s unique perspectives on technology, business culture, and the future allow him to travel the globe guiding senior executives in organizations ranging from the Fortune 500 to universities, nonprofits, and countless professional associations and coalitions. He has worked with organizations such as American Fidelity Assurance Company, Roche, IBM, General Motors, Georgia Pacific, Legrand, International Franchise Association, and Great Clips. He regularly speaks in front of major conferences helping leaders in countless industries improve the way they integrate technology into their organizations. He is the author of four books including his latest title Did God Create the Internet? The Impact of Technology on Humanity.
Scott began his career fresh out of high school, where his job as a delivery boy was a springboard into the world of technology. He became division head of a computer sales division and then purchased it as his own company. It was eventually built into a twelve-store operation in three states.
His next endeavor was as founder and CEO of Paragraph, Inc., a Soviet/American joint venture founded in 1988, despite international tensions. Half of the company was sold to Silicon Graphics, and the other half is still expanding today (Parascript, Inc.).
Scott then collaborated with H.R. Haldeman to publish a diary of his years as an aide to President Nixon, which was a bestseller (Putnam Publishing), and involved Sony Interactive in the release of a book companion CD-ROM.
The evolving Internet ushered in a world of opportunity for inspiring pioneers, and Scott was not left behind. He was founder and CEO of webcasts.com, an early producer of webcasted media ranging from corporate and government communications to sporting events and entertainment. He sold webcasts.com in 1999 for $115 million. His expertise in leadership and his creative approach to business direction inspired Critical Technologies to hire him as a turnaround CEO, where he completely rebuilt the underlying products and brought the company to profitability.
In 2007, Scott founded a start-up called Alkami Technology. This company developed a second-generation online banking platform with innovative features non-existent in current systems. In 2021, the company went public valued at $2.9 billion.

Tom Koulopoulos
Chairman and Founder of Delphi Group, Author and Speaker on Innovation & The Future
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Tom Koulopoulos: Keynote Speaker on AI, Future Trends & Innovation | Futurist | Founder of Delphi Group | Author of Gigatrends
Understand What's Next—Before It Changes Everything. How do you prepare your organization for a future being reshaped by AI, digital workers and technologies moving faster than ever before?
As Chairman and founder of Delphi Group, Tom has spent decades studying how disruptive technologies change organizations, industries and human behavior. His latest book, Gigatrends, explores the powerful forces shaping how we will live, work and compete throughout the 21st century.
Tom helps audiences look beyond today's headlines to understand what's coming next, why it matters and what leaders should be doing about it now.
Why Book Tom Koulopoulos?
Tom doesn't simply showcase futuristic technologies. He connects emerging technology directly to the decisions leaders need to make today.
His presentations explore AI, digital workers, changing demographics, frictionless commerce, autonomous technologies and other forces transforming business and society.
But Tom's message isn't that technology will determine the future. People will.
With a combination of research, provocative ideas, humor and compelling examples, Tom helps audiences understand disruption without becoming overwhelmed by it—and recognize the opportunities hidden inside enormous change.
What Makes Tom Koulopoulos Different?
• Founder of Delphi Group — a Boston-based technology and futures think tank
• Author of 14 books — including Gigatrends, The Gen Z Effect and Cloud Surfing
• Deep AI expertise — explores AI's impact on work, business and human behavior
• Decades studying disruption — brings long-term perspective to today's technology changes
• Innovation authority — former Director of the Dell Innovation Lab
• Academic perspective — professor at Boston University
• Business experience — combines futurist thinking with real organizational insight
• Engaging delivery — makes complex technology understandable, relevant and entertaining
Why Is Tom Right for Your Audience?
Tom is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to understand where technology is taking their industry and become more confident navigating what's next.
He is particularly effective for leadership conferences, association meetings, technology events, executive meetings and organizations navigating AI-driven transformation.
Book Tom when your audience needs to:
• Understand how AI will reshape business
• Prepare for humans and digital workers working together
• Anticipate major technological shifts
• Identify opportunities created by disruption
• Understand how emerging technologies change customer behavior
• Navigate generational changes in the workforce
• Challenge assumptions about the future
• Turn uncertainty into strategic opportunity
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Better prepared for the business impact of AI
• Understanding how digital workers may reshape the workplace
• More aware of the major trends influencing their industry
• Better able to separate meaningful technological change from hype
• Thinking differently about the relationship between humans and technology
• More confident navigating disruption and uncertainty
• Ready to identify opportunities created by emerging technologies
Tom Koulopoulos Keynote Programs.
Gigatrends: The Technologies Shaping Our Future. What forces will have the greatest impact on how we live, work and compete over the coming decades?
Drawing from Gigatrends, Tom takes audiences on a fast-paced exploration of the technological forces reshaping society and business.
From AI and digital workers to frictionless commerce, autonomous vehicles and changing generations, he helps leaders understand how seemingly separate trends are converging to create profound change.
More importantly, Tom explores what these shifts mean for your organization and the decisions leaders need to start making today.
Ideal for: Executive conferences, association meetings, strategy events and organizations preparing for long-term disruption.
The Future of Work: Humans + Digital Workers. What happens when your next colleague isn't human?
AI is rapidly changing what technology can accomplish, creating a workplace where people and increasingly capable digital workers will operate side by side.
Tom explores how this transformation will change jobs, organizations and leadership—and why the opportunity isn't simply to replace human work, but to raise the bar on what people can accomplish.
Audiences leave with a positive but realistic roadmap for navigating a workplace being transformed by AI.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, HR events, corporate meetings and organizations navigating AI transformation.
AI: Navigating the Next Great Business Transformation.  AI isn't simply another technology trend. It's changing how organizations think, decide and compete.
Tom cuts through the hype to help leaders understand where artificial intelligence is heading and what its rapid evolution could mean for their businesses.
He explores how organizations can use AI to reduce friction, improve decisions and unlock new opportunities while keeping human judgment, creativity and trust at the center.
Ideal for: AI conferences, executive meetings, technology events and organizations developing their AI strategy.
Innovation in an Age of Constant Disruption. How do you innovate when the future refuses to slow down?
Tom challenges audiences to rethink traditional assumptions about innovation and recognize how rapidly changing technologies create entirely new possibilities.
He shows leaders how to become more comfortable with uncertainty, identify emerging opportunities and build organizations capable of adapting as technology and customer expectations evolve.
Ideal for: Innovation summits, leadership conferences, strategy meetings and organizations navigating disruption.
Why Book Tom Koulopoulos Through The Sweeney Agency?
Tom Koulopoulos combines deep technology expertise, futurist thinking and practical business insight—but the real value comes from connecting those trends directly to your industry and the decisions your audience needs to make.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
• Confirm Tom Koulopoulos's availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Tom Koulopoulos keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your industry and business challenges
• Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Tom with other leading AI, futurist and innovation keynote speakers
Is Tom Koulopoulos Right for Your Event?
Tell us what's changing in your industry—and what your leaders need to understand about what's coming next.
We'll help you determine whether Tom is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning a leadership conference, association meeting, AI summit or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Tom Koulopoulos as your keynote speaker.

