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Dr. Chris Brauer (Dr. Chris) is Director of Innovation and founder of the Centre for Creative & Social Technologies (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London where he teaches innovation, project management, and behavioural economics. His research specialises in the intersections of emerging technologies and human behaviour, socio-economic and socio-cultural life. His projects focus on public engagement and impact and have been covered extensively in over 400 media outlets worldwide. Current research focuses include industrial internet, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, blockchain, driverless cars, emotion tracking, and the psychology of openness and common ground.

With a broad background in design leadership, product innovation, user centred design thinking and launch of innovative global products and services, Michael now focuses on building human centered innovation cultures in large size organisations. His hands-on leadership approach has brought him to companies like Amazon, PayPal, eBay, Nokia and Lego as well as several startups. He currently leads the UX and design thinking practice at Ørsted, a leading renewable energy company. At Ørsted, Michael oversees the creation of the Design Thinking strategy while maturing the UX design function for the company. This includes operational, strategic and cultural ways to embed design and design thinking in a program at global scale in conjunction with
the agile transformation into SAFe (Scaled Agile Frameworks).
Michael lectures and teaches at several design schools and MBA programmes in design thinking and design strategy. He has recently been appointed adjunct professor of Design at the Royal Academy of Architecture and Design in Copenhagen (KADK). Furthermore he actively pursues communities and partnerships that rethink design in concert with the fields of Psychology, Business development and Marketing in an effort to create new frameworks for change."

TBA

John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School. He has published five books, dozens of cases and more than 50 articles in a variety of outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a sought-after speaker and educator for audiences in entrepreneurship and innovation.

John’s first trade book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up, has become the definitive work on the assessment and shaping of entrepreneurial opportunities and is widely employed in universities worldwide.

His second book, the critically acclaimed Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model, co-authored with Randy Komisar, a partner at the esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, was named to “Best Books of 2009” lists by BusinessWeek and INC Magazine.

John’s third book, The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash, was named one of five “not-to-be-missed books” for 2014 by Fortune magazine. It challenges the commonly held assumption that among an innovator’s first and most important tasks is that of raising capital. Its material provides the foundation for John’s widely viewed online course on Coursera.

John’s forthcoming book, Counter-Conventional: How the Six Break-the-Rules Mindsets of Entrepreneurs Can Help Anyone Change the World, enables practitioners to apply these entrepreneurial mindsets to their innovation challenges.

John has done executive education on five continents for a variety of organizations both large and small and has served on the boards of fast-growing companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.

Trying to enjoy the journey, not the end. Being a student of my three small teachers in life. Last decade with Ingka Group (IKEA) working with sustainability and innovation, strategy.

Top 100 Digital Influencer, Author Radical Business Model Transformation, Global Head Center for Digital Leadership. Carsten Linz is an entrepreneurial leader with more than twenty years of business experience and a proven track record for driving innovation, growth, and transformation.

He serves as digital advisory board member, advises CEOs of fast-growing companies, is an active business angel and member of the investment committee of Europe’s largest seed stage fund. He successfully built-up several €100 mio. businesses and led company-wide transformation programs affecting more than 60.000 employees. He is a sought-after keynote speaker (listed at London Speaker Bureau) and panelist at conferences around the world.

As adjunct faculty member, he teaches in Executive Programs at Mannheim Business School, University of St. Gallen and Stanford Graduate School. He published several books including his recent best-seller “Radical Business Model Transformation: Gaining the Competitive Edge in a Disruptive World” (Top-Business Book 2017, Translations: Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Hungarian). His articles appeared in renowned journals such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review/Manager, ZDNet, CIO Magazine, Computerwoche, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, D!gitalist Magazine.

As Business Development Officer at SAP SE he repeatedly leads the build-up and scale-out of new businesses. In his role as Global Head of the Center for Digital Leadership, he drives SAP’s own digital transformation and acts as advisor to other CEOs, Chief Digital Officers, and CIOs by showcasing next-generation digital innovation and transformation approaches.

Dr. Linz holds a PhD in Innovation Management from University of Bern/Switzerland (“summa cum laude”) and a Diploma degree in Economic Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (“with honors”). He studied System Dynamics and Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management, Leading Change and Organizational Renewal at Harvard Business School, and Corporate Strategy at INSEAD Fontainebleau.

He was named “Top-100 Digital Influencer”, awarded as “Innovation Landmark” by the German President, honored with the coveted “Award of Excellence” from the Global Institute of Logistics and ranked as “Leader” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. He is an advisory member of the World Economic Forum’s “Digital Enterprise” and “Digital Platforms and Digital Ecosystems” projects.

He supports Social Entrepreneurs as Advisory Board Member of Social Impact, Berlin.

He is married, has one daughter, and lives in Frankfurt/Main.

