Travels from Florida, USA
Kaihan Krippendorff's speaking fee falls within range: $30,000 to $50,000
Top business strategy, growth, and transformation guru, Kaihan Krippendorff teaches companies how to tap into the resources they already have to produce breakthrough market-disrupting solutions. As the founder of the innovative consulting firm, Outthinker, Kaihan and his team have helped their clients generate over $2.5 billion in revenue, while simultaneously breathing new life into their businesses.
Kaihan‘s extensive list of clients include Fortune 500s across every industry, the Consumer Electronics Association, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, Harvard Business Review, Wharton Business School, National Restaurant Association, Produce Marketing Association, FORTUNE Growth Summit, Young Presidents’ Organization, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and the Institute for Management Studies, among many others.
Kaihan is the author of four business strategy books and is currently working on a fifth. The Employee Innovator: Driving Innovation From Within (Columbia University Press, 2019) debunks the misconception that most market disruptions come from small start-ups and instead, focuses on the many overlooked innovations generated by large companies. Kaihan’s latest research for the book breaks down what made it possible innovations to occur, what innovation blockers exist today for organizations, and how they can overcome these blockers with simple yet effective frameworks, tools, and techniques.
Kaihan’s work is frequently featured in major news and business media outlets like Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Time, Fox Business, and PBS.
Kaihan started his career off at McKinsey and Company. He quickly built a lasting brand for himself in business consulting circles due to his unique holistic approach and deep understanding of global markets and cultures. He speaks three languages and has lived or spent extended periods of time in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific. He holds a PhD in Economics as well as a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.
Kaihan Krippendorff is the founder of Outthinker, a global think-tank of chief strategy, innovation, growth, and transformation officers and executives from large public, private, and Fortune 500 companies.
A former McKinsey consultant and author of 6 books including bestsellers Outthink the Competition, Driving Innovation from Within, and Proximity, Kaihan is recognized by Thinkers50 and Global Gurus as one of the top 20 global management thinkers in strategy and innovation.
Known for rigorously researched tools and engaging programs, Kaihan is an innovation catalyst and sought-after strategic advisor for some of the world’s most recognizable companies including Aetna-CVS, JP Morgan, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Yahoo!. His work has created in excess of $3.0 billion in new annual recurring revenue.
Kaihan is host of the Outthinkers podcast, The Chief Strategy Officer Podcast, and Strategy at Scale podcast. His ideas are frequently published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and other leading media outlets. He is a Senior Fellow at Wharton Business School and teaches strategy and innovation at NYU, Florida International University and other programs across the globe. He is an advisory board member of two tech startups.
Kaihan holds a doctorate in economics and business and engineering degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering, Wharton, Columbia Business School, and London Business School. With a mother from Bangladesh, father from Germany, and wife from Latin America, Kaihan is a global citizen who brings a holistic, diverse, and worldly perspective to everything he does. He is a passionate cook and lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, three teenage kids, two cats, and a dog.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has said, “Kaihan shows that with a compelling idea anyone can change the world” and that message has made Kaihan one of the most sought-after business speakers in the world.
Speaker and strategist Kaihan Krippendorff explains how his young son’s Lego rocket ship made him realize that the majority of us are looking at innovation the wrong way. When Krippendorff mistook his son’s creation for a tower, the boy quickly corrected him, clarifying that it could go underwater and pick up dinosaurs. The moment was a breakthrough for Kaihan, who notes that great innovators look at the pieces they already have, rearrange them, make something weird and different, and proudly stand by it. “We had assumed that we had to learn something,” Kaihan comments on what he now feels was a flawed approach to spurring innovative thinking. “Innovation is actually something that is innate to us.” The real problem, he elaborates is that as we get older, we forget how to think innovatively. Surveying some of history’s greatest innovators, mavericks, and accelerators, Kaihan extracts tactics we can use to “relearn what they have continued to do naturally.”