Dr. Daniel Kraft
Stanford and Harvard Trained Physician-Scientist, Inventor and Entrepreneur
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Daniel Kraft is a Stanford and Harvard trained physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and innovator and is serving as the Chair of the XPRIZE Pandemic Alliance Task Force. With over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, biomedical research and healthcare innovation, Kraft has chaired the Medicine for Singularity University  since its inception in 2008, and is founder and chair of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores convergent, rapidly developing technologies and their potential in biomedicine and healthcare. Following undergraduate degrees from Brown University and medical school at Stanford, Daniel was Board Certified in both Internal Medicine & Pediatrics after completing a Harvard residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital & Boston Children's Hospital, and fellowships in hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplantation at Stanford.
He is often called upon to speak to the future of health, medicine and technology and has given 5 TED and TEDMED Talks.
He has multiple scientific publications and medical device, immunology and stem cell related patents through faculty positions with Stanford University School of Medicine and as clinical faculty for the pediatric bone marrow transplantation service at University of California San Francisco.
Daniel is a member of the Kaufman Fellows Society (Class 13) and member of the Inaugural (2015) class of the Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellowship.
Daniel's academic research has focused on: stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, stem cell derived immunotherapies for cancer, bioengineering human T-cell differentiation, and humanized animal models. His research has been published in journals that include Nature and Science. His clinical work has focuses on: bone marrow / hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for malignant and non-malignant diseases in adults and children, medical devices to enable stem cell based regenerative medicine, including marrow derived stem cell harvesting, processing and delivery. He also implemented the first text-paging system at Stanford Hospital.
He is heavily involved in digital health, founded Digital.Health, and is on the board of Healthy.io and advises several digital health related startups. Daniel recently founded IntelliMedicine, focused on personalized, data driven, precision medicine. He is also the inventor of the MarrowMiner, an FDA approved device for the minimally invasive harvest of bone marrow, and founded RegenMed Systems, a company developing technologies to enable adult stem cell based regenerative therapies.
Daniel is an avid pilot and has served in the Massachusetts and California Air National Guard as an officer and flight surgeon with F-15 & F-16 fighter Squadrons. He has conducted research on aerospace medicine that was published with NASA, with whom he was a finalist for astronaut selection.
Click Here to Watch Dr. Kraft's Virtual Presentation

Kaihan Krippendorff
Futurist, Strategy and Innovation Expert & Founder of Outthinker
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Kaihan Krippendorff: Keynote Speaker on Strategy, Innovation & AI | Founder of Outthinker | 6-Time Bestselling Author | Former McKinsey Consultant
What if your biggest competitive advantage is seeing opportunities your competitors haven't recognized yet?
Kaihan Krippendorff is a globally recognized strategist, bestselling author and highly sought-after keynote speaker on strategy, innovation, AI, disruption and the future of business.
As the founder of Outthinker, Kaihan works with senior leaders and strategists to understand the forces reshaping business and identify unconventional opportunities for growth. His message is both provocative and practical: don't simply react to disruption—learn how to create the future your competitors will have to respond to.
Why Book Kaihan Krippendorff?
Kaihan doesn't just tell audiences that disruption is coming. He gives them frameworks for deciding what to do about it.
Drawing from decades of research into strategy and innovation, conversations with hundreds of executives each year and his work with organizations around the world, Kaihan reveals how successful companies challenge assumptions, identify strategic options others overlook and move before competitors recognize the opportunity.
His presentations combine big-picture thinking with practical tools, giving audiences a way to turn emerging trends, AI and disruption into competitive advantage.
What Makes Kaihan Krippendorff Different?
• Founder of Outthinker — a global network of strategy, innovation, growth and transformation executives
• Former McKinsey consultant — combines rigorous strategic thinking with practical business application
• 6-time bestselling author — including Outthink the Competition, Driving Innovation from Within and Proximity
• Globally recognized management thinker — recognized by Thinkers50 and Global Gurus
• Deep AI and technology perspective — connects emerging technology directly to business strategy
• Proven strategic frameworks — gives audiences tools they can immediately put into practice
• Innovation from within — shows organizations how to unlock ideas from employees at every level
• Highly customized — connects trends and strategies directly to the client's industry and objectives
Why Is Kaihan Right for Your Audience?
Kaihan is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to think more strategically, recognize opportunities earlier and take action before competitors do.
He is particularly effective for executive conferences, leadership meetings, association events, strategy sessions, innovation summits and organizations navigating AI-driven disruption.
Book Kaihan when your audience needs to:
• Anticipate disruption rather than react to it
• Identify new opportunities for growth
• Challenge traditional industry assumptions
• Understand the strategic impact of AI
• Turn employees into everyday innovators
• Build greater organizational agility
• Create competitive advantages that are difficult to copy
• Translate strategy into action
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Better equipped to identify opportunities competitors may overlook
• Understanding how emerging technologies could reshape their industry
• Able to challenge assumptions that limit strategic options
• Equipped with practical frameworks for strategic thinking
• More confident navigating disruption and uncertainty
• Better prepared to unlock innovation across their organization
• Ready to translate new ideas into action
• Energized to shape the future rather than wait for it
Kaihan Krippendorff Keynote Programs
Outthink the Competition. What if the best strategic option is the one your competitors haven't considered?
Kaihan gives audiences a proven framework for challenging assumptions, identifying overlooked strategic options and creating defensible competitive advantages.
Using his Outthinker IDEAS Process, he shows leaders how to think differently about markets, competitors and opportunities—and translate that thinking into action.
Ideal for: Executive conferences, leadership meetings, strategy events and organizations focused on growth and competitive advantage.
Driving Innovation from Within. What if your organization's next breakthrough idea is already inside the company?
Kaihan challenges the assumption that disruptive innovation primarily comes from startups and outsiders.
Using his IN-OVATE Framework, he shows organizations how to remove internal barriers, empower employees to think like intrapreneurs and turn promising ideas into measurable business results.
The goal is to make innovation part of the culture—not simply the responsibility of an innovation department.
Ideal for: Innovation summits, leadership conferences, transformation initiatives and organizations looking to accelerate innovation.
Winning with AI, Technology, and People. How do you capture the power of AI without overlooking the human capabilities that create real competitive advantage?
Kaihan explores how AI, automation and emerging technologies are reshaping how organizations work, make decisions and compete.
Rather than framing the future as humans versus technology, he shows leaders how to combine AI's capabilities with human creativity, judgment, contextual understanding and strategic thinking.
Ideal for: AI conferences, executive meetings, technology events and organizations navigating digital transformation.
Proximity Revolution. How will AI and emerging technologies change where, when and how value is created?
Drawing from his book Proximity, Kaihan helps leaders make sense of AI, machine learning, 3D printing, data, renewable energy, personalization and other forces transforming business.
He gives audiences a practical Proximity Roadmap for understanding these shifts, identifying opportunities and preparing their organizations for what's next.
Ideal for: Future-of-business conferences, association meetings, executive events and organizations facing significant technological disruption.
Why Book Kaihan Krippendorff Through The Sweeney Agency?
Kaihan Krippendorff combines strategic depth, emerging-technology insight and practical innovation tools—but the real value comes from connecting those ideas directly to your industry, competitive environment and business priorities.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
• Confirm Kaihan Krippendorff's availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Kaihan Krippendorff keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your industry and strategic priorities
• Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Kaihan with other leading strategy, innovation and AI keynote speakers
Is Kaihan Krippendorff Right for Your Event?
Tell us what's changing in your industry—and where your organization needs to find its next competitive advantage.
We'll help you determine whether Kaihan is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning an executive conference, innovation summit, association meeting or leadership event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Kaihan Krippendorff as your keynote speaker.

