Shawn Kanungo

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

• Strategy in a World of Disruption

  The business world has fundamentally changed forever. The growth and adoption of new technologies is at a dizzying pace. Customer and employee expectations have been pushed forward 10 years due to the pandemic. We are now looking for organizations to be fearless in a changing world.

  These drivers are forcing everyone to reimagine their entire organizations. How do we survive? How do we disrupt ourselves before someone else does? How do we deliver better experiences to our clients, customers, and teams? Today, we need to be bold, brave, and experimental.

  In this awe-inspiring talk, Shawn Kanungo provides an optimistic roadmap for the future. He explores how we can take unexpected approaches to innovation to remain competitive and relevant.

• Bold Ones: How to Innovate and Disrupt Ourselves

  The world is getting weirder, wackier, and wilder by the minute. It has never been more crucial to adapt and evolve with the times. Yet, when faced with radical change, we tend to double down on what made us successful in the past.

  “Bold Ones” is an awe-inspiring and provocative keynote on how individuals can apply the innovations and disruptions occurring around them to become more dynamic and valuable. Specific, actionable techniques — from uncovering “secrets” within your field, to designing experiments, to creating an unstoppable personal flywheel — that will help one evolve and excel will be shared.

• The Future is Open: The Metaverse, Web3 and You

  Are we ready for the next era of the Internet? An immersive, unified, and interconnected digital world is in the making. The metaverse is no longer a science-fiction construct. It will rewrite new models of interaction, digital-native assets, commerce, and experience. Yet, this is much more than a technological shift, but a cultural phenomenon that will impact human expression and behaviour.

  Big tech and gaming companies are arming themselves in this battleground for the future. However, the metaverse may not reach its massive potential without being truly open. Its convergence with Web3, a decentralized internet enabled by the blockchain, and its components (crypto, NFTs, and more) may be the key to building the backbone and connective tissue for this new world.

  In this awe-inspiring keynote, innovation strategist Shawn Kanungo dives deep into why the metaverse and Web3 will shape the future, and how it will impact culture, business, technology, and individuals. The future will favour the bold and brave.

• Creating the Future, Together

  Today, we are undergoing a paradigm shift. The world is becoming more dynamic, intertwined, and unpredictable. Organizations must develop an ecosystem approach to innovation, leveraging talent both inside and outside of the company, to navigate the future.

  Shawn Kanungo provides a bold, unique, and contrarian view of the near-term future. He outlines some of the disruptive forces (AI, digital Business Models, etc.) that are impacting every industry. He then explores how organizations can become more adaptable, experimental, and collaborative.

  Weaving together storytelling, humour, inspiration, and actionable takeaways, audiences will walk away with a roadmap on how organizations can create a brighter future, together.

• Fearless Government

  For decades, we have designed the public sector to be operationally excellent. Today, the game has changed. We are now looking for government to be fearless and an enabler for radical change.

  From leveraging automation, ecosystem partnerships and the crowd, Shawn Kanungo paints a vision of how governments can be a catalyst for others to help them drive innovation. He will also help to make sense of the rapidly changing demographic, societal, economic, and technological trends shaping the future of government.

  Sharing insights from leading organizations and his own experiences on the ground floor of driving transformation in government — Kanungo reveals the technologies, citizen expectations, and service delivery models that will drive the revolution.

• The Geeks and the Freaks: The Age of AI and Infinite Leverage

  We are on the brink of a revolution based on the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and Generative AI. These exponential technologies are transforming the way we communicate, collaborate, and create, revolutionizing industries around the world. However, when everyone has an AI co-pilot, who will stand out? Shawn Kanungo argues that we need more freaks — leaders that are both unique and bold.

  With the rise of generative AI, cloud technologies, and remote talent, we’re entering into an age of infinite leverage where our work can be replicated at no cost, and we don’t need permission to get started. As a result, we can build exponential organizations — a new breed of businesses that can be more nimble, flexible, and highly leveraged.

  In this provocative and counter-intuitive keynote, Kanungo dives deep into the age of artificial intelligence and infinite leverage. He explores why this will shape the future, and how it will impact culture, business, technology, and individuals. Ultimately, the future will favour the freaks.