In-demand strategist and battle-tested “Outthinker,” Kaihan Krippendorff helps your people tap into their innate inability to think innovatively, increasing your business’ agility so that it can thrive in the Digital Age. Kaihan specializes in showing companies how they can disrupt their market without disrupting their own business. The seasoned consultant imparts a proven system that will enable you to better spot overlooked opportunities, produce breakthroughs with resources you already have, and leave your competition disoriented.
Outthink the Competition: Proven tools and future-ready insights to win the future
We live in an accelerated age of technology, disruption, volatility, and uncertainty. It demands that we lead our teams and organizations in radically new ways. Success depends not only on our own ability to think and act strategically, but on our ability to enable our team to think boldly, think differently, share ideas, and act.
Next-era leaders and teams need practical tools, structures, and frameworks that liberate them to achieve better business outcomes and problem-solve using AI, technology, contextual knowledge, and their own human creativity. Companies that activate this Outthinker Mindset are proven to be 6X more likely to recruit and retain top talent and 3X more likely to outperform financially – faster revenue growth, higher profit margins, greater business value.
Top 20 globally recognized management thinker, best-selling author, podcast host, and Founder of Outthinker, Kaihan Krippendorff helps you Outthink the Competition with his proven 5-step framework and toolset that can be applied immediately to move to the next level of success.
Participants will leave with: · Insights into emerging strategic technology, trends, and approaches being used by top companies leading their markets · The Outthinker IDEAS Process: A proven framework for strategic thinking and driving growth that reduces risk and creates optionality. · Actionable strategies for future readiness · Clarity, confidence, and energy to move forward
Unleashing Agile
In a world marked by accelerated change, disruption, and volatility, leaders must be able to rapidly observe, analyze, and connect information to seize opportunity and defend against possible threats to their business. Mental agility and agile adaptation are now a non-negotiable part of the business skillset.
In this interactive and practical keynote, globally recognized strategy expert and best-selling author Kaihan Krippendorff shares a proven framework and tools for unleashing agile problem solving and strategic thinking in everyday work. Inspiring stories handpicked for your event bring to life a playbook of the top five strategies being used today by agile disruptors to beat the competition.
Make agility a part of your organizational DNA so you can respond faster to change, seamlessly shift focus to the right priority for now, efficiently build and sustain momentum, and boost resilience that endures beyond any single initiative.
Participants will leave with: · A framework for agile thinking and analysis that can be used by anyone in any role · Increased ability to connect seemingly unrelated information to recognize opportunities and potential risks · A playbook of the top five strategies used by agile disruptors today to beat the competition · A boost of energy and confidence to tackle their work
Proximity Revolution: Leading Beyond Disruption
In a world of constant disruption, technological change, and megatrend turbulence, how do we transform the way we lead and work? How do we see through the noise and make sense of what is important to our business?
The answer is Proximity – a simple yet powerful idea that helps leaders turn chaos into clarity.
Based on the groundbreaking new best-selling book, Proximity, which was hailed by Malcolm Gladwell’s Next Big Idea Club as a must-read and Thinkers50 as one of the most important new ideas in business this year, Kaihan will guide the audience on a journey of understanding to make sense of disruptors like artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, data proliferation, renewable energy, virtual reality, quantum computing, IoT, 3D printing, and new ways of working.
This high-impact keynote arms leaders with a Proximity Roadmap to navigate the future with a fresh mindset and the practical tools they need to take bold action and thrive.
Participants will learn: · How to understand the business impact of megatrends and disruptors like generative AI, 3D printing, precision agriculture, dark factories, and renewable energy—and how to harness them for growth and resiliency · How to build a Proximity Roadmap—three steps to winning the future · How to prepare their organization and people with the mindsets needed to lead through change · How to map out where to rethink growth plans, innovation and investments, operations, and customer expectations
Driving Innovation from Within: Drive growth, agility and resilience by turning employees into intrapreneurs
In our accelerated world of technology and disruption, the benefits of turning employees into innovators are well documented. Companies that treat their people as “Intrapreneurs” are building a competitive advantage that infuses innovation, adaptability, and future-readiness into their DNA.