Polly LaBarre
Co-author, Mavericks at Work; Co-Founder, Management Lab; Founding Writer, Fast Company
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In a world awash in profound change and at a time when everything is on the table, Polly LaBarre helps leaders make sense of and creatively respond to the forces buffeting their organizations. A bestselling author, speaker, and thinker who’s advised top global organizations, Polly’s mission for the past 20 years has been to make every kind of organization fundamentally more resilient, innovative and inspiring. Her insights embolden and equip leaders at every level to make a meaningful impact. Polly is an inspiring and provocative voice on the big ideas and important questions that will shape the future of organizations, work, and collective progress.
Polly’s work is driven by three core questions: 1) How do we support human flourishing? 2) How do we cultivate the audacity of imagination required to tackle our most intractable problems? 3) And, how do organizations and individuals change how they change to become endlessly resilient?
To make genuine progress on those questions, Polly studies and works with progressive organizations, creates curriculum, and runs experiments for unleashing creativity, expanding collaboration, and accelerating change.
As cofounder of the Management Lab(with Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini), Polly spent the last decade working to develop a methodology, platform and practical tools for building organizational capability and accelerating change. Polly and her colleagues deployed that pioneering approach to collaborative innovation in a range of large-scale experiments in “hacking management” inside leading companies and across a global community of some 35,000 management innovators.
Polly is the coauthor of the bestselling book Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win(which The Economist named a “Book of the Year” and called “a pivotal work in the tradition of In Search of Excellence and Good to Great”). She was a member of the original team of Fast Company magazine, where she played a central role in the remarkable success of a magazine that recast the conventional wisdom on working, leading, and winning.
A sought-after speaker, moderator, and interviewer, Polly has delivered hundreds of keynote addresses around the world and developed and hosted numerous events. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune.com, the McKinsey Quarterly, and The Huffington Post. In addition to frequent television appearances on CNBC, PBS’s Nightly Business Report, Good Morning America, and the Today Show, Polly has also been a business and innovation correspondent for CNN where she produced regular segments on big ideas and best practices from the world of business and beyond.
Polly is a passionate (and experimental) gardener, an ardent cook, and a devoted yogi. She serves on the board of CitySeed, a nonprofit working to build a just and healthy food system and economic opportunity in New Haven, CT. A graduate of Yale University, Polly lives with her family in New Haven.

Charlene Li
Best Selling Author, Entrepreneur, and Leadership Speaker
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For the past three decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future. She’s an expert on digital transformation, disruption leadership and strategy, customer experience, and the future of work. She’s the author of six books, including the New York Times bestseller, “Open Leadership,” and co-author of the critically acclaimed book, “Groundswell.” Her latest book is the bestseller “The Disruption Mindset.” She is currently working on her next book, “Winning with Generative AI.”
Charlene is also an entrepreneur, the Founder and CEO of Altimeter, a disruptive analyst firm that was acquired in 2015. She most recently served as the Chief Research Officer for PA Consulting and currently leads her own firm, Quantum Networks Group.
Charlene has worked with hundreds of top companies ranging from Adobe to Southwest Airlines and advised 49 of the Fortune 100 companies. She has spoken at events like the World Economic Forum, TED, and SXSW.
Named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and a LinkedIn Top Voice on Culture, Charlene graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco and teaches her cat tricks in her spare time.

Greg Lindsay
Speaker and Author on the Future of Travel, Technology, and Urban Development
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• Greg talks about how cities‐as‐a‐service are changing how we live, work, move, and more – and the new real estate, services, and business model opportunities this creates.

• Audiences leave with an understanding of how to recognize the changes technology and innovation have brought to urban environments and how to leverage the opportunities these disruptions have created.

• Greg Lindsay is a journalist, urbanist, futurist, and speaker, director of applied research at NewCities and director of strategy at its mobility offshoot CoMotion. He is also a non-resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative, a visiting scholar at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, and co-author of Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next.

• Past clients include: Intel, Samsung, Starbucks, Audi, Chrysler, Hyundai, Tishman Speyer, British Land, André Balazs Properties, Emaar, and Expo 2020.
Greg Lindsay is a non-resident senior fellow of MIT’s Future Urban Collectives Lab, Ari­zo­na State University’s Threat­cast­ing Lab, and the Atlan­tic Council’s Scow­croft Stra­te­gy Ini­tia­tive. He was the foun­ding chief com­mu­nica­tions offi­cer of AlphaGeo and remains a senior advi­sor. Most re­cen­tly, he was a 2022-2023 urban tech fellow at Cor­nell Tech’s Jacobs Insti­tute, where he ex­plo­­red the impli­cations of AI and aug­men­ted rea­lity at urban scale.
Greg speaks about the future of cities, mobility, tech­no­logy, security, and work, inclu­ding appea­ran­ces at 10 Down­ing Street, the United States Mili­tary Aca­de­my, San­dia Natio­nal Labo­ra­to­ries, Orga­ni­sa­tion for Eco­no­­mic Co-oper­a­tion and Deve­lop­ment, Har­vard Busi­ness School, MIT Media Lab, and Aspen Ideas Festival.
He also speaks to companies (Micro­soft, Deloitte, Gensler, Ford, Star­­bucks), orga­ni­za­tions (U.S. Confe­ren­ce of Mayors, Canada Council for the Arts), mem­ber asso­cia­tions (ULI, NAHB, NAI­OP, SIOR) and uni­ver­sities (Harvard, Yale, Prin­ce­ton, NYU, McGill).
He’s been cited as an expert by The New York Times, The Washing­ton Post, The Wall Street Jour­­­nal, The Guar­dian, USA Today, CNN, NPR, BBC, and CBC Radio.
Greg’s also a part­ner at the advi­sory firm Future­Map, and has advi­sed Intel, Sam­sung, IKEA, Star­bucks, Audi, Hyun­dai, Tish­man Spe­yer, Brit­ish Land, André Ba­lazs Proper­ties, Aldar, Emaar, and Expo 2020, along with nume­rous G20 govern­­ment entities. Pre­viously, he was urbanist-in-resi­den­ce at BMW MINI’s urban tech acce­le­ra­tor, URBAN-­X, as well as direc­tor of applied re­search at New­Cities and foun­ding direc­tor of stra­te­gy at its mobi­lity-focused off­shoot, Co­Motion.

Josh Linkner
Serial entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and venture capital investor
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• Speaker on Creativity, Change, Innovation, and Leadership

• Talks about Big Little Breakthroughs -- how small, everyday ideas drive gigantic results

• Tech start up leader, Josh started, built, and sold five companies for a combined sum of over $200 million

• Author of four books including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention

• Past clients include: Bank of America, Deloitte, Ford Motor Company, Intel, Coca-Cola, Nike, P&G, SAP
Josh Linkner is a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, venture capital investor, professional jazz guitarist, and a globally-recognized innovation expert. On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā (mooDEE-tah) Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies. Over the last 30 years, he's helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He's twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world.
His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm. Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Click Here to Watch Josh's Virtual Presentation

Beau Lotto
Neuroscientist, Entrepreneur, and Author of Deviate
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• Beau talks about how we adapt and thrive in times of change to find solutions to questions that haven’t been asked yet.

• Beau's interactive, and fun presentation will equip people to challenge their own assumptions and beliefs and come away better able to innovate, collaborate, lead, and adapt to new realities.

• Beau Lotto is a three-time TED speaker, a best-selling author, professor and the founder and CEO of two companies –Lab of Misfits, the world’s first neuro-design studio, and Ripple, which holds several highly influential patents in Augmented Reality (AR).

