NSB Logo Salim Ismail Salim Ismail

Salim Ismail

Speaker

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Technological Entrepreneur & Founding Executive Director of Singularity University

Salim Ismail is the best-selling author of Exponential Organizations – required reading at the world’s top Organizations. Salim is a sought-after strategist and a renowned technology entrepreneur who built and sold his company to Google. He was Founding Executive Director at Singularity University (2008-2010) and continues to be their Global Ambassador. Salim shares jaw-dropping insight on how companies can leverage technology and strategy to grow 10 times faster than their peers. He turns cutting-edge ideas into thriving startups and applies leading-edge thinking to invigorate industries.

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In the News

Salim Ismail in the news January 1, 2023

Keynote Speeches

Exponential Organization

As a result of accelerating change, a new breed of businesses is scaling 10 times faster than established organizational structures. Salim Ismail calls these exponential organizations. This talk describes the characteristics and attributes of these organizations and finishes with how to implement these ideas into established companies. He looks at today’s fastest growing technologies and the social impact they will have on our organizational, political, legal, educational, and medical systems. From artificial intelligence to biotech, these disruptive technologies are changing the face of many disparate industries and creating new innovations and opportunities. Audiences walk away with a tailored action plan for moving forward that utilizes five internal and five external strategies to spur astounding growth – like partnering with an incubator and transforming their organization’s leadership team.

 

Disruptive Convergence

Salim describes major breakthroughs occurring in a series of accelerating technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, biotech, sensors, neuroscience, medicine, and even energy. He describes the implications of these breakthroughs on both society and business, and will give a perspective on their impact tailored to each specific audience.

 

Exponential Finance

Today there are 8 billion internet-connected devices in the world. By 2020 Salim Ismail predicts there will be 50 billion. Will computer driven cars be a reality in three years? Will we see a dramatically lengthened lifespan and delayed retirements in a matter of 1-2 decades? What does this mean for investment, growth, and contraction in key industries? As the world becomes more digital, advancements in technology are skyrocketing. Technology strategist Salim Ismail knows the trajectory of fascinating projects that are sure to change our lives and challenge societal norms as we know them. His take on the impact to the financial services sector will have you thinking twice about where to put money and how much is needed for the future.

Exponential Medicine
The fastest technological improvement today is being seen in biotechnology. According to technology strategist Salim Ismail, by the year 2020 it will be cheaper to sequence your genome than to flush your toilet. What will this mean for personalized therapies? Will we eradicate allergies? Or grow replacement organs? Will artificial intelligence make better, more accurate diagnoses than human doctors? Could a computer be your future surgeon? Ismail tells incredible stories of the research and development he’s seen first-hand and the potential for next-generation disruptive technologies. He weighs the benefits with the sinister side and calls on society to prepare our systems for running the world (legal, political, medical) to meet the realities of the very near future.

Exponential Medicine

The fastest technological improvement today is being seen in biotechnology. According to technology strategist Salim Ismail, by the year 2020 it will be cheaper to sequence your genome than to flush your toilet. What will this mean for personalized therapies? Will we eradicate allergies? Or grow replacement organs? Will artificial intelligence make better, more accurate diagnoses than human doctors? Could a computer be your future surgeon? Ismail tells incredible stories of the research and development he’s seen first-hand and the potential for next-generation disruptive technologies. He weighs the benefits with the sinister side and calls on society to prepare our systems for running the world (legal, political, medical) to meet the realities of the very near future.

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop | Make Your Organization Exponential
The business world has learned over the last two decades how to scale technology, but now it's time to scale your organization. A new breed of Exponential Organizations - companies that grow at a minimum pace of 10x better than their peers - is delivering a new way of doing business. In full- or half-day workshops, Salim walks participants through how any company, from a startup to a multinational, can become an exponential organization, streamline its performance, and grow to the next level. He'll provide an overview of accelerating technologies and understanding of the new paradigm for building organizations.

Audience reviews:

  • Salim is one of our highest rated Keynote speakers to date. Our attendees have many opportunities to meet and hear exceptional speakers, and are not easily impressed. To say that Salim blew their minds would be an understatement. His presentation challenged them and led them to think about their business in a new light. Salim's willingness to create a custom presentation for our audience and to interact with attendees was appreciated. Salim was the highlight of our annual conference.

    - Association for Corporate Growth
  • Salim Ismail was a genuine knockout hit at our executive conference. His message resonated deeply, and his dynamic presentation totally captivated a sophisticated and demanding audience. He skillfully wove video and PowerPoint into his talk in ways that amplified his message. And people are still talking about it.

    - Edison Electric Institute
  • I wanted to let you know that Salim exceeded all expectations and was an amazing kick-off to our conference. His session was thought provoking, insightful, and an unbelievable fit with our SHIFT theme. I could not be happier, he spent time answering a ton of questions and hung out with our folks after at the bar.

    - Global CLP

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Speaker Biography

Salim has spent the last seven years building Singularity University as its founding executive director and current global ambassador. SU is based at NASA Ames, and its goal is to “educate, inspire, and empower a new generation of leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.” SU has empowered people from more than 85 countries to apply disruptive technologies – biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience – to more than 100 startups and countless patents and ideas.

Prior to Singularity, Salim was a vice president at Yahoo, where he built and ran Brickhouse, the company’s internal incubator. His last company, Ångströ, a news aggregation startup, was sold to Google in 2010. He has founded or operated seven early-stage companies including PubSub Concepts, which laid some of the foundations for the real-time web, and the New York Grant Company, a direct response to 9/11. In its first year, the organization attracted over 400 clients and delivered over $12 million of federal grants to the local economy.

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