Kaihan Krippendorff’s research debunks the story of the disruptive startup and shows that 70% of society's most transformative innovations were conceived within large established organizations. with active Intrapreneur networks are 3X more likely to be in the top quintile of financial performance and enjoy a 6X advantage in their ability to recruit and retain top talent.
In this high-impact keynote, top 20 ranked innovation expert, podcast host, and Founder of Outthinker, Kaihan Krippendorff shows how leaders can build capacity for enterprise-wide transformation and smart innovation. Using his proven IN-OVATE framework Kaihan offers a playbook for intrapreneurs to navigate barriers, overcome resistance, and take the initiative to drive transformation without quitting their job.
Participants will leave with: · The IN-OVATE Framework- proven tools to identify and overcome the seven blockers of innovation · Five mindsets and habits of successful Intrapreneurs · How to take “smart risks” and test ideas within the context of a large organization with resource and time constraints · How to lead and create organizational support structures that encourage innovation · Inspiration, energy, and intent to innovate even if “innovation” is not a part of their title
Be the Disruptor, Not the Disrupted
We are experiencing a historic acceleration in the pace of change in our world. Artificial intelligence, digitization, robotics, 3D printing, climate change, political instability, deglobalization, and the rise of purpose-driven enterprises are reconfiguring how every conceivable industry operates. These changes are dividing us into two camps: the “Disruptors” and the “Disrupted”.
Kaihan Krippendorff, Founder of Outthinker, author, and podcast host has spent decades studying patterns of disruption. Thinkers50 and Global Gurus have recognized him as a top 20 management thinker globally for his strategic analysis of why some companies thrive, others fall behind, and the emerging approaches companies can use to create competitive advantage and transform continually.
Don’t underestimate the cost of standing still. Choose to Be the Disruptor with this engaging and practical keynote. Learn a proven design-thinking process to spark disruptive ideas and drive immediate results. Through entertaining stories of innovation — both successes and failures— your audience will leave inspired and armed with actionable tactics they can use right away.
Participants will leave with: · A framework for agile thinking and analysis that can be applied to any situation · An understanding of emerging trends and disruptors shaping the future of their industry and competitive ecosystem · A proven framework to generate and evaluate strategic options and innovations · The Outthinker Playbook: the top five strategies being used by disruptors today · A tool to avoid killing off “crazy” (valuable) ideas and turn them into winning moves
Outside-In Strategy: Expanding Your Strategic Aperture
The greatest competitive threats — and the boldest growth opportunities — rarely come from your industry peers. They increasingly come from unexpected players applying ideas, new business models, and technologies outside of your industry.
Leaders excelling in today’s fast-moving world broaden their aperture, scanning across industries for patterns and practices that can be adapted to reduce their risk of disruption, cover blindspots, create efficiency, and unlock new growth. They use Outside-In Strategy.
Give your team a booster shot of Outside-In Strategic thinking with author, podcast host, and Founder of Outthinker, Kaihan Krippendorff. Drawing from decades of tracking and analysis of outperformers and 500+ annual conversations with CXOs from across industries – Kaihan will guide your team through a curated selection of strategic approaches, business models, and mindsets from outside your industry — the very ideas reshaping the global business landscape — to help you mitigate risk, solve problems, drive growth, and unlock efficiences that impact on your top and bottom line. Put Outside-In thinking into action with a proven process, tools, and frameworks developed with practitioners in mind.
Participants will leave with: · A sharper ability to see around corners, reduce risk, and cover blind spots · Fresh insights into business models and strategies succeeding in other industries · A proven and repeatable framework and tools to develop, prioritize, and begin testing a portfolio of Outside-In Options · A broader, more powerful strategic aperture for driving both growth and resilience
Outlead the Competition: Mindsets and Leadership for the Next-Era
Today’s business environment rewards leaders who can think strategically, act with agility, and inspire their people to do the same. While many organizations focus on technology and innovation, the real differentiator is leadership — the ability to align, empower, and mobilize teams to act decisively amid uncertainty.