• Past clients include: Cirque du Soleil, L’Oreal, Asurion, Microsoft, Edelman, and The UAE’s Crown Prince’s Court.
The only way to thrive in a rapidly changing world is to change with it. We know that. But the biggest barrier is in our heads. Neuroscientist and entrepreneur Beau Lotto shows why adapting –moving from A to B –means first moving from A to not-A. We needto let go of the assumptions and beliefs that keep us from seeing the world differently. A world-renowned expert in the science of perception, Beau reveals why trading certainty for doubt increases our capacity to adapt, lead, innovate, and thrive in the darkness of “I don’t know.”
A professor with deep academic credentials and critical scholarly works on the subject, Beau is also founder and CEO of two companies –Lab of Misfits, the world’s first neuro-design studio, and Ripple, which holds several highly influential patents in Augmented Reality (AR). A three-time mainstage TED speaker with over 9,000,000 views, Beau has spoken around the world, delivering totally unique, visually stunning, interactive, and fun presentations that help people act differently in the face of change. His message is an ideal conference kick-off –providing powerful, positive, creative context that sets a tone for the content and collaboration that follow. Beau’s latest book is Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently.
A professor with deep academic credentials and critical scholarly works on the subject, Beau is also founder and CEO of two companies – Lab of Misfits, the world’s first neuro-design studio, and Ripple, which holds several highly influential patents in Augmented Reality (AR). A three-time mainstage TED speaker with over 9,000,000 views, Beau has spoken around the world, delivering totally unique, visually stunning, interactive, and fun presentations that help people act differently in the face of change. His message is an ideal conference kick-off – providing powerful, positive, creative context that sets a tone for the content and collaboration that follow. Beau’s latest book is Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently.
In 2001, Beau Lotto founded the Lab of Misfits Studio,the world’s only neuroperception creative studio that is also a real neuroscience lab. The Lab’s goal is to foster adaptability and creativity. Their unique process of experiential experiments unites neuroscience expertise and measurement with digital technology and immersive design. They study humans “in the wild” -in theaters, public spaces, even across entire cities -using a combination of digital, virtual, and physical techniques and neuroscientific methodologies. By unveiling the essential truths that drive human decisions, their work deepens connections and creates innovations. Pragmatically, their insights are scientifically unique and quantified, commercially valuable to thestakeholders, and emotional and actionable to public audiences. They havesince created public experiences around the world, including London’s Science Museum, Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank, and a public art installation in London’s famous Silicon Roundabout. Their past clients include Cirque du Soleil, L’Oreal, Asurion, Microsoft, Edelman, The UAE’s Crown Prince’s Court, and others. Lab of Misfits currently powers the neuroscience offering at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, one of the world's largest public relations and communications firms.
Beau is also CEO and founder of Ripple Inc, which holds five highly influential patents in Augmented Reality (AR) with two further patents pending. Using its technology and exclusive patented IP, the Lab creates digital platforms and custom, proprietary digital interactions that layer the world with immersive digital content. Examples include the GPS-based AR apps Traces, Acoustigram, and W_nder, all of which focus on location-tied storytelling, adding a layer of meaning to the world that has hitherto been impossible.
Click Here to Watch Beau's Virtual Presentation
 

Terence Mauri
Innovation & Disruptive Leadership Speaker
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TERENCE MAURI - Global Authority on the Future of Leadership | AI & Disruption Expert | MIT Entrepreneur Mentor | Thinkers50 Author: 
Lead What’s Next
Terence Mauri helps leaders think boldly, act decisively and turn uncertainty into opportunity. The founder of Hack Future Lab, an MIT Entrepreneur Mentor and a five-time bestselling author, he combines provocative insights, compelling stories and practical frameworks that prepare organizations to lead from the future.
Why Book Terence Mauri?
Terence does more than explain emerging trends. He challenges leaders to rethink how they make decisions, build trust and create value when the rules are changing.
Drawing on his experience advising Fortune 500 leaders and billion-dollar startups, Terence translates complex issues—including AI, disruption and the future of work—into clear choices audiences can act on immediately. His energetic presentations create urgency without fear and leave leaders ready to move forward with greater courage and confidence.
What Makes Terence Different?
• A powerful combination of global research and practical business experience
• Fresh thinking on AI, leadership, trust and organizational change
• Provocative ideas that challenge conventional assumptions
• Actionable frameworks leaders can use immediately
• A message that can be customized around the organization’s priorities
Why Is Terence Right for Your Audience?
Terence is an excellent choice when leaders need to anticipate what is next while delivering results today. He is particularly effective for leadership conferences, executive meetings, innovation events, client programs and organizations navigating AI or major transformation.
Book Terence when your audience needs to:
• Lead confidently through uncertainty and disruption
• Turn AI from a technology conversation into a leadership opportunity
• Challenge outdated thinking and accelerate better decisions
• Build trust, resilience and agility across the organization
• Translate emerging trends into strategic priorities
• Find the courage to act before every answer is known
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Better prepared to lead from the future rather than react to it
• Equipped to identify opportunity within disruption
• Ready to replace outdated assumptions with future-ready thinking
• Clearer about where human judgment creates an advantage in an AI-first world
• Motivated to think boldly, act decisively and play to win
Keynote Programs
Lead What’s Next
Terence shows leaders how to build future readiness, learn at the speed of change and make courageous decisions before certainty arrives. Ideal for organizations navigating transformation, competitive pressure or a major new strategic direction.
The Human Edge
In an AI-first world, technology alone is not the advantage—how people lead, decide and build trust is. Terence explores how courage, unlearning and radical trust help organizations unlock the upside of disruption. Ideal for AI, culture, leadership and future-of-work events.
Future IQ
Terence helps audiences turn megatrends into meaningful milestones. Leaders learn how to strengthen strategic courage, team resilience and agility while solving tomorrow’s challenges with new thinking. Ideal for executive audiences, innovation conferences and strategy meetings.
Why Contact The Sweeney Agency Now?
The right speaker must do more than talk about the future. They must understand your audience, connect their message to your business priorities and create momentum beyond the event.
Contact us to:
• Confirm Terence’s availability and current fee
• Identify the keynote that best supports your objectives
• Discuss customization, format and event logistics
• Receive comparable recommendations if another speaker may be a stronger fit
Is Terence Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the disruption they are facing and what you want them to think, feel or do differently. We will provide an honest assessment of Terence’s fit, confirm availability and fees, and help you move forward with confidence.
Contact The Sweeney Agency to discuss booking Terence Mauri.

Scott McKain
Best-selling Author and Dynamic Speaker on Sales, Innovation & Customer Service
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Scott McKain: Author of ICONIC | Hall of Fame Speaker | Expert on Distinction and Customer Experience
Why Book Scott McKain?
Scott connects strategy with the choices employees make in sales, service, and leadership. His customized keynotes help audiences identify where they are becoming too similar to competitors and what they can do to stay relevant as customer expectations change.
Why Is Scott McKain Right for Your Audience?
Scott is a strong fit for leadership conferences, sales meetings, customer experience events, and industry gatherings. He is especially valuable when an organization competes in a crowded market or wants to strengthen customer loyalty beyond price and product features.
Book Scott when your audience needs to:
• Explain clearly why customers should choose them
• Stand out in a crowded or changing market
• Improve the experiences that build customer loyalty
• Communicate distinctive value in sales conversations
• Align leadership and culture with the brand promise
• Adapt as technology changes customer expectations
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Clearer on what makes their organization valuable to customers
• Better able to spot gaps between promised and delivered experiences
• Ready to identify moments that strengthen trust and loyalty
• Equipped to communicate differences that matter to buyers
• Focused on actions that help their organization remain relevant
Keynote Programs
Beyond Distinction
Scott’s current flagship keynote helps leaders examine whether their organization remains meaningful to its customers. He connects clear purpose, adaptation, communication, and the customer experience to lasting relevance. Ideal for executive and industry audiences navigating change.
Create Distinction
Scott shows organizations how to identify and express value that sets them apart. Ideal for sales and business audiences competing in markets where buyers see similar offerings.
ICONIC
Drawing on his book, Scott explores how leaders build and sustain a culture that reinforces what makes an organization distinctive. Ideal for leadership teams focused on consistency and long-term performance.
The Ultimate Customer Experience®
Scott examines the moments customers remember and how teams can turn those moments into stronger relationships. Ideal for service, customer experience, and retention-focused events.
Is Scott McKain Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, your competitive landscape, and the customer experience you want to improve. We can help select Scott’s most relevant program, discuss customization, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.

