Anant Agarwal, PhD, CEO of edX, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT

Wed 10/1, 11am – 12pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Anant Agarwal is the CEO of edX, an online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT. Anant taught the first edX course on circuits and electronics from MIT, which drew 155,000 students from 162 countries. He has served as the director of CSAIL, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. He is a successful serial entrepreneur, having co-founded several companies including Tilera Corporation, which created the Tile multicore processor, and Virtual Machine Works.

Anant won the Maurice Wilkes prize for computer architecture, and MIT’s Smullin and Jamieson prizes for teaching. He holds a Guinness World Record for the largest microphone array, and is an author of the textbook “Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits.”

Scientific American selected his work on organic computing as one of 10 World- Changing Ideas in 2011, and he was named in Forbes’ list of top 15 education innovators in 2012. Anant, a pioneer in computer architecture, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the ACM.

He hacks on WebSim, an online circuits laboratory, in his spare time. Anant holds a Ph.D. from Stanford and a bachelor’s from IIT Madras.

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Sean M. Belka, Senior Vice President and Director of the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, Fidelity Investments

Wed 10/1, 4pm – 5pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Sean Belka is senior vice president, director of Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), a unit of Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals, institutions and financial intermediaries. FCAT’s vision is to serve as Fidelity’s idea and innovation catalyst, helping Fidelity’s employees and businesses to imagine and realize the possibilities of emerging technologies and new ideas.

Mr. Belka joined Fidelity in 1993 to lead marketing and product development for Fidelity Trust Company. In 1997, he became senior vice president, Mutual Fund Customer Marketing for FPI. In 1998, he transitioned to FPI’s Core Segment, where he led Fidelity’s efforts to better understand and serve its mass market and mass affluent customers. From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Belka served in FPI’s Online Brokerage unit, where he was responsible for Fidelity’s strategic partnerships with online content providers, marketing partners and online capabilities providers. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Belka led FPI’s market research, database marketing, CRM, lead management and customer analysis and modeling functions. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Belka led FPI’s customer strategy and marketing efforts for Emerging, Engaged, Established, High Net Worth, Active Trader and Corporate Employee segments and was also responsible for FPI’s direct acquisition efforts and online marketing. Prior to his current role, Mr. Belka was senior vice president, Online Strategy, where he led the re-design of fidelity.com, transforming it into a more content rich and engaging experience.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Belka was a senior vice president for Digitas, LLC in Boston. His responsibilities included client engagement with start-up and blue chip companies, providing strategy, CRM, Web and direct marketing services. Previously, Mr. Belka was a marketing director for Advanta Credit Cards (now Bank of America) in Philadelphia, where he led customer acquisition, new product development and For more information call Fidelity Corporate Communications at 617-563-5800. 6/11 customer development and retention. He previously worked in strategic planning and new product development at Sallie Mae. Mr. Belka began his career at Citibank, where he was a member of the Management Associate program and a marketing executive in the credit card division.

See other VIP guest from Fidelity Investments: Pam Norley

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Ben M. Bensaou, PhD, Professor of Technology and Operations Management, Professor of Asian Business and Comparative Management, INSEAD

Thurs 10/2, 2pm – 3pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Ben M. Bensaou is Professor of Technology Management and Asian Business and Comparative Management at INSEAD. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School in 1998-1999. He holds a PhD in Management from the MIT Sloan Questrom School of Business, USA; an MA in Management Science from Hitotsubashi University, Japan; a Diplôme d’Ingénieur (MSc) in Civil Engineering; and a DEA in Mechanical Engineering from respectively the Ecole Nationale des TPE, Lyon and the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France.

His research and teaching focuses on (1) a Process View of Value Innovation and Blue Ocean Strategy deployment initiatives, (2) new forms of organizations, in particular networked corporations, (3) the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on organizations and Value Innovation. Professor Bensaou addresses these issues from an international comparative perspective, with a special focus on Japanese organizations. His research on supplier relations in the U.S. and Japanese auto industries won the best doctoral dissertation in the field of information systems and a finalist award for the Free Press Award for outstanding dissertation research in business policy and strategy. His case on the Circus Industry and the Cirque du Soleil won the 2006 ECCH Best Case Award (in Strategy – with Kim and Mauborgne). His publications include papers inManagement Science, Information Systems Research, Organization Sciencer, Strategic Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, , book chapters and conference proceedings. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, and MISQ Executive. He has been listed in the Who’s Who in the World since 1998.

Professor Bensaou has been consulting for Asian, European and US corporations. He teaches courses on Corporate Strategy, Value Innovation/Blue Ocean Strategy, Information Technology and Comparative Management (in English and French). He has been a Visiting Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo and has taught (in Japanese) in Executive Programs at Keio Business School, Tokyo, Japan.

Professor Bensaou grew up in France. He has also lived and was educated in Japan. He and his wife Masako live in Fontainebleau, with their two younger sons Alexis and Lennon. Their elder son Sophian is pursuing his college education in Philadelphia, USA.

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Arthur Brooks, PhD, President, American Enterprise Institute

Wed 10/1, 4pm – 4:30pm
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Arthur C. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He is also the Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise at AEI.

