Scott Bales
Scott Bales is a global futurist, innovation & digital strategist, serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker at TEDx and a best-selling author
A technology guru, Scott Bales is a global leader in the cutting-edge arena known as "The Digital Shift", encompassing innovation, culture, design, technology and mobility in a world gone digital. A thought leader through and through, Scott thrives on the intersection between cultural and behavioural changes in the face of technological innovations.
With over ten years of international experience in innovation and implementation strategy, Scott has built a reputation as a sought-after consultant and speaker with the ability to communicate unorthodox ideas with insightful passion.
Currently, Scott is the Chief of Staff at Microsoft Asiapacific region, The MD of Innovation Labs Asia, and has previously worked as Chief Mobile Officer for Moven, the world’s first-ever digital everyday bank. Described as a 'Digital Warrior', Scott has found a way to successfully mesh his fascination with people and what motivates them together with a raw enthusiasm for technology.
In a world where technology reigns, you must practice what you preach, and Scott does exactly that. He’s a founding member of Next Bank, a mentor to Entrepreneurs across the world on Lean Startup, sits on the Board of Care Pakistan and holds advisory positions at Publishizer, FastaCash, Our Better World, The HUB Singapore and Apps 4 Good. He’s a man on a mobile technology mission to transform mainstream thought processing around conventional business practices.
Scott has authored best-selling books Mobile Ready: Connecting With The Untethered Consumer and Innovation Wars, an essential guide for any corporate to drive successful innovation programs with impact.
Scott holds great insight into the disruptive dynamics at play in the ongoing mobile revolution. Scott frames the emerging expectations of customers and the disconnect in businesses in meeting those needs.
Regional Director - Head of Edge (Innovation) at AIA
Scott is the both leading the industry and across every current important movement in mobile banking. His presentations and knowledge make him someone to listen to.
FST Singapore
It's tough to make talks in the Financial space exciting, and Scott delivered. I would highly recommend him for speaking engagements in the Finance/Banking industry.
Head of Marketing, Google Philippines
We worked with Scott at Cognizant Community, our annual and unique customer engagement event, in both Australia and New Zealand. His presentations and knowledge displayed at various panels were highly appreciated by the audience. I would not hesitate to hire Scott again, as he clearly makes a difference.
Associate Vice President, Cognizant
Scott is dynamic and vibrant. He is able to engage the audience with his interesting analogies and concepts in the tech-world through: "Are you ready for Isaac". In which he delivered a huge amount of insights within a short time.
Manager, Centre For Marketing Excellence at Singapore Management University
My speaking topics...
Innovation Wars
Uncover The Competitive Innovation Edge
Innovation Wars dives into the competitive nature of innovation in the modern organisation, to uncover the secrets to driving innovation success.
A decade of technology driven progress has triggered a global shift in leadership practice, driving new demands on organizational capability, culture and design. Leading organizations around the world leverage the power of Customer Centric Design and Lean Startup methods, out pacing their corporate peers in the battle for future markets. Innovation Wars is your guide to market success in the battlefield that is corporate innovation.
Greater than 65% of corporate executives see innovation as the key to unlocking new value, new markets and harnessing the power of new technologies. But not everyone succeeds.
Key Takeaways include:
- Investigation in the competitive battlefield that is innovation. Who talks the talk? and who walks the walk?
- What are the strategic lessons from those that drive success?
- What are the frameworks, tools and key infantry that you will need to drive innovation in your organization?
- Simple practical tools for you to implement immediately
Recode Your Leadership
Are you ready for the digital future?
As organisations worldwide embark on bold transformations they continually struggle through challenges related to mindset, culture and leadership. The very people who have built these great businesses are feeling less and less significant in the ever changing digital world.
This keynote will ignite your drive to reconsider your purpose. You will learn how important it is to leverage your experience while embarking on a practical learning journey to: Reskill, Retool, Reinvent & Recode your Leadership.
What will I takeaway from this keynote?
- Scott presents four simple steps that serve as lights on a path for the next generations of executives young and old. You can use these steps to analyze and transform your organisation.
- Deep case studies and insights will help you to develop self awareness and strategies to reinvent your value and purpose in a world saturated with technology - to not only survive but also thrive.
- Prospective leaders will learn how the modern reality is now different from what they were taught at business school and will get their leadership career off to the best start.
Watch me...