Greg McKeown
Social Innovator and Peak Performance Speaker
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Greg McKeown has dedicated his career to discovering why some people and teams break through to the next level—and others don’t.
The definitive treatment of this issue is addressed in McKeown’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. As well as frequently being the #1 Time Management book on Amazon, this book challenges core assumptions about achievement to get to the essence of what really drives success.
McKeown is the CEO of McKeown Inc. Clients include Adobe, Apple, Google, Facebook, Pixar, Salesforce.com, Symantec, Twitter, VMware and Yahoo!.
His writing has appeared or been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, HuffPost, Politico, and Inc. Magazine. He is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers group: averaging a million views a month.
McKeown has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows including NPR, NBC, FOX, and as a regular guest on The Steve Harvey Show. Entrepreneur voted his interview at Stanford University the #1 Must-See Video on Business, Creativity and Success.
Essentialism was voted by Goodread as the #1 Leadership and Success Book to Read in a Lifetime.
McKeown is an accomplished public speaker. He has spoken to hundreds of audiences around the world including in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, England, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Singapore.
Highlights include speaking at SXSW, interviewing Al Gore at the Annual Conference of the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland and receiving a personal invitation from Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, to speak to his Annual Innovation Conference.
McKeown challenges conventional wisdom in a unique and engaging style from the first moment to the last instant. As the event organizer at Greater Public said after McKeown addressed their 1,000-person conference, “I have been part of this event for 16 years and McKeown is the best speaker we have ever had!”
McKeown is an active Social Innovator. Serving as a Board Member for Washington D.C. policy group Resolve and as a mentor with 2 Seeds, a non-profit incubator for agricultural projects in Africa. He has also been a speaker at non-profit groups including The Kauffman Fellows, Net Impact and Stanford University: he recently gave back to Stanford University by co-creating a popular class called, Designing Life, Essentially.
He serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum. He recently moderated a session at the “Summer Davos” in China called, “Unpacking Social Innovation Models for Maximum Impact”, served as a panelist at the “Sharpening Your Creative Edge” working session at the Forum.
Prior to this, McKeown collaborated in the research and writing of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and worked for Heidrick & Struggles’ Global Leadership Practice assessing senior executives. His newest publication is Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most
Originally from London, England, McKeown now lives in Calabasas, California with his wife, Anna, and their four children. He did his graduate work at Stanford University.

Mike Michalowicz
Author & Speaker on Entrepreneurship
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By his 35th birthday Mike Michalowicz (pronounced mi-‘kal-o-wits) had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies.
Confident that he had the formula to success, he became a small business angel investor… and proceeded to lose his entire fortune. Then he started all over again, driven to find better ways to grow healthy, strong companies. Mike has devoted his life to the research and delivery of innovative, impactful, entrepreneurial strategies to you.
Mike is the creator of Profit First, which is used by hundreds of thousands of companies across the globe to drive profit. He is the creator of Clockwork, a powerful method to make any business run on automatic. And his latest, arguably most impactful discovery, is Fix This Next. In Fix This Next, Mike details the strategy businesses can use to determine what to do, in what order, to ensure healthy, fast, permanent growth (and avoid debilitating distractions).
Today, Mike leads two new multi-million-dollar ventures, as he tests his latest business research for his books. He is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and business makeover specialist on MSNBC. Mike is a popular main stage keynote speaker on innovative entrepreneurial topics; and is the author of Fix This Next, Clockwork, Profit First, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

Kaplan Mobray
Internationally Acclaimed Best-selling Author, Motivational Speaker, Career Consultant, Founder of The Kaplan Mobray Leadership Institute
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• Kaplan talks about the ten principles for leadership excellence at all levels.

• Teaches audiences ready-to-implement knowledge on how to become strategic thinkers, embrace accountability, leverage disruption and change for growth, and learn tools to drive operational excellence in how they engage with their team.

• Kaplan is an internationally Acclaimed Best-selling Author, Motivational Speaker, Career Consultant, Founder of The Kaplan Mobray Leadership Institute.

• Past clients include: Proctor & Gamble, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Shell, Xerox, Paypal, Qantas Airways, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Playboy Enterprises and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Click Here to Watch Kaplan's Virtual Presentation
Recognized by Meetings and Conventions Magazine as one of the nation’s top business speakers, Kaplan Mobray is globally acclaimed as one of the world’s most dynamic and inspirational  speakers and award-winning author of “The 10Ks of Personal Branding”.
Educated at the Wharton School he has been featured across global media outlets including CNN, Biz Asia, FOX Business, Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, and shares his message to NFL players and fans annually at the Super Bowl. Kaplan has delivered keynote presentations and leadership development workshops on 5 continents helping individuals globally to build their brand, grow their business, become better leaders, increase sales, and advance their career.
He continues to serve as a consultant to multinational companies working with global business leaders to elevate Performance Excellence, Branding, Business Growth, Innovation, Leadership
Excellence, Culture and Engagement, Inclusion, and Workforce Transformation. All of his innovative presentations have been described as life-changing events. In his personal pursuits, Kaplan is a professional saxophone player. Kaplan resides in New York and serves as a frequent speaker across the Global Conferences and Events Circuit. Kaplan has been a frequent main platform speaker at the prestigious Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT) national and global conferences.

Natalie Nixon
Strategy, Foresight, and Innovation Expert, Award-winning Author
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Natalie Nixon, PhD is "the creativity whisperer to the C-Suite". She is a creativity strategist who advises leaders on achieving transformative business results by applying wonder & rigor. She is a highly sought after global keynote speaker, valued for her accessible expertise on creativity, the future of work and innovation.
Natalie was selected for Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2024; Real Leaders' "Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World for 2022" list; and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and INC. She is the author of the award-winning The Creativity Leap—an honoree in the creativity category of Fast Company's 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards. Her firm, Figure 8 Thinking, was named among the top 20 women-led innovation firms in 2021 by Core 77. Clients have included Microsoft, Salesforce, Comcast, Citrix, Morrison & Foerster, Living Cities, VaynerMedia and Bloomberg.
A hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology, fashion, design thinking and dance. She is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures, valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.
Natalie is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt Design Museum; and a former trustee of Vassar College and Leadership+Design. She has lived in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Israel, and Sri Lanka and is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish. She is certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future. She received her BA (honors) from Vassar College, and her PhD from the University of Westminster in London.
When she's not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, Natalie is fine-tuning her salsa, foxtrot and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia with her husband, John Nixon, and is the proud stepmother of Sydney.

Angela Oguntala
Global Authority on Foresight and Innovation
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Named a Future Innovator by the United Nations, Angela Oguntala is a futurist and global authority on foresight and innovation.
She is a founding partner at Greyspace, a foresight consultancy. Across the globe, she helps organizations understand and innovate for a world in transition. Her clients have included IKEA, Hermès, Philips, Sky, Deloitte, The World Economic Forum, The World Trade Organization, Microsoft, Bayer and Swiss Life.
Over the past decade, Angela has been asked to speak on a wide range of future-facing topics. She has delivered hundreds of keynotes worldwide on themes including: innovating through uncertainty, emerging technology impacts, purpose driven innovation, leadership & organizational foresight, creativity, sustainability, as well as on specific domains from the future of work to futures of healthcare.
Angela leaves audiences with insights, inspiration, and actionable tactics to engage with significant shifts ahead, and to critically question what needs to shift to meet future demands. She is a Salzburg Global Fellow for leaders challenged to shape a better worldand has been featured as an expert on futures thinking on outlets including Sky, TED, and NPR.
Angela is an American who shares her time between the US (Atlanta, Georgia) and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dr. Roch Parayre
Speaker and Expert on Innovation, Decision-Making, Scenario Planning and Blue Ocean Strategy
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Dr. Roch Parayre is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Philadelphia office and a member of Heidrick Consulting. He was previously a senior partner at Decision Strategies International, a global strategy and leadership development advisory firm acquired by Heidrick & Struggles in 2016, where he also led the Blue Ocean Strategy Practice.
A strategist and master teacher, Dr. Parayre has advised organizations on five continents across a broad spectrum of industries, helping them grow and transform their businesses. He is an expert and conducts executive education seminars on the topics of decision-making, scenario planning, innovation, and strategy. Roch teaches in executive education programs at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, at CEDEP and INSEAD in France, for Duke Corporate Education, and at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Dr. Parayre was previously a senior fellow at the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School and a faculty member at the Cox School of Business at SMU, where he won numerous MBA teaching awards. His published works are in a variety of academic journals, industry reports, and trade publications.