Immediately before joining AEI, Brooks was the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and social entrepreneurship.

Brooks is the author of 10 books and hundreds of articles on topics including the role of government, fairness, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise. His latest book, “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise” (2012) was a New York Times bestseller. Among his earlier books are “Gross National Happiness” (2008), “Social Entrepreneurship” (2008), and “Who Really Cares” (2006). Before pursuing his work in public policy, Brooks spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain.

Brooks is a frequent guest on national television and radio talk shows and has been published widely in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Brooks has a Ph.D. and an M.Phil. in policy analysis from RAND Graduate School. He also holds an M.A. in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in economics from Thomas Edison State College.

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Rick Chavez, Chief Solutions Officer, Microsoft Advertising and Consumer Monetization Business Group

Tuesday 9/30, 10:30am -11:30 am EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation and Entrepreneurship

He is responsible for innovating solutions that enable the world’s most important brands to connect and deeply engage with the customers they serve.   His team works with Global 250 enterprises to solve high-value problems, ones that blend consumer internet and enterprise assets from the broad Microsoft portfolio. In this capacity, he leads an inter-discipline organization that spans field sales, marketing, and engineering, and is comprised of a Consumer Insights team and an xD (Experience Design) team. 

Rick has introduced the ‘Studio Model’: an approach for innovating insight-powered experiences that provide people more of what they want, and less of what they don’t – at work, home, and on-the-go. The insights are based on highly-differentiated frameworks for understanding human behavior, based on the primary research of the Consumer Insights team[1]. These insights are brought to life through design-based capabilities of the xD team. The Studio Model emphasizes co-creation with consumers, brands, and partners, and a test-and-learn iterative approach where are ideas are framed, vetted, and then ‘prototyped into existence.’ In this model, solutions are ‘pulled’ into the market – tuned by the evolving digital habits of consumers and the competitive demands of high-ambition CMOs. 

Rick has 25+ years of experience as an entrepreneur and advisor, helping organizations build substantial market and competitive value through commercializing technology products, services and management approaches. Prior to joining Microsoft, Rick was a managing director at TCG Advisors, a boutique strategy and transformation firm based in Silicon Valley. Some of his work with companies such as Adobe was incorporated in a book on strategy and innovation, Escape Velocity, by Geoffrey Moore (Houghton Mifflin, September 2011). He also served as interim executive and start-up entrepreneur. As interim executive, he was CEO for LOBBY7 and Vice President, Corporate Development for Brix Networks. LOBBY7 was acquired by Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) and Brix was acquired by EXFO Corporation (NASDAQ: EXFO).[1] Key frameworks as described in the book by Natasha Hritzuk and Kelly Jones, both on Rick’s team: Multiscreen Marketing: The Seven Things You Need to Know to Reach Your Customers across TVs, Computers, Tablets, and Mobile Phones. CxO implications of these frameworks can be found in the Afterword.

 

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Youngsuk Chi, Chairman, Elsevier, President, International Publishers Association

Tues 9/30, 11am – 12pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi is a leader in the media-tech industry.  As Chairman of Elsevier, he works directly with governments, Elsevier customers and in industry associations worldwide.  In his primary role as head of Corporate Affairs for Reed Elsevier, he is responsible for government affairs, corporate communications, corporate responsibility, and Asia strategy for Elsevier’s parent company.  Chi also serves as President of the International Publishers Association, a global organization that represents the interests of more than 50 publishing industry association members from around the world.

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Clayton Christensen, DBA, Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Thurs 10/2, 9am – 10am EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Professor Christensen holds a BA from Brigham Young University and an MPhil in applied econometrics from Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an MBA and a DBA from the Harvard Business School, where he is currently the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration. He is regarded as one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth.

Christensen founded a number of successful companies and organizations which use and apply this theories in various ways: Innosight, a consulting firm helping companies create new growth businesses; Rose Park Advisors, a firm that identifies and invests in disruptive companies; and Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank whose mission is to apply his theories to vexing societal problems such as healthcare and education.

Professor Christensen is the best-selling author of nine books and more than a hundred articles, including the New York Times best-selling, How Will You Measure Your Life? He received the Global Business Book Award for The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Economist named it as one of the six most important books about business ever written. In 2011 and again in 2013, thousands of executives, consultants and business school professors were polled and named Christensen as the most influential business thinker in the world

Professor Christensen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He worked as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of Korea from 1971 to 1973 and continues to serve in his church in as many ways as he can. He and his wife Christine live in Belmont, MA. They are the parents of five children and grandparents to five grandchildren.

See other VIP guest from Harvard Business School: David Gavin

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Tamara J. Erickson, Founder & CEO, Tammy Erickson Associates

Wed 10/1, 7pm – 8pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tamara J. Erickson is a McKinsey Award-winning author, a leading expert on generations in the workplace, and a widely-respected authority on leadership, the changing workforce, collaboration and innovation, and the nature of work in intelligent organizations. She has three times been named one of the 50 most influential living management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, the respected ranking of global business thinkers.

