speaker photo

Alistair Croll (Host) (he/him)

Co-founder & Chair, FWD50

Alistair makes early-stage companies improve their go-to-market strategies, and works with some of the world’s largest firms on business model innovation. He also helps governments understand the impact of technology on society, ethics, and resiliency.

As an entrepreneur, Alistair co-founded Coradiant; the Year One Labs accelerator; and a variety of other startups. He has also launched and chaired some of the world’s leading conferences on emerging technology, including Startupfest, Strata, Cloud Connect, FWD50, Bitnorth, Scaletech, and more.

Alistair is the author of four books on technology and entrepreneurship, including the best-selling Lean Analytics, which has been translated into eight languages and is in its tenth printing in China. He speaks internationally on topics such as data science, innovation, scaling startups, digital government, AI, and applying critical thinking to technology. A graduate of Dalhousie University, he has also been a visiting executive on data science and critical thinking at Harvard Business School.

Sessions

Breaking the complexity curse

October 17, 2023  8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
In this introductory session, we go over the objectives of the cohort, explain how things will work, and meet our fellow participants. Host Alistair Croll will set the stage with a discussion about complexity and scale, and the role that modularity plays in overcoming the challenges of growth. See more.

Bits aren't atoms

October 19, 2023  7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
The unique properties of digital systems—such as low friction, perfect copies, and impermanence—require leaders to readjust their guiding principles. The cost of experimentation drops; we can recover from mistakes; collaboration is easier; and we invest smaller amounts continuously once we see proof of success. To lead in a digital era, executives need to incorporate such changes into their thinking. See more.

Transforming how we deliver

October 26, 2023  7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Digital transformation doesn't happen by itself. To overcome the natural inertia of a system, leaders must create new structures that encourage cultural change in order for digital approaches to dominate. See more.

Experiments, sandboxes, and pushing back against the waterfall

November 2, 2023  5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
How to help learnings at the edge flow upstream to policymakers and legislators by overcoming technology fears, while ensuring that you don't run afoul of ethical and legal risks. See more.
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