In this high-impact keynote, author, podcaster, and Founder of Outthinker, Kaihan Krippendorff shares how the most forward-thinking companies are developing leaders who continuously learn, adapt, and out-lead the competition. This inspiring talk crafted just for your audience draws insights from across Kaihan’s best-selling books (including Outthink the Competition, Driving, Innovation from Within, and Proximity), latest Harvard Business Review articles, and new research.
Participants will leave with: · Understanding of how leadership mindsets are evolving for next-era high-performing organizations · A framework for leading through ambiguity, unlocking team potential, and translating strategy into action. · Spark leadership at all levels of the organization that drive better business outcomes · They will leave energized and equipped to foster a culture of accountability, empowerment, and growth.
Winning with AI, Technology, and People: Leading in the Age of Intelligent Systems
Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping every industry, redefining how we work, make decisions, and compete. Yet amid all the hype around data, platforms, and algorithms, one truth remains: people are the differentiator. From the boardroom to the front line, success in this new era depends on our ability to integrate technology’s power with human creativity, intuition, and strategic thinking.
In this forward-looking keynote, globally recognized business thinker, podcaster, and author Kaihan Krippendorff, offers insights and proven tools that you can use to make sense of AI and emerging technologies from both a top management perspective and a personal, day-to-day lens.
Participants will leave with: · Understanding of how AI, data, and automation are transforming their own business · A proven framework and tools that leverage and pull the best from both people and technology · A sense of agency and mindset of urgency/desire to accelerate use of AI and technology in their work · Insights of how to build teams and cultures that use technology to create efficiency and better business outcomes
2026 Trends, Tech, and Forces: Threats and opportunities defining the year ahead
Change is and will always be the only constant in business. As the pace of change accelerates more each day, businesses need to look ahead and create options to ensure their survival. Leaders must monitor and embrace AI, APIs automation, platform thinking, and intelligent predictive data systems while simultaneously managing regulatory shifts, global uncertainty, talent transformations, and sustainability imperatives.
In this trends keynote, futurist Kaihan Krippendorff outlines the critical trends, technologies, and strategic opportunities that will mark the coming years of business. Drawing on insights gathered from Chief Strategy Officers (CSOs) across diverse industries, decades of trend tracking, and ongoing research– Kaihan challenges leaders to not just sense the future but to shape it—calling for organizations to rethink how they allocate attention, build capability, create their next competitive advantage, and orchestrate partnerships.
Participants will leave with: · Understanding of key trends that will shape the future · Clarity of the big picture and implications for your business · A framework to identify immediate opportunities and get ahead of change · Inspired and energized to lead in an era defined by complexity and ambiguity
T. Grant
October 29, 2018
Kaihan spoke at our association's annual conference and crushed it! He shared great tools and insights for how we can not only think about, but take action to grow our businesses and adapt to the changing future. 10/10 fully recommend!
Speaker rating 10/10
TEDxColumbiaUniversity
September 5, 2018
Kaihan commanded the attention of the audience with insights from his amazing research in an entertaining and informative session!
Robert Cazone
May 3, 2019
I saw Kaihan speak last weekend at our associations largest conference (held every 3 years). His speech inspired me and the rest of the audience to think about how my company can and should think about innovation, even if our industry has been largely unchanged for the past 100 years. Highly recommend him as a speaker.
Nicholas Petersen
September 10, 2018
Great speech. Inspired our sales team and gave them some unique tools and a framework to think about agile decision making and innovation.
Premlatta Adams
September 18, 2018
A must have for any conference or event focuses on growth and competing in the digital age!
Jeff Harrison
Fantastic speaker with amazing stage presence. Great insights into how my organization can approach the future and innovate. Entertaining and humorous.
REID HOFFMAN Co-founder of LinkedIn and Co-author of Blitzscaling Kaihan shows how large organizations can innovate, build, and adapt for the future.
AJAY BANGA President of the World Bank and former CEO of Mastercard Kaihan provides practical, actionable steps for breaking down siloes, and ignites the drive to collaborate and accept the new opportunities that will soon come your way.
AMALIA AVRAMOV President of Amdocs Financial Services The highlight of the event was undoubtedly our keynote speaker, Kaihan Krippendorff. His visionary strategies left us inspired and ready to take on any challenge that comes our way.