George Yip is an expert on China innovation and strategy, having conducted research about China for over 20 years and served on the faculty of the top Chinese business school, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), from 2011 to 2016. Previous academic positions include Dean of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University; and at Harvard, UCLA, Cambridge Judge, and London Business School. Previous business positions include Vice President and Director of Research & Innovation at Capgemini Consulting, senior manager at Price Waterhouse (USA), manager at Unilever, and various boards. Author or co-author of Pioneers, Hidden Champions, Change Makers, and Underdogs: Lessons from China's Innovators (2019), China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation (2016), Strategic Transformation (2013), Managing Global Customers (2007), Asian Advantage: Key Strategies for Winning in the Asia-Pacific Region (1998), and Total Global Strategy (1992 and 2012).

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Wolfgang ULAGA is a Senior Affiliate Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. He is a global B2B thought leader on service and solution strategy design and execution. Wolfgang regularly consults with companies, serves as a frequent keynote speaker, and leads executive education workshops worldwide across many industries.
Wolfgang’s research focuses on how B2B firms strategically move from products to services and solutions, develop data-driven service business models, excel in service pricing, turn free services into profit engines (Free-to-Fee), and transform product-centric into service-savvy sales organizations. Recent projects focus on monetizing digital innovations that combine products and services, hardware and software, analytics and data.
Wolfgang has published numerous articles in leading journals, including Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review, He is the author of several books, including Monetizing Data: A Practical Roadmap for Framing, Pricing, and Selling your B2B Digital Offers and Service Strategy in Action.

Top 100 Digital Influencer, Author Radical Business Model Transformation, Global Head Center for Digital Leadership. Carsten Linz is an entrepreneurial leader with more than twenty years of business experience and a proven track record for driving innovation, growth, and transformation.

He serves as digital advisory board member, advises CEOs of fast-growing companies, is an active business angel and member of the investment committee of Europe’s largest seed stage fund. He successfully built-up several €100 mio. businesses and led company-wide transformation programs affecting more than 60.000 employees. He is a sought-after keynote speaker (listed at London Speaker Bureau) and panelist at conferences around the world.

As adjunct faculty member, he teaches in Executive Programs at Mannheim Business School, University of St. Gallen and Stanford Graduate School. He published several books including his recent best-seller “Radical Business Model Transformation: Gaining the Competitive Edge in a Disruptive World” (Top-Business Book 2017, Translations: Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Hungarian). His articles appeared in renowned journals such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review/Manager, ZDNet, CIO Magazine, Computerwoche, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, D!gitalist Magazine.

As Business Development Officer at SAP SE he repeatedly leads the build-up and scale-out of new businesses. In his role as Global Head of the Center for Digital Leadership, he drives SAP’s own digital transformation and acts as advisor to other CEOs, Chief Digital Officers, and CIOs by showcasing next-generation digital innovation and transformation approaches.

Dr. Linz holds a PhD in Innovation Management from University of Bern/Switzerland (“summa cum laude”) and a Diploma degree in Economic Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (“with honors”). He studied System Dynamics and Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management, Leading Change and Organizational Renewal at Harvard Business School, and Corporate Strategy at INSEAD Fontainebleau.

He was named “Top-100 Digital Influencer”, awarded as “Innovation Landmark” by the German President, honored with the coveted “Award of Excellence” from the Global Institute of Logistics and ranked as “Leader” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. He is an advisory member of the World Economic Forum’s “Digital Enterprise” and “Digital Platforms and Digital Ecosystems” projects.

He supports Social Entrepreneurs as Advisory Board Member of Social Impact, Berlin.

He is married, has one daughter, and lives in Frankfurt/Main.

Amit Joshi is a Professor of AI, Analytics and Marketing Strategy at IMD. He is the Program Director of the Digital Analytics open program, and the co-director of the program on Artificial Intelligence. In 2020, he was named a ‘Digital Shaper’ in Switzerland, as one of a handful of individuals who would shape the digital economy in the future.
Amit is an award-winning professor and researcher and has interacted with a variety of corporate clients in several industries, including telecom, banking and financial services, media, manufacturing, retailing, pharma, education and automobiles. Previously, he worked for Cadbury India Ltd., a company that is now a part of the Mondelez International group.
Amit’s research, which focuses on long-run marketing strategy, analytics and AI applications, has been published in top journals, including Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Culture, Journal of Cultural Economics and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His research has twice won the MSI / H. Paul Root Award, for the best paper in the Journal of Marketing (2010 and 2015) the Robert D. Buzzell Best Paper Award (2006) for the MSI publication with the most long-term impact and bee nominated for the Sheth Foundation Award for long-term contributions. His dissertation won an honorable mention in the 2004 Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition. He is also an award-winning case writer.
His research and opinions have been extensively covered in the popular press and media, appearing in outlets including NPR, CNN, NBC, Nikkei, Fast Company, Business Standard, Fox News, Bloomberg, Forbes, Investor Relations Magazine, The Conversation, and Science Daily.
Amit earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (P.G.D.M.) from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India, and a Ph.D. is from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.