Erickson is an Executive Fellow, Organisational Behaviour, at London Business School, where she has designed and co-directs the school’s premier leadership programme for senior-most executives, Leading Businesses into the Future. She is the founder and CEO of Tammy Erickson Associates, www.tammyerickson.com, a research-based firm of renowned thought leaders and senior business leaders committed to developing insights into the challenges that today’s businesses are facing and offering a specific set of services that help companies reshape their organizational practices. She has co-authored four Harvard Business Review articles: “It’s Time to Retire Retirement” (March 2004), winner of the McKinsey Award, “Managing Middlescence” (March 2006), “What It Means to Work Here,” (March 2007), and “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” (November 2007), as well as the book Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent, published by Harvard Business School Press (2006). She has also co-authored an MIT Sloan Management Review article, “Bridging Faultlines in Diverse Teams,” (Summer 2007). Tammy is the author of one of Harvard Business Review’s Breakthrough Ideas for 2008, “Task, Not Time,” (February 2008), one of HBR’s Forethoughts on Unconventional Wisdom in a Downturn, “‘Give Me the Ball’ Is the Wrong Call,” (December 2008), and the HBR Case Study “Gen Y in the Workforce” (February 2009).

Tammy recently completed a trilogy of books on how individuals in specific generations can excel in today’s workplace. Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation and Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work were published by Harvard Business Press in 2008. What’s Next, Gen X? Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want was published in 2010. Her blog “Across the Ages” is featured weekly on HBP Online (https://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/).

The research initiatives she and colleagues have undertaken include Demography is De$tiny, exploring the implications of current demographic changes on human resource practices, The New Employee/Employer Equation, developing new and powerful approaches to increasing employeeengagement through segmentation, and the Cooperative Advantage, done in collaboration with a team at London Business School, exploring the working practices of over 50 teams in 15 multi-nationals, representing the most extensive academically-grounded study of industry-based team working ever conducted. Her current research is focused on the implications of social enterprise software on the way we work.

Tammy is also a respected authority on technology and its implications for business and coauthor of the book Third Generation R&D: Managing the Link to Corporate Strategy, a widely accepted guide to making technology investments and managing innovative organizations.

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Todd Fisher, Member & Chief Administrative Officer, KKR

Wed 10/1, 5pm – 6pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

TODD FISHER (New York) joined KKR in 1993 and is KKR’s Global Chief Administrative Officer. Mr. Fisher is responsible for overseeing the finance, legal, IT, HR, public affairs and office operations functions, coordinating with the various businesses and geographies of KKR and overseeing the Firm’s efforts in Real Estate. He is a member of KKR’s Real Estate Investment Committee. Since joining KKR, he has led or played a significant role in transactions including Vendex KBB (Maxeda), Dynamit Nobel (now part of) Rockwood Specialties Inc., Northgate Information Solutions, Accuride Corporation, Alea Group Holdings Ltd., Bristol West Group, Merit Behavioral Care, and Willis Group Ltd. He is currently on the board of Maxeda B.V. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Fisher worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York and for Drexel Burnham Lambert in Los Angeles. Mr. Fisher holds a B.A. magna cum laude from Brown University, an M.A. with distinction from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and an M.B.A., Palmer Scholar, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown University, the Board of Advisors for SAIS, the Advisory Board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.

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Donald Graham, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, Graham Holdings Company

Wed 10/1, 3pm – 4pm EST
Forum: Cultivating Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Donald E. Graham became chief executive officer of Graham Holdings Company (then The Washington Post Company) in May 1991 and chairman of the board in September 1993. He was publisher of The Washington Post newspaper from January 1979 until September 2000 and chairman of the paper from September 2000 to February 2008.

Graham was born on April 22, 1945, in Baltimore, Maryland, a son of Philip L. and Katharine Meyer Graham. His father was publisher of The Washington Post from 1946 until 1961 and president of The Washington Post Company from 1947 until his death in 1963. His mother, Katharine Graham, served in a variety of executive positions from 1963 until her death in 2001. Eugene Meyer, Graham’s grandfather, purchased The Washington Post at a bankruptcy sale in 1933.

After graduating in 1966 from Harvard College, where he was president of the Harvard Crimson, Graham was drafted and served as an information specialist with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. He was a patrolman with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department from January 1969 to June 1970. Graham joined The Washington Post newspaper in 1971 as a reporter and subsequently held several news and business positions at the newspaper and at Newsweek. He was named executive vice president and general manager of the newspaper in 1976.

He was elected a director of The Washington Post Company in 1974 and served as president from May 1991 to September 1993.

Graham is chairman of the District of Columbia College Access Program, a private foundation which, since 1999, has helped double the number of DC public high school students going on to college and has helped triple the number graduating from college. He co-founded the program along with major local businesses and foundations. Since its inception, DC-CAP has assisted over 13,000 DC students enroll in college and has provided scholarships totaling more than $18 million. He is a co-founder of TheDream.US, a national scholarship fund for DREAMers, created to help immigrant youth get a college education.

Graham is a trustee of the Federal City Council and of the Philip L. Graham Fund, which was established in 1963 in memory of his father. He is also a director and member of the compensation committee of Facebook, The Summit Fund of Washington, the College Success Foundation and KIPP-DC. Previously, he served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

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