Innovation, as Steve Jobs said, distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

To be successful in today’s fast-paced market environment it is crucial for organisations to acknowledge this truth and live by it. But how to build an organisation geared towards innovation? What obstacles are to be overcome to build a company culture that nurtures innovation?

Join Milan Thakkar from venture capital and accelerator Brinc, Alix Farquhar from Bridge, David John from HSBC and the founder of Xccelerate and Vice President of the Artificial Intelligence Society of HK, Lavine Hemlani in an exploration of what often holds innovation back at the enterprise level and what approaches can be taken to tackle these challenges.

About the Speakers:

Milan Thakkar

Director of Strategy, Brinc

Milan is helping Brinc’s corporate partners achieve their growth aspirations by engaging with the external innovation ecosystem. Prior to Brinc, Milan spent 7+ years as a consultant at EY in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing focusing on digital transformation and operational improvement in the Banking & Capital Markets industry.

Alix Farquhar

Client Director, Bridge

Alix is an expert in strategic change and transformation. For the past 15 years, she has focused on helping people lead, manage and thrive in organisational change. She has supported clients in finance, legal, FMCG, charity, public sector, airlines, energy, media, music and telecoms. She is most passionate about helping organisations move towards becoming self-organising systems where people can bring their whole self to work, being healthy, happy and purposeful.

David John

Digital Product Manager, HSBC

David is the Digital Product Manager for PayMe, HSBC’s social payments platform that serves more than 2 million customers and businesses in Hong Kong. He is responsible for managing the full product lifecycle from business case to delivery and has a strong track record of implementing digital products and services within corporates. He is also a Director at 88beans, a Hong Kong-based startup that curates coffee beans from boutique coffee roasters globally and delivers them to your door.

Lavine Hemlani

Founder & CEO, Xccelerate

Passionate about pioneering advanced technology education to empower individuals, enterprises and workforces.

Founder and CEO of Xccelerate, a leading ed-tech and future of work start-up headquartered in HK with regional capabilities. Xccelerate is founded on the vision that the greatest opportunity for improving lives is education and aspires to reinvent education to address the colossal talent challenges in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation, Software Engineering, Blockchain and Design across Asia.

Xccelerate drives outcomes for individuals, enterprises and governments by leveraging expert instructors, proprietary curriculum and learning software. Prior to Xccelerate, Lavine co-founded FLYR and worked with deep learning startup Thread Genius (acquired by Sotheby’s). Lavine began his career in investment banking in NYC at Lazard’s Mergers & Acquisitions division (M&A) and held investment facing roles at the following funds: Atlas Capital, Marwar Capital and Union Park Capital.

Lavine also serves as Vice President of the Artificial Intelligence Society of HK and on the Board of Directors of the 24 Hour Race, a global non-profit that fights modern slavery.

Agenda:

Topic 1: The importance of corporate culture

• How to promote a culture that supports innovation?

Topic 2: Challenges in driving innovation

• What are factors holding back innovation?

• How to work with stakeholders in an agile fashion?

Topic 3: Opportunities for driving innovation

• How does Brinc work with their corporate partners to foster innovation

• Problem-statement-definition approach

• The impact of L&D