Deborah Perry Piscione
Authority on Changing Mindsets, Best-selling Innovation Author and Entrepreneur
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• Deborah talks about  every organization can develop new mindsets, organizational structures, and product development/problem-solving processes – that will maximize opportunities in the future.

• Audiences leave inspired by her pragmatic presentation on harnessing the energy in every organization.

• Deborah Perry Piscione is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, national bestselling author, media commentator and public speaker.

• Past clients include: Google, McKinsey, TED Talks, Cadence Design, London School of Economics, Microsoft, McDonald's, NetApp, Princeton University, KPMG, Innotown, Qualcomm, Stanford University, and Accenture.
As one of the world's leading thought leaders on the future, a Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author of Secrets of Silicon Valley, Deborah Perry Piscione is the go-to authority on AI transformation, the future of work, and innovation leadership. Currently serving as Chief Future Officer at Work3 Institute and General Partner at Sterling Capital, her latest book Employment is Dead: How Disruptive Technologies Are Revolutionizing the Way We Work was named a Top 25 Business Book of 2025 by DisruptTV.
A former legislative aide on Capitol Hill and the White House, Deborah brings a unique perspective spanning Washington power dynamics and Silicon Valley innovation. A Thinkers50 nominee and Senior Advisor for Global Peter Drucker Futures 2050, she speaks at over 100 global events annually on behalf of Harvard Business Review and has advised Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, McKinsey & Co, Accenture, Pfizer and Nike.
Deborah Perry Piscione: Recent Recognition:
• Thinkers50 Nominee (2026)
• Harvard Business Review: Regular contributor on AI strategy and future of work
• New York Times Bestselling Author, Secrets of Silicon Valley
• Former Television Commentator: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News
• LinkedIn Learning Author with two flagship courses, “Executing on Innovation” and “Risk-taking for Leaders” reaching thousands of leaders globally (now translated into Mandarin, German, and French)

Matt Phillips
Serial Entrepreneur, Leading Expert & Keynote Speaker on Innovation and Creativity
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Matt Phillips: Keynote Speaker on Mental Toughness, Leadership & High Performance | Former Professional Baseball Player | Executive Coach
Matt Phillips is a leadership coach, mental toughness expert, former professional baseball player and dynamic keynote speaker on leadership, mindset and high performance.
Drawing on lessons from professional athletics and the corporate world, Matt helps leaders and teams strengthen the mental side of performance so they can become more confident, focused, emotionally controlled and energized when it matters most.
Why Book Matt Phillips?
Matt's message addresses a challenge almost every organization faces: knowing what to do isn't the same as consistently doing it at a high level.
Strategy, skills and experience matter. But when pressure rises, setbacks occur or confidence drops, mindset can determine whether people execute effectively.
Matt gives audiences practical strategies for developing greater mental toughness, improving their leadership and showing up more consistently—both professionally and personally.
His combination of professional sports experience, corporate leadership and executive coaching makes his message particularly relevant to leaders and sales teams focused on improving performance.
What Makes Matt Phillips Different?
• Mental toughness specialist — focuses on confidence, focus, emotional control and energy
• Former professional baseball player — competed in Austria's Bundesliga
• Division I athlete — understands performance from an elite sports perspective
• Corporate experience — worked in operations, finance and accounting with Fortune 500 organizations
• Leadership coach — works directly with executives and corporate leaders
• Sales leadership expertise — helps sales leaders strengthen both mindset and leadership skills
• Practical approach — gives audiences tools they can immediately apply
• High-energy delivery — combines motivation with actionable performance strategies
Why Is Matt Right for Your Audience?
Matt is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to strengthen their mindset, perform more consistently and become better leaders under pressure.
He is particularly effective for sales kickoffs, leadership conferences, management meetings, corporate events and high-performance teams.
Book Matt when your audience needs to:
• Strengthen confidence and self-belief
• Maintain focus when distractions increase
• Manage emotions more effectively under pressure
• Build greater resilience when setbacks occur
• Improve consistency and execution
• Develop stronger leadership habits
• Raise the performance of their teams
• Bring greater energy and intention to their work
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Understanding how mindset influences performance
• Better equipped to build confidence
• More capable of maintaining focus under pressure
• Better prepared to manage their emotional response to challenges
• Understanding how leaders influence the performance of others
• Equipped with practical strategies they can apply immediately
• More accountable for how they show up every day
• Ready to elevate their performance from good to great
Matt Phillips Keynote Programs
3 Secrets to High-Performance Leadership. How do you consistently show up as the leader your team needs—especially when the pressure is on?
Matt reveals three critical principles that help leaders strengthen their mindset, improve performance and become more effective at leading others.
Drawing from professional athletics, corporate leadership and coaching, he challenges audiences to rethink how they approach confidence, focus and performance.
The goal is straightforward: help leaders show up at their best more consistently so their teams can do the same.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, management meetings, corporate events and high-potential leadership programs.
Mental Toughness for High Performance. Your biggest performance challenge may not be what's happening around you—but what's happening between your ears.
Matt shows audiences how to strengthen the mental skills required to perform consistently when expectations, competition and pressure increase.
His approach focuses on key elements of mental toughness including confidence, focus, emotional control and energy, helping people develop a stronger internal foundation for sustained performance.
Ideal for: Sales kickoffs, high-performance teams, leadership events and organizations navigating demanding environments.
Mental Toughness for Sales. Sales performance isn't determined only by knowing what to say. It's also determined by how you respond when you hear “no.”
Matt helps sales professionals develop the mindset required to remain confident, focused and consistent despite rejection, changing targets and competitive pressure.
Rather than simply adding another sales technique, he focuses on strengthening the person responsible for executing those techniques.
Ideal for: Sales kickoffs, national sales meetings, sales leadership conferences and revenue teams.
Why Book Matt Phillips Through The Sweeney Agency?
Matt Phillips combines professional athletics, corporate experience and mental toughness coaching to help audiences improve how they perform when the pressure is on.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
• Confirm Matt Phillips' availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Matt Phillips keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your leadership or sales objectives
• Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Matt with other leading mental toughness, leadership and high-performance speakers
Is Matt Phillips Right for Your Event?
Tell us where your people need greater confidence, focus, resilience or consistency.
We'll help you determine whether Matt is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning a sales kickoff, leadership conference or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Matt Phillips as your keynote speaker.
 

Vince Poscente
Peak performance speaker, Olympic skier and best-selling author.
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Vince Poscente: Olympic Skier | New York Times Bestselling Author | Speaker on Resilience, Sales and Peak Performance
Why Book Vince Poscente?
Vince combines high-energy storytelling with practical ideas for salespeople, leaders, franchise teams, and safety-conscious organizations. He encourages people to clarify what matters, act consistently, and find a way forward when circumstances change.
Why Is Vince Poscente Right for Your Audience?
Vince is a strong fit for sales kickoffs, leadership meetings, franchise conventions, and industry conferences. He is especially valuable when an organization needs renewed drive and specific actions that support a demanding goal.
Book Vince when your audience needs to:
• Pursue ambitious goals with greater focus
• Stay resilient through obstacles and setbacks
• Build confidence in a competitive environment
• Turn commitment into consistent daily action
• Align franchise or sales teams around shared priorities
• Approach performance and safety with greater intention
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Inspired by Vince’s journey from recreational skier to Olympian
• Clearer on the purpose behind their goals
• Ready to identify routines that support consistent performance
• Better able to respond constructively to setbacks
• Motivated to take action in a challenging environment
Keynote Programs
Full Speed Ahead
Vince uses his Olympic journey to show sales and leadership audiences how clarity of purpose, commitment, consistency, confidence, and effective routines support ambitious goals. Ideal for sales kickoffs and leadership events.
Confidence on Demand
Vince helps teams regain momentum when uncertainty or setbacks leave them feeling stuck. He introduces ways to use collaboration, curiosity, and creativity to find a productive path forward. Ideal for organizations navigating change.
Accelerate Franchise Growth
Vince focuses on alignment, agility, and adaptability in a competitive franchise environment. Ideal for franchise conventions and retail audiences that want attendees to put conference ideas into action.
Peak Performance Health/Safety
Vince applies performance and mindset lessons to safety-conscious workplaces. Ideal for health, safety, and risk-focused events seeking an engaging conversation about everyday choices and behavior.
Is Vince Poscente Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the goal it is pursuing, and the obstacles it needs to overcome. We can help choose Vince’s most relevant program, discuss customization, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.

