Beyond Tomorrow: Futurism, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at SXSW

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Podcast begins - Beyond Tomorrow: Futurism, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at SXSW

[01:07] Predicting the next big tech innovation with futurist Mike Courtney

[07:50] Thinking like a researcher vs having the foresight of a futurist

[11:14] Bringing an entrepreneur mindset to the corporate world with EIR Ilya Tabakh

[15:27] Sustainability, AI, & rapidly changing technology at SXSW

[20:12] Infusing startups in a massive corporate network with Plug and Play’s Ehab Gabr

[25:56] Expanding from Cedar Park & tackling the advanced manufacturing space

Mike Courtney, Researcher & Futurist and Founder/CEO at Aperio Insights

As a futurist, Mike combines research-driven insights with innovation-focused thinking to encourage organizations to understand what’s possible and prepare for changes in their industries. While a researcher looks at the months ahead, a futurist looks years and even decades ahead of current trends to capture upcoming technology and visualize consumer needs. At South By, Mike is most excited to see AI take center stage as a topic of discussion, especially how to mitigate potential negatives with such new technology.

“The real difference is just time horizon. In research, we focus on the next 6 to 12 months, what are consumers thinking, and feeling, and why. Thinking like a futurist is thinking 5, 10, 20 years out, maybe 30 years out, but a lot of rigor, a lot of process, a lot of methodology.”

Ilya Tabakh, Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) at Black & Veatch

In his role as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR), Ilya has the unique opportunity to adapt his entrepreneurship experience into a corporate role influencing innovation in infrastructure. EIRs bring an outside-in perspective to established large companies, allowing these organizations to tap into new markets and embrace rapidly changing technology. During his visit to SXSW, Ilya is focused on conversations about sustainability and decarbonization goals, and how these initiatives will impact infrastructure for different communities.

“I find that to be an effective entrepreneur in residence, you need kind of three things. The first one is, what do you bring to the table? Then, it helps to partner with an organization that already knows how innovation helps them strategically. And then, the third part is a lot of time you're switching the type of role that you have.”

Ehab Gabr, Director at Plug and Play Cedar Park

Plug and Play is one of the largest innovation platforms in the world, investing in 2500 startups and working with an ecosystem of over 50,000 startups globally. Most recently, Ehab has had the privilege of directing the Cedar Park office of Plug and Play, which represents a huge opportunity for this large company to tap into its new market in Texas. With South By happening right in Cedar Park’s backyard, Ehab is excited to see so much innovation worth exploring and investing in, especially in the advanced manufacturing space.

“The way we think about it is we want to be in the corporates' backyard, especially post-COVID. A lot of executives have minimized traveling, so we want to bring innovation to them. Because we source from all over the world, with the 50,000 startups that we have loaded into our online playbook system, we can bring startups to any market.”