Salim Ismail: Future Strategist
Salim Ismail explores the challenge of disruptive innovation within organizations and society.
Quick Facts:
- Highlights:
- Salim Ismail is a renowned strategist and technology entrepreneur who built and sold his company to Google.
- Founding Executive Director of Singularity University and author of Exponential Organizations.
- Sought-after for his expertise in exponential technologies, innovation, and digital transformation.
- Known for translating complex technological concepts into actionable strategies.
- Formats: Keynote, Strategy Lab, Executive Workshop, Virtual
- Audiences: Leadership teams (25–200); Conferences (150–2,500)
- Outcomes:
- Create an exponential thinking playbook for leadership.
- Identify structural shifts to scale faster than competitors.
- Design experiments to validate disruptive business models.
- Travels from: Miami, FL
- **Fee range: $35,001 - $50,000
Talent Services
Keynote Topics:
Exponential Organizations
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
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.
The Future of Entrepreneurship
The confluence of new developments makes today the best time ever to be an entrepreneur.
Salim talks about how accelerating technologies, crowd funding, incubators, fablabs, and cloud computing have made it faster, better, and cheaper to be an entrepreneur.
This talk also covers the steps needed to create entrepreneurial ecosystems and start-up communities in different regions.
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.
Talent Short Bio
Salim Ismail is a globally recognized futurist, bestselling author of Exponential Organizations, and the founding Executive Director of Singularity University. He has advised Fortune 500 companies, startups, and governments on harnessing exponential technologies to drive innovation while overcoming institutional resistance to change.
As founder of the Fast Track Institute, Salim helps cities and organizations design agile solutions to complex challenges, positioning them for success in an era of rapid disruption.
Read Full Bio
Salim Ismail is a visionary strategist and a renowned technology entrepreneur who has profoundly impacted the global business landscape. As the founding executive director of Singularity University and the author of the best-selling book Exponential Organizations, Salim has become a leading authority on disruptive innovation and exponential technologies.
As the founding executive director of Singularity University, Salim has played a pivotal role in shaping the institution into a global hub for innovation and thought leadership. Under his leadership, Singularity University has grown into a world-renowned institution that brings together some of the brightest minds in technology, business, and academia to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges. Salim’s work at Singularity University has cemented his reputation as a thought leader who is at the forefront of technological and societal change.
In addition to his work at Singularity University, Salim Ismail is also the author of the best-selling book Exponential Organizations. In this book, he explores how companies can achieve exponential growth by leveraging technology, culture, and leadership.
Salim Ismail is a visionary leader and a catalyst for change in the world of technology and business. His entrepreneurial success, combined with his deep understanding of exponential technologies, makes him a powerful voice in the conversation about the future of industries and organizations. As a keynote speaker, Salim Ismail’s ability to inspire and challenge audiences is unmatched, making him a top choice for events around the world.
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Talent Videos
How do we fix civilization? | Salim Ismail | TEDxToronto
Salim Ismail explores the challenge of disruptive innovation within organizations and society. He introduces the idea of the “immune system problem”—the tendency of institutions to resist change and attack new ideas.
Video Summary & Key Moments
Salim Ismail explores a central challenge of disruptive innovation: the immune system problem. When new ideas are introduced into large organizations or even into society they’re often attacked, resisted, or shut down by entrenched structures built for stability, not transformation.
Drawing on his experience at Yahoo, Salim describes how bureaucracy and rigid systems stifle innovation. He contrasts this with Apple’s unique ability to isolate small teams, shield them from the “immune system,” and unleash them to disrupt entire industries—music, phones, tablets, payments, and more.
Salim expands this analogy beyond corporations to our social and public institutions. Democracies, unions, and even marriage are outdated structures, built for a slower-moving world. With exponential technologies from AI and neuroscience to solar, drones, and biotech accelerating at unprecedented speeds, these rigid institutions are struggling, breaking, or outright collapsing under pressure.
His solution: an ExO Sprint framework a methodology pioneered at Singularity University and tested with corporations like Procter & Gamble, as well as cities like Medellín, Colombia. The approach:
Shock and awe — show leaders the exponential disruption that’s already here.
Edge + core teams — young leaders design disruptive solutions while incumbents redesign the core.
Immune suppression — create awareness so incumbents don’t attack new initiatives.
Layered innovation — combine technology, design, funding, and social policy before disruption hits.
This is, he argues, like giving a transplant patient immune-suppressing drugs allowing “new organs” of innovation to take root.
Salim calls for open-sourcing this process through the Fast Track Institute to help governments, organizations, and communities fix broken institutions and adapt civilization to a future defined by rapid, exponential change.
Key Moments
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Overview of User Reviews for Salim Ismail's Keynote
Strengths:
- Salim Ismail's keynote was highly praised for its transformative impact on leadership teams.
- Attendees highlighted his insights into exponential technologies as a fresh and valuable perspective that significantly influenced their business strategies.
Weaknesses:
- No notable weaknesses were mentioned in the reviews.
Overall, Salim Ismail's keynote is regarded as a powerful and enlightening experience, particularly beneficial for leaders looking to enhance their strategic approach through innovative technological insights.
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