Andrew Keen and I have been friends for the better part of almost two decades. We’ve crosses paths many times during the shift from Web 1.0 to 2.0, the rise of the iPhone and the mobile revolution, and now the consumerization of AI. We’ve also shared the stage around world and even crossed each other in airports around the world! Not only am I proud to call him a friend, I’m also a big fan of his work and thinking….
Designing for Digital-First Customers: Focus on experience as a driver for breakthrough innovation
Just months before the pandemic, I joined Comcast innovation executives, eWeek, and a host of CX experts to explore the next trends in CX and digital innovation. Following the roundtable discussion, I joined my friends at The Cube and Silicon Angle to dive deeper into conversations about shifting consumerism, the role of innovation in digital products and services and also digital experience design, as well as measuring ROE (return on experiences). Post Pandemic, the conversation seems like it happened a…
How I Help Business Audiences Embrace Innovation, Disruption and Change to Lead the Way Forward
We live in an era of #DigitalDarwinism. These are disruptive times and they challenge everyone…leaders and executives…employees, customers, and partners…and, you and me. AI, Crypto, Quantum Computing, Blockchain, AR/VR, facial recognition, wearables, IoT/IIoT, 5G, automation and 20 other disruptive technologies will only continue to change everything as we know it. Digital transformation, innovation, and new leadership are needed to survive and thrive. The future either happens to us or because of us. I’ve spent my entire career as a digital…
Digital Detox is not the Long-Term Answer to the Effects of Digital Distractions and Addiction
I’ve known Monty Hamilton for the better part of 10 years. He was the architect of one of my favorite conferences, The Australian Digital Summit in Sydney and Melbourne. He also currently advises and hosts the incredible Pivot conference in Geelong. I’ve had the privilege of keynoting both. After not seeing Monty for quite some time, I was lucky enough to catch up with him on a couple of back-to-back occasions in 2019…SXSW in Austin and twice in Silicon Valley…
Experience Innovation – Designing for the X Factor in Customer Experience
Coming up in Silicon Valley during the 90s and early 2000s was special for a geek like me. I moved to Northern California from LA in 1996. Tech and startups were at the time fledgling in Los Angeles but still exciting. I would later return to help catalyze the startup ecosystem. My goal at the time was to plug into the startup garage capital of the world. By then, there were already storied landmarks that one would have to visit….
Silicon Valley Uncovered: The evolution of tech, media and its impact on society
In 2010, my dear friend Hermione Way invited me as the first-ever guest on her then new show, “Silicon Valley Uncovered” for TheNextWeb. It aired on January 18th, 2011. I share this with you because the conversation, while several years old now, is strangely better suited for today and the modern times in which we live and work. I’m not even sure how I stumbled across this interview. To be honest, I’m taken aback by how prescient and philosophical this conversation…
Stop Talking About a Customer-Centered Culture and Build It Already
In 2016, I had the opportunity to visit my mother’s birthplace, Madrid, Spain, and keynote the inaugural Digital Business World Congress (DES). I was invited to present on the business implications of experience design and also the state and future of artificial intelligence (AI) and customer experience (CX). Leading up to the event, I was invited to participate in a media tour to promote my arrival in Spain. The topics ranged from digital transformation to CX to disruptive technologies to corporate innovation….
Paris Built a Mini Silicon Valley with STATION F, a Massive Startup Campus Housed in an Abandoned Train Station
you’re a geek, entrepreneur, investor, tech reporter or analyst, startup or all of the above, make the trek to STATION F in Paris. If you could take the best of Silicon Valley and put it in one massive, and I mean massive, connected and glorious campus, it would be STATION F. It is by far, the most ambitious, yet incredibly thoughtful, architecture and assembly for cultivating a startup ecosystem under one roof. The brainchild of French billionaire and Iliad founder…
Dear Startups: Disrupt Yourself To Disrupt The Industry
Here’s something you may not know about me…Before I focused on studying digital transformation, innovation, culture and digital anthropology, I used to exclusively work with enterprise tech companies and startups going back to the (gasp) early 90s. I’ve been through Web 1.0, 2.0, the rise of digital, social, mobile, cloud and every SW/HW/online/app consumer and enterprise trend in between. In all my years, I’ve probably helped launch/advise over 1,000 companies. I’ve even started and exited a few myself (note: I…
The Refiners Imports Foreign Startups to Silicon Valley for Global Acceleration
In 2016 I was honored to serve as the first “Godfather” for the Refiners, a group of foreign startups partaking in a new acceleration program in San Francisco. As Godfather, I serve as a mentor and resource to help entrepreneurs shape and optimize their companies to be successful beyond their country of origin. In this case, many of the companies were French hoping to expand to the U.S. and around the world. The Refiners is an interesting take on startup…