Smart Cities & Citizens
The world around us is changing every single week as new apps and technologies reshape the landscape in which we live, move, eat, socialize, educate and create communities. Our challenge is to figure out how this will evolve as IoT, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles become a part of everyday life.
Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong & Dubai have heavily invested in Smart City technology but what does it actually mean? Where do we look for the technologies that are going to reshape society, reshape transportation, systems, utilities and the infrastructure in which we live.
Key Takeaways include:
- We take a look at how smart cities will evolve through the eyes of a digital citizen. Someone whose biases and preferences are shaped by the smartphones and Spotify’s of the world. Learn their daily habits and how they are different to their parents.
- Understand the trends that are reshaping our nation’s and build a framework to demistify the technological buzzwords.
The Future Consumer
We have witnessed an accelerated rate of adoption of technology both as organizations and as individuals. With that our proficiency with technology has also grown. But we are quickly approaching a large behavioural and cultural gap that will change the way we think about technology forever.
In this keynote we will explore what makes a digital native, a person born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts. This generation is commonly referred to as the Millennials or Generation Z, those born around or after the turn of the millennium.
Key Takeaways include:
- An in-depth understanding of the realities that shape the modern consumer including transparency, authenticity and utility anywhere
- Actions that you and your organisation can take today to engage and service this generation and measure your impact
Watch me...
The Future of Work
Over the past 10 years, where and how we work has radically changed. Whether you work for a multinational corporate, or a small business, the tools at your disposal have dramatically changed. The way you run your business, interact with your customer, monitor business performance, and optimize for either local focus or global scale has changed.
New technologies are evolving everyday - IoT, cloud, artificial intelligence and blockchain, are at our fingertips ready to empower a whole new way of operating. Learn about these technologies and how they will shape your outlook on the market.
Key Takeaways include:
- We will explore the human element of work, yes there will be robots and artificial intelligence around us but humans will still play a critical role in the creative and strategic direction of almost every business on the planet.
- A framework to use in your business to document and understand the trends and customer preferences that are changing your business so you are not the next Borders or Blockbuster.
See me...
https://odemanagement.com/speakers/scott-bales#sigProIdb3cebd8888
Recode Your Leadership
March 18th 2020 In these challenging times the need to adjust and recode your leadership to meet the unique demands placed on our organisations by the fallout of Covid-19 is the new relaity… Read more +
The Innovative Culture Battle is Real
September 24th 2019 Change is imperative, yet many organizations’ transformation initiatives meet numerous setbacks, failures or delays. Conversely, those that succeed are eventually confronted with the reality that they are not advancing as… Read more +
Modern Leadership Styles Reshaping the Digital Economy
August 19th 2019 The digital revolution is causing an enormous change in reshaping leadership styles. These changes include swift and far-reaching technological changes, a shift from physical attributes towards knowledge, more dispersed and less… Read more +
Mobile Ready
Is your company mobile ready?
With over 6 billion mobile devices globally, an entire new ecosystem has been created that binds us all together, changing the mindset and behaviour of consumers. The amount of time and money people are spending on mobile devices is growing rapidly and yet many businesses don't understand the mobile consumer. Nor a plan to capitalise on this tectonic market shift.
Mobile is not about the technology. Mobile is about behaviour, context, and utility. When you embrace this, technology as an issue disappears. No longer are you talking about operating systems, hardware, or device features. Instead you’ll focus on the elements of mobile that always supersede the constantly redundant mobile device world. A consumer behaviour centric view of business and markets.
Enjoy the journey into a world without physicality, be more open minded, and learn to embrace the future of your business.
Innovation Wars
Innovation Wars dives into the competitive nature of inovation in the modern organisation to uncover the secrets to driving innovation success.
A decade of technology driven progress has triggered a global shift in leadership practice, driving new demands on organizational capability, culture and design. Leading organizations around the world leverage the power of Customer Centric Design and Lean Startup methods, out pacing their corporate peers in the battle for future markets. Innovation Wars is your guide to market success in the battlefield that is corporate innovation.
Greater than 65% of corporate executives see innovation as the key to unlocking new value, new markets and harnessing the power of new technologies. But not everyone succeeds. Through this book you will learn how to successfully:
- Learn how to change your operating model to survive and thrive in an era of disruption
- What are the strategic lessons that drive success?
- What are the frameworks, tools and key infantry that you will need to drive innovation in your organization?