SUSAN WINSLOW President of Macmillan Learning Kaihan- your talk was a perfect blend of inspiring, practical, and actionable. As a leader who is working to implement many of these ideas and structures, I found it so helpful to see a research-based, broader view of what successful innovation looks like! Thank you so much for the expertise and enthusiasm.
MARY LUNDSTROM Managing Director at Northwestern Mutual Kaihan did an outstanding job as keynote speaker at our Leadership Conference. He made a concerted effort to make his message tailored to our audience and went above and beyond in terms of learning about the issues that our company and its leaders are currently facing. I was impressed by his use of stories or choosing examples very relevant to our leaders to tie into his themes. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback regarding his message and would recommend him for additional talks.
SHANNON WALLIS Global Director, Leadership Programs, Microsoft Kaihan’s groundbreaking work on strategy development changes the game for organizations facing an increasingly competitive environment.
JUAN MIJARES Regional Director of Strategy, Wal-Mart Kaihan is very good at understanding the underlying patterns of strategy, then he trains the group to start recognizing these patterns, with time the strategic level of the group starts rising, generating breakthrough ideas that unleash untapped value.
MARY E. POWER CAE Executive Director, Society for Human Resource Management Kaihan has the unique ability to frame questions in such a way that energizes a diverse group of leaders in strategic business planning. Through his guidance we were able to look at strategic issues for our board in unique ways that will have immediate application. He was quick to understand our issues and our mission and was an immense help in developing our strategy.
Heather L. Davis President and Chief Investment Officer, Nuveen Private Investments Kaihan is a uniquely engaging speaker; he energizes and inspires. He uses cutting-edge business examples to make complex subjects simple, and offers the right balance of entertainment and deep insight.
MARC SPEICHERT Chief Marketing Officer, L’Oreal USA (now Managing Director, Google) Kaihan provides practical methods to systematically analyze and intelligently manage the competition. This does not mean copying or even responding to the competition. It means precisely the opposite.
VERNE HARNISHCEO Gazelles inc., Founder Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), Author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits We’ve exposed thousands of executives of growth firms around the world to Kaihan Krippendorff’s concrete and practical stratagems for dealing with competitive threats and he’s been universally well received by our tough and discerning audiences.
JOSH LINKNER Five-time Tech Entrepreneur and Hyper-Growth CEO, NY Times Bestselling Author, Top-Choice Keynote Speaker on Innovation, Creativity, Reinvention, and Hyper-Growth Leadership Kaihan Krippendorff breaks down the complex into relevant, practical, and actionable insights that engage, entertain, and inspire your audience.
ROBERT BLOOM US CEO, Publicis Worldwide, Retired: Author of The New Experts and The Inside Advantage Instant information, immediate price comparison, and an expanding breadth of customer choice are thrusting business leaders into a new era of competition. Kaihan’s fresh message opens minds and motivates strategic change in an era that demands change.
MOHAMMAD YUNUS Nobel Peace Prize Winner Kaihan shows that with a bold idea, anyone can change the world.
ROBERT CANCALOSI Director of Global Customer Leadership, GE We invited Kaihan to address a global body of our top talent. He delivers cutting edge business concepts with his own unique tools in a way that inspires leaders to think differently. His professional approach, innovative concepts and deep knowledge of strategy holds up against the most sophisticated and experienced audiences.
KAL MISTRY SVP, VITAS Healthcare Corporation Kaihan, has an innate ability to captivate his audience. He brings a fresh, unique and passionate perspective on strategy and leadership, his style is brilliant and engaging and he is clearly a rising star.
ANNA KLAPPER Brand USA Kaihan’s speech for the Professional Convention Management Association left us inspired and wanting to change the world.
CARINA BAUER CEO, IMEX Group We have had outstanding feedback from Kaihan’s sessions [at IMEX Frankfurt] and it was an honour to have him take part.
