CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER KEYNOTE SPEAKER AND CONSULTANT

A chief innovation officer (CIO) is a strategic c-suite executive focused on spearheading innovation initiatives within an organization to drive long-term growth, competitiveness and evolution. By fostering scalable innovation velocity, the Chief Innovation Officer strives to future proof the organization amid rapidly changing market forces.

Central to the role, a CIO develops an overarching innovation framework including priorities, focus areas, key performance indicators, governance and more based on business objectives. Priority might be placed on adjacencies that extend the core business model, becoming a market fast follower or promoting breakthroughs in sustainability. An effective leader understands how to align innovation to create value for customers and the business.

The exec activates and oversees cross-functional teams to identify customer unmet needs, pinpoint emerging technologies, assess white space opportunities, and generate, sharpen and scale new ideas and solutions via programs like hackathons, idea jams, design sprints and incubators. Influential leadership and story-telling builds an inspiring north star around the innovation mission.

Governing resources, the CIO determines innovation investment criteria whether through capabilities, partnerships, startups or internal projects while monitoring the overall portfolio for returns. That allows the CIO to double down on promising experiments, modify underperformers or sunset wasteful efforts to optimize overall yield.

Structurally, the CIO brings centralized focus on innovation by connecting siloed efforts into an overarching ecosystem, breaking down bureaucracy to accelerate development cycles and providing infrastructure that cultivates experimentation. The formula intends to propel game-changing innovation from spark to scale in a strategically aligned manner.

With disruption constantly shifting the business landscape, the CIO plays a pivotal role in spurring creative destruction before external forces instigate it unexpectedly. By placing innovation at the helm, the CIO sets in motion systematic and sustainable creativity machines that generate breakthrough products, experiences and business models powering competitive resilience.