Topic: Creativity and Innovation

Jim Harris

Jim Harris is one of North America’s foremost thinkers on AI, GenAI, disruption and innovation. He is one of the world’s leading keynote speakers presenting internationally at more than 60 in-person and virtual events a year. Association magazine ranked him as one of North America’s top ten speakers. Jim also leads strategic planning sessions with executive teams. His clients include American Express, Barclays Bank, Canon, GM, IBM, SAP, Munich Re, the Top 200 CIOs of India, the UK Cabinet Office, Swiss Re, Walmart, Zurich Insurance. In February 2024 Jim was recognized as the Speaker of the Year by TEC Canada. TEC is the largest CEO peer mentoring organization in Canada and part of Vistage the largest CEO mentoring group globally – with 45,000 CEOs. The award recognizes his presentations on AI which have been described as “mind blowing,” “riveting” and “eye opening.” Jim’s last book, Blindsided!, is published in 80 countries worldwide and is a #1 international bestseller.

Soundview Executive Summaries selected Blindsided! as one of the best business books of the year sending a summary to 80,000 executives globally. The Miami Herald calls Blindsided! “Brilliant stuff!” As a management consultant, Mr. Harris works with leading businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and organizations aspiring to join these ranks. From 1992-1996 he represented the Covey Leadership Center – teaching Dr. Stephen Covey’s work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Why Book Jim:

  • Jim Harris is one of North America’s top keynote speakers on AI, disruption, and innovation—named TEC Canada’s Speaker of the Year in 2024. He helps executive teams navigate change and lead with clarity.

  • Future-proof your business with Jim Harris—#1 international bestselling author, innovation strategist, and one of North America’s top ten speakers on AI and disruptive change.

  • Jim Harris speaks at 60+ global events each year, helping organizations like Walmart, IBM, and the UK Cabinet Office lead through change. His bestselling book Blindsided! is published in 80 countries.

Ellen van Loon

Ellen van Loon is one of the world’s leading architects. She joined OMA in 1998 and became Partner in 2002. She has led award-winning building projects that combine sophisticated design with precise execution. Recently completed projects led by Ellen include the shop-in-shops for Jacquemus at Galeries Lafayette and Selfridges (2022), the temporary store on Avenue de Montaigne in Paris for Tiffany & Co. (2022), Monumental Wonders exhibition for SolidNature in Milan (2022). Bvlgari Fine Jewelry Show (2021), Brighton College (2020), BLOX / DAC in Copenhagen (2018), Rijnstraat 8 in The Hague (2017), and Lab City CentraleSupélec (2017).

Other projects in her portfolio include Fondation Galeries Lafayette (2018) in Paris; Qatar National Library (2017); Amsterdam’s G-Star Raw Headquarters (2014); De Rotterdam, the largest building in the Netherlands (2013); CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012); New Court Rothschild Bank in London (2011); Maggie’s Centre in Glasgow (2011); Casa da Musica in Porto (2005) – winner of the 2007 RIBA Award; and the Dutch Embassy in Berlin (2003) – winner of the European Union Mies van der Rohe Award in 2005. Ellen is currently working on The Factory Manchester – a large performing arts venue for the city; Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) Berlin – Europe’s biggest department store – and KaDeWe Vienna; and the Palais de Justice de Lille.

Ian Callum

Born in Dumfries, Scotland, Callum knew he wanted to design cars from a young age, inspired by a trip with his grandfather to see an E-Type in the window of the Jaguar Glasgow dealership. His passion for cars and design led him to the Ford Design Studios where he started his career by contributing to the creation of the Escort RS Cosworth and the Ghia Via Concept. He then took on the role of chief designer at TWR Design, where he was responsible for the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish.

Joining Jaguar in 1999, he spent two decades with the manufacturer. Callum and his team created, amongst others, the R-Coupe, RD-6 and C-X75 concepts, the Jaguar F-Type, F-PACE and the World Car of the Year Award-winning I-PACE.

When Callum decided to leave, it was clear he wasn’t planning on retiring any time soon. Instead he became one of the founders of CALLUM, an eponymous design and engineering business to create bespoke and limited-edition products. The team’s first creation is the Aston Martin CALLUM Vanquish 25, created over two decades since Callum first penned the design. Having started as a passion project, it has become a limited run of 25 vehicles featuring more than 350 design and dynamic changes to create a GT car for today’s driver.

It’s yet another incredible accolade to add to Callum’s design collection, which has led him to being one of the most respected and celebrated British car designers. Recognising this, GQ named Ian Callum its Car Designer of the Year at the 2021 GQ Car Awards.

Matt Mullenweg

Matthew Charles Mullenweg (born January 11, 1984 in Houston, Texas) is an entrepreneur, web developer and musician living in San Francisco.

He studied at the University of Houston, majoring in Political Science, before he dropped out in 2004 to pursue a job at CNET Networks.

Mullenweg left CNET in October 2005 to focus on WordPress and related activities full-time, announcing Akismet several days later.

He is the founding developer of the popular open-source blogging software WordPress and writes a popular blog Photo Matt.

After quitting his job at CNET, he has devoted the majority of his time to developing a number of open source projects and is a frequent speaker at conferences.

In late 2005, he founded Automattic, the business behind WordPress.com and Akismet.

In October 2004, he was recruited by CNET to work on WordPress for them and help them with blogs and new media offerings.

He moved to San Francisco from Houston, TX the following month.

In December 2004, Mullenweg announced bbPress which he wrote from scratch in a few days over the holidays.

Mullenweg gives back to the startup community through his angel investment firm Audrey capital, which has backed nearly 30 companies since 2008. In 2011 he backed Y Combinator startup Earbits.

In July 2011, WordPress blogs pass the 50 million milestone, powering over 50 million blogs globally. Mulleweg's 2011 State of the Word revealed that WordPress has grown to power 14.7% of the top million websites in the world and data shows 22 out of every 100 new active domains in the US are running WordPress.

He has been named one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web, Inc.com’s 30 under 30, and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web.

In December 2012, Mullenweg was listed in 2012 Forbes's 30 Under 30 in Media.