Freddie Ravel
Celebrated Performer, International Expert and Keynote Speaker on Business & Communication
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• Freddie talks about how leaders can challenge and inspire organizations to discover their untapped potential through the power of Active Listening & The Music of Leadership, using music focused stories to help leaders build stronger teams.

• Audiences learn how to enhance interpersonal and professional leadership skills, amplify engagement and clarify their desired goals and outcomes.

• Bilingual Speaker (English & Spanish) Freddie Ravel is a GRAMMY nominated maestro & performer, Founder of "Life in Tune," and Business Success Expert. His clients have described his keynotes & emcee services as the "ideal balance of entertainment and content."

• Past clients include: IBM, Toyota, Red Bull, NASA, Apple, Blue Cross, Prudential, Google and Citi.
Click Here to Watch Freddie's Virtual Video
Freddie Ravel is the GRAMMY-nominated Keynote Maestro - who combines his expertise for business breakthroughs and virtuoso piano performances with a clear and concise application of music’s communicative and scientific powers to inspire, ignite and lift the minds, hearts and potential of audiences around the world.
Backed by number one hits and collaborative successes with Madonna, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince and Carlos Santana to leading the teams of J Lo, Jimmy Kimmel and Lady Gaga - the #1 chart-topping composer is the Founder of “LIFE IN TUNE," a worldwide program that delivers customized peak performance experiences - to reveal how the structure of music enhances leadership, innovation and productivity for entrepreneurs to major corporations alike. Dubbed the “Keynote Maestro” by the City of Los Angeles, Ravel received the city’s Award of Recognition for creating a music-based system to “renew the national and international economy” - while his film, TV, radio and recording credits include CBS, FOX, CW, Universal, iHeart and XM Sirius. Straddling sectors across Media, Tech, Healthcare and Wellness, Diversity and Inclusion, Communications, Social Impact and Financial Services - clients refer to him as “The ideal balance of Entertainment and Content”.
These include IBM, Toyota, Red Bull, NASA, Apple, Blue Cross, Prudential, Google and Citi where he continues to serve as a captivating access point through which to transform corporations, education, entertainment and the human condition. Based on decades of entrepreneurial and corporate training, scientific research and directing and performing with many of the music legends of our time - conference planners often engage Freddie and his team in the program planning process to help design and incorporate their meeting objectives into a rich, harmonious and rewarding experience. Having performed in over eighty countries, Freddie is in tune with cultural nuances and sensitivities delivering the universal language in both English and Spanish - as well as collaborating with translators to uplift your audience to success.

Rebecca Ryan
Innovator, Speaker, Author, Futurist and Economist
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Rebecca Ryan is a human sparkplug - part futurist, part economist. She is always engaging - and is one of America’s most influential and innovative thought leaders who helps cities and companies think around the corner to what’s next. Rebecca is the Resident Futurist at the Alliance for Innovation, a Senior Advisor at the Governing Institute, a faculty member at the Institute for Zen Leadership, the Founder of Futurist Camp, the inventor of Futures Labs - and the owner of NEXT Generation Consulting, Inc.
What is Strategic Foresight? "Strategic foresight" is a bland term for a great idea: to look into the future - and figure out what’s coming, so you can be ready. Rebecca is one of a few hundred people in the world who hold the designation of "APF" - conferred to full members of the Association of Professional Futurists. Her peers call her "one of the world's leading futurists" - and she has led foresight projects for Fortune 500 companies and many of America's most innovative cities.
She is the author of The Next Big Things: The Future of Local Government (2015), ReGENERATION: A Manifesto for America’s Future Leaders (2013), and Live First, Work Second: Getting Inside the Head of the Next Generation (2007).
As Founder of Next Generation Consulting, Rebecca leads the team that best-selling author Richard Florida calls, “One of the most reliable sources for leaders who want to attract and retain the next generation of creative workers." Rebecca has also been named: Top 100 Most Influential People by Accounting Today and Entrepreneur of the Year by U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Robert Safian
Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company & Inspiring Speaker on the Future of Business
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Robert Safian is one of the most sought-after speakers, moderators, and interviewers in modern business. From leadership positions at Fast Company, Time, Fortune and Money, to incisive analysis across multiple TV networks, podcasts and digital platforms, Safian has been lauded as an unparalleled source of insight on the future of the global enterprise. He is not only among the most acclaimed publishing executives in history but has deep relationships across the C-suite in multiple industries, accessing the cutting-edge developments that are reshaping our world.
For decades Safian has chronicled thousands of odds-defying organizations and leaders, uncovering their secrets of success. He synthesizes their lessons into eye-opening and thoroughly entertaining presentations filled with compelling storytelling. Whether assessing a startup in Detroit, the tech scene in Palo Alto or an iconoclast in Shanghai, Safian is constantly translating what is next and new to the mainstream. By presenting stories of the people behind innovative business thinking, he provides hope to millions of talented professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders that meaningful change is possible.
Safian has been propelled by a reputation for near-clairvoyant prediction. He was the first editor to put Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on a magazine cover and covered Airbnb, Netflix and Uber long before they were household names. For nearly twelve years he led the influential, award-winning business magazine Fast Company, turning it into the world's leading progressive business media brand. He was named Editor of the Year by Adweek, and earned the highly coveted National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in 2014, beating out rivals including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine and more.
Prior to Fast Company, Safian was the executive editor for Time and Fortune and headed Money as its chief editor for six years. He is a frequent guest on CBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and other TV networks.
His latest projects include The Flux Group, an advisory firm that is driving awareness of new business practices to both individual companies and mass-market audiences; The Flux Network, a special invitation-only community of leading thinkers, creative collaborators and idea generators; and a highly-anticipated forthcoming book on the reinvention of business that is identifying how leaders at all levels can best adapt and thrive in today’s high-flux environments and turn disruption to their advantage.
Safian has also built a reputation as one of today’s top interviewers, conducting onstage dialogues with many of the world's most intriguing leaders including the CEOs of Starbucks, Nike, Target, Ford, Pepsico, Pixar, Walmart.com, Chobani, Under Armour, J Crew, Soulcycle, Casper, Pinterest, Warby Parker and more, plus celebrities including Kate Hudson, Serena Williams, Chelsea Clinton, Princess Reema Bint Bandar of Saudi Arabia, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jordan Spieth, Jared Leto, Alicia Keys and more. He has been a keynote presenter at events ranging from SxSW Interactive to the United Nation's Global Accelerators Council, the National Retail Federation's "Big Show" to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, HSM Brazil to The World Congress on Intelligent Transport.
In addition to all of Safian's wide experiences, pool of knowledge, and deft storytelling skills, he is also warm, approachable, and an expert at working with event organizers to personalize his presentations for each audience.

John Sanei
Best-selling Author, Futurist & Keynote Speaker with a passion for psychology & technology
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• A co-host of the 2x award-winning business podcast, The Expansive.

• An author and co-author of 11 books, five of which are best-sellers.

• Ranked 5th among the World's Top Futurists for 2025, according to Global Gurus research.

• Faculty at Duke Corporate Education.
John Sanei has worked with thousands of leaders and organizations across the globe, including Google, Mastercard, NASA, Singularity University, and clients in technology, finance, FMCG, consulting, government, education, and beyond. He is a sought-after futurist and transformation specialist who helps decision-makers navigate uncertainty, especially in an A.I-disrupted world, so they can turn anxiety into confidence, complexity into clarity, and confusion into purposeful action.
He speaks on topics including futures thinking, organizational transformation, human adaptability, technology integration, resilient leadership, and the evolving relationship between humans and A.I. His sessions are known for being emotionally resonant, commercially relevant, and rich in insights drawn from neuroscience, psychology, and systems strategy.

