Dr. Simone Ahuja

Innovation Strategist, Bestselling Author, Business School Advisor

Simone Ahuja is a top innovation keynote speaker, best-selling author, and founder of Blood Orange, an innovation and strategy firm. She is a columnist for Harvard Business Review and serves as an advisor to MIT’s Practical Impact Alliance and Noora Health, a FastCompany “Most Innovative Company”.

  • Dr. Simone Ahuja Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Minnesota, USA

  • Dr. Simone Ahuja Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Minnesota, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

Cracking the Intrapreneur’s Code: How To Think and Act Like a Startup Inside Large Organizations

Innovation isn’t just for R & D and the organizational elite. Some of the most impactful innovations come from passion and purpose-driven intrapreneurs – entrepreneurs in your organization without a formal mandate to innovate. Cracking the Intrapreneur’s Code ...

Innovation isn’t just for R & D and the organizational elite. Some of the most impactful innovations come from passion and purpose-driven intrapreneurs – entrepreneurs in your organization without a formal mandate to innovate. Cracking the Intrapreneur’s Code helps you get clear on how to support this powerful form of internal innovation, and inspires your intrapreneurs to take action through memorable stories, a clear process, and a whole lot of fun. Based on research from her book Disrupt It Yourself, Simone presents a proven approach to guide your intrapreneurs from ideas to innovation impact.

This program is perfect for leaders and teams who want to:
– Address disruption by out-innovating from the inside of their organization
– Build a culture where everyone feels empowered to innovate
– Drive more and better innovation every day – without upending their entire organization

The audience will leave with:
– A clear framework for everyone to activate innovation
– A simple and proven action plan to accelerate ideas into bottom-line impact
– The creative confidence they need to get into intrapreneurial action

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Revolution is an Inside Job: How to Act and Behave Like an Intrapreneur

Do you have ideas about changes needed in your organization but don’t have a clear pathway to bring them to life? Is problem-solving in your blood, but maybe not in your job description? Each of us can be a leader and changemaker – but what happens when we question the...

Do you have ideas about changes needed in your organization but don’t have a clear pathway to bring them to life? Is problem-solving in your blood, but maybe not in your job description? Each of us can be a leader and changemaker – but what happens when we question the status quo within our division or industry?

In this interactive, practical, and fast-paced keynote, explore what you need to light your intrapreneurial fire. Examine the top challenges of successful intrapreneurs and map strategies to navigate these in your life.

Dr. Ahuja offers personal insights about the power of placing small, low-risk bets to make meaningful change – with real-world case studies and some innovation therapy. She highlights why we must value the diversity of thought and skill, how we can leverage our existing resources to solve pressing problems, and illuminates barriers facing intrapreneurs. You’ll leave with a sense of empowerment, practical tips, and a valuable tool to share with your team and keep your intrapreneurial fire burning.

This session is perfect for leaders and teams who want to:
– Build a consistent pipeline for innovation and innovation talent
– Build a culture where everyone feels empowered to innovate
– Create a more inclusive culture that catalyzes innovation

The audience will learn to:
– Identify and develop ideas that will have the highest impact on your organization.
– Leverage a process that allows them to test ideas in low risk, high impact ways
– Get comfortable with so-called “failures” and re-frame them as learning.

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Jugaad (Frugal) Innovation: How Do Create High Value at a Low Cost Outcome Statement: How to Think Like a Fast & Frugal Entreprene

Thinking like an entrepreneur isn’t just for startups. Solving even the biggest problems starts with you and the resources you already have. What you need is the right mindset and a simple toolkit to get you there. Based on her research in emerging markets and her ...

Thinking like an entrepreneur isn’t just for startups. Solving even the biggest problems starts with you and the resources you already have. What you need is the right mindset and a simple toolkit to get you there.

Based on her research in emerging markets and her bestselling book, Jugaad Innovation, Simone shares inspiring stories of frugal innovators who solve problems large and small with the right mindset and a set of guiding principles. This high-value, low-resource approach to problem-solving occurs at the intersection of business, design, and social innovation.

This program is perfect for leaders and teams who:
– Want to create more business value with fewer resources consistently
– Want to democratize innovation, so it’s the domain of all employees
– Feel challenged and stressed by having to grow the business with less time and fewer resources.

The audience will learn to:
– Use your creativity to reframe problems as opportunities
– Gain support for new ideas to move faster and have a greater impact
– Leverage existing resources so they can start problem-solving now

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a Catalyst for Innovation: Keys to greater inclusion and better performance

Innovation is the most powerful way for organizations to stay relevant and grow in our rapidly evolving world. By increasing the diversity of their teams and creating space for diverse voices to be heard, business leaders can dramatically increase their innovation output. In ...

Innovation is the most powerful way for organizations to stay relevant and grow in our rapidly evolving world. By increasing the diversity of their teams and creating space for diverse voices to be heard, business leaders can dramatically increase their innovation output. In this energizing and optimistic keynote, Dr. Ahuja shares engaging stories demonstrating why diverse teams create more “out of the box” ideas and drive nearly 20% higher revenue. She provides a fun and often surprising experience that uncovers your own biases in real-time and shares practical tools for building the psychological safety fundamental to successful innovation and business growth.

This program is great for the leaders and teams who:
– Want to reduce bias and build a more inclusive and curious culture
– Want to build a healthy culture of psychological safety to support diverse voices and ideas
– Want to harness curiosity to drive more inclusion and innovation

The audience will leave with:
– A crystal clear connection between DEI and greater innovation
– A clear strategy for removing barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion
– Proven steps to navigate difficult conversations that fuel DEI and innovation

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About Keynote Speaker Dr. Simone Ahuja

Dr. Simone Ahuja is the founder of Blood Orange, an innovation and strategy advisory firm.  Headquartered in Minneapolis with global teams, Blood Orange has developed a fast and frugal innovation methodology that helps companies move develop innovative ideas and move them through to execution.

She is a columnist for Harvard Business Review and serves as an advisor to MIT’s Practical Impact Alliance and Noora Health, a FastCompany “Most Innovative Company”.  Simone provides innovation and intrapreneurship consulting services, interactive labs and keynotes to organizations including 3M, Procter & Gamble, Target Corp, Medtronic, Stanley Black and Decker, and the World Economic Forum.

Simone is the co-author of the international bestseller Jugaad Innovation – Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth, and author of  Disrupt-It-Yourself – Hacking the Corporation to Make it Fast, Fluid and Frugal, selected by Forbes as a 2019 must-read leadership book.

Testimonials

Simone’s sharing her perspective on frugal innovation during our recent Innovation Summit was a welcome asset as she reminded us that impactful, sustainable innovation relies on constantly stretching ourselves beyond our own business mindset.”

Tom Beauregard

EVP and Chief Innovation Officer, UnitedHealth Group

Simone’s message spoke directly to each person at our event.  She clearly illustrated how global organizations can innovate, faster, better and cheaper in an era of globalization and economic volatility.  Don’t miss out on her timely and compelling message.

Peter Erickson

SVP Innovation, Technology and Quality, General Mills

Simone quickly connected with and inspired our entire audience.  Forward looking companies wanting to drive sustainable growth in the US and globally would be well advised to hear this compelling message now

Dimitris Lappas

VP Business Operations, Global Supply Chain, ECOLAB

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