Ross Shafer
Emmy Award-Winning Network Talk Show Host, Best-selling Author, and Hilarious Change Expert
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• Ross talks about how professional and personal success follows from one's commitment to being accountable--when we are the architect of our own life, we will have more time, money and happiness.

• Audiences learn that they can no longer blame “government regulation,” “the economy” or “the competition” – or “changes in management" -- for their discontent. Focus on what you can control. Personal growth and opportunity always emerge from realizing that nobody cares more about your career and success than YOU do. Be accountable – and you won’t have to wait for anybody to elevate your position in work and life.

• 6-time Emmy Award Winning TV host, comedian, and writer; Author of 9 Business Books & Entrepreneur

• Past clients include: ACE Hardware, Aflac, Hilton Hotels, Hyundai, iPipeline
As a popular headline comedian and 6-Time Emmy Award winning TV host, Ross Shafer has been a lifelong student of human nature. He says, “I have been eternally fascinated by the laughter and tears business.”
To date, Ross has hosted (5) network TV shows, (Match Game on ABC, Love me, Love Me Not on USA, The Late Show on FOX, Days End on ABC, and Almost Live on NBC).
As a serial entrepreneur, Ross has rescued (23) businesses from bankruptcy and turned them around for a tidy profit. To that end, he has leveraged his business savvy to write and produce (14) Human Resource training films on Customer Service, Motivation, Leadership, and Peer Pressure, and has authored (11) books; Cook- Like-A-Stud, Nobody Moved Your Cheese, Customer Empathy, The Customer Shouts Back, Are You Relevant? No More Customer Friction, Grab More Market Share, Absolutely Necessary (coauthored with Michael Burger), Behave Like a Startup, Success, It’s on You, and Rattled (co-authored with Allison Dalvit).
Today, Ross is the funniest and most sought after corporate keynote speakers on the subjects of Customer Friction, Personal Growth, Reinvention, Resilience, and Market Relevance.
Ross is the beaming father of three children and “Papa” to four grandchildren.
Click Here to Watch Ross' Virtual Presentation

Stephen Shapiro
International Best Seller and Innovation Evangelist
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Stephen Shapiro:  Keynote Speaker on Innovation, Problem-Solving & Collaboration | Hall of Fame Speaker | Bestselling Author | Former Accenture Innovation Leader
See What Everyone Else Misses. What if your biggest challenge isn't finding better answers—but asking better questions?
Before becoming a speaker, Stephen built and led Accenture's 20,000-person innovation practice. Today, he helps organizations stop chasing every new idea and instead focus their energy on the right problems, the right opportunities and the right people to solve them.
His highly interactive keynotes turn audiences from passive listeners into active participants—giving teams practical tools they can continue using long after the event.
Why Book Stephen Shapiro?
Stephen challenges one of the biggest misconceptions about innovation: your organization probably doesn't need more ideas. It needs greater clarity about which problems are worth solving.
Instead of encouraging endless brainstorming, Stephen teaches audiences how to ask better questions, uncover hidden opportunities and bring together people who think differently.
His approach combines decades of innovation experience with practical frameworks, humor and audience participation.
The result isn't simply an entertaining keynote. It's a shared language and set of tools your people can bring back to work.
What Makes Stephen Shapiro Different?
• Built Accenture's 20,000-person innovation practice — real-world innovation experience before becoming a speaker
• Hall of Fame speaker — more than 30 years of speaking experience
• Eight books — including Invisible Solutions, Pivotal, Personality Poker and Best Practices Are Stupid
• Highly interactive — audiences participate rather than simply listen
• Problem-solving focused — teaches people to find better questions before searching for answers
• Personality Poker® creator — turns different thinking styles into a collaboration advantage
• Proven global experience — has spoken in more than 50 countries
• Trusted by major organizations — including NASA, Microsoft, 3M, P&G, Marriott and Nike
Why Is Stephen Right for Your Audience?
Stephen is an outstanding choice when you want your audience to solve problems differently, collaborate more effectively and focus innovation where it can create the greatest value.
He is particularly effective for leadership conferences, innovation summits, corporate meetings, association conferences and organizations navigating uncertainty or transformation.
Book Stephen when your audience needs to:
• Solve complex problems more effectively
• Ask better questions
• Stop chasing distractions and focus on what matters
• Build stronger collaboration across different thinking styles
• Challenge conventional approaches to innovation
• Identify opportunities hiding in plain sight
• Experiment without betting everything on one idea
• Create more predictable growth in an unpredictable environment
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
• Better equipped to define the right problem before solving it
• Understanding how different perspectives improve innovation
• More capable of separating real opportunities from distractions
• Equipped with practical frameworks they can use immediately
• Better prepared to collaborate with people who think differently
• More focused on where innovation can create genuine competitive advantage
• Ready to experiment with smaller, smarter bets
• Sharing a common language for innovation and problem-solving
Stephen Shapiro Keynote Programs
Solve Your Toughest Problems. Most teams aren't short of solutions. They're solving the wrong problem.
Stephen shows audiences how better questions can reveal solutions that were hiding in plain sight.
Using practical reframing tools and multiple “lenses,” he teaches teams how to examine challenges from different perspectives, redefine the problem and uncover solutions they may otherwise have missed.
Instead of simply leaving inspired, audiences leave with a repeatable approach to solving real business problems.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, innovation summits, strategy meetings and organizations facing complex challenges.
Personality Poker® What if the people who frustrate you most are exactly the people your team needs?
Personality Poker® is Stephen's highly interactive experience designed to help people understand their own innovation styles—and recognize the value of colleagues who approach problems differently.
Using a proprietary deck of cards, participants uncover strengths, blind spots and missing perspectives while developing a shared language for better collaboration.
It's engaging, memorable and designed to change how teams work together.
Ideal for: Leadership meetings, team events, corporate conferences and organizations focused on collaboration and culture.
Stability in an Uncertain World. In a world obsessed with what's changing, what if competitive advantage comes from understanding what shouldn't change?
Drawing from his book Pivotal, Stephen challenges leaders to stop reacting to every trend, technology and “bright shiny object.”
Instead, he helps organizations identify the areas where they should remain firmly anchored so they can determine where innovation and change will create the greatest return.
The result is greater clarity, stronger focus and the ability to move from a position of strength.
Ideal for: Executive conferences, strategy meetings, leadership events and organizations navigating disruption.
Small Bets to Win Big at Innovation. When the future is impossible to predict, why make one enormous bet?
Stephen shows audiences how experimentation can help organizations test ideas quickly, inexpensively and intelligently.
Rather than betting heavily on assumptions about the future, teams learn how to make smaller bets, identify which experiments deserve additional investment and know when to stop.
Ideal for: Innovation conferences, transformation initiatives, product teams and organizations operating in uncertain markets.
Why Book Stephen Shapiro Through The Sweeney Agency?
Stephen Shapiro combines deep innovation expertise with one of the most interactive approaches to problem-solving and collaboration—but the real value comes from identifying which of his frameworks best addresses your organization's challenge.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
• Confirm Stephen Shapiro's availability and current speaking fee
• Determine which Stephen Shapiro keynote best fits your audience
• Discuss customization around your organization's challenges
• Coordinate interactive elements, format, timing and event logistics
• Compare Stephen with other leading innovation, strategy and future-of-business speakers
Is Stephen Shapiro Right for Your Event?
Tell us the problem your organization needs to solve—or where your people need to think and collaborate differently.
We'll help you determine whether Stephen is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning a leadership conference, innovation summit or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Stephen Shapiro as your keynote speaker.
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