A.C. Ganger Learning Chair 2017-‘18, EO Detroit Kaihan’s presentation was excellent, and highly rated by our membership. Not only did he educate and inspire us, but he left us with an actual framework to follow and engage our teams.
Dan Leib CEO, Donnelley Financial Solutions Kaihan really understood the key messages we were trying to get across to our Senior Leadership team. He incorporated those key messages around strategy and innovation into his speech, which was energizing, practical and impactful.
Heather Davis President an Chief Investment Officer, Nuveen Private Investments Kaihan is a uniquely engaging speaker; he energizes and inspires. He uses cutting-edge business examples to make complex subjects simple, and offers the right balance of entertainment and deep insight.
Geraldine O’Brien Vice President of Communications, Newport Group Kaihan is a great communicator, who held the rapt attention of an audience of more than 200 financial services professionals from across the country. He opened our minds, made us think, and gave us actionable ideas that one could apply to their day-to-day lives.
John R. DiJulius Keynote Speaker, Author, and President of The DiJulius Group Kaihan had over 700 business leaders captivated with his relevant content on how to build a business that disrupts your industry and distances yourself from your competition. He delivered!
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OUTTHINK THE COMPETITION A “Fast Company” blogger and former McKinsey consultant profiles the next generation business strategists: the “Outthinkers.”
“Outthinkers” are entrepreneurs and corporate leaders with a new playbook. They see opportunities others ignore, challenge dogma others accept as truth, rally resources others cannot influence, and unleash new strategies that disrupt their markets. “Outthink the Competition” proves that business competition is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift and that during such revolutions, outthinkers beat traditionalists.
“Outthink the Competition” presents stories of breakthrough companies like Apple, Google, Vistaprint, and Rosetta Stone whose stunning performances defy traditional explanation and will inspire readers to outthink the competition. Core concepts in the book include: Discover the Eight Dimensions of Disruption Learn to play by the Outthinker Playbook Develop the Five Habits of the Outthinker Implement the Outthinker Process It’s time to buck tradition in order to stay ahead. Outthink the competition and uncover opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile
Today’s global economy is a battleground. To survive and thrive, you’ll need every weapon you can get. Microsoft, Sony, and Starbucks use business practices based on the ancient Chinese military text The Thirty-Six Stratagems – now you can, too.
Business is warfare. Western business has been inculcated in the belief that business is about win/win solutions. However, in today’s global marketplace there isn’t fairness – there are winners and losers. Today’s competitive terrain calls for new tactics as well as an understanding of how your opponents approach the world. Using ancient Eastern philosophy and military tactics from The 36 Stratagems, Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile shows how to create unpredictable corporate strategies.
Weaving the story of each strategy with contemporary case studies from top business and strategic management schools, each chapter analyses a company’s situation, options, decisions and results. The book is divided into four parts: Polarity – explores the balance of opposing forces; Yielding – illustrates alternatives to confrontations; Continuous Change – shows how to thrive in fluid situations; and, Indirect Action – proposes alternatives to head-on conflict. Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile is a timely and timeless resource for executives and corporate strategists looking to win their most contentious battles.
The Way of Innovation
Inside The Way of Innovation, corporate strategist Kaihan Krippendorff explains how you can adapt and thrive by recognizing, understanding, and utilizing the ancient Asian approach to innovation. He illustrates how companies like Microsoft and Nokia use this powerful wisdom, and how you too can pass through the five stages of innovation: • Metal (Admit you are stuck) • Water (Conceive new winning options) • Wood (Assemble your resources) • Fire (Break out your innovation) • Earth (Make it sustainable)
With this book, you have the ancient strategies you need to lead the way to a more productive – and profitable – future.
The Art of the Advantage Contrary to commonly held beliefs, strength and resources play minor roles in a company s ability to beat the competition. Instead, the ability to conceive of unorthodox strategies that the competition will choose not to copy is the key to gaining a competitive edge. In “The Art of the Advantage,” former McKinsey & Co consultant Kaihan Krippendorff captures a decade of study into corporate conflict.
He shows that the fundamental patterns that successful companies have used to outmaneuver their rivals are rooted in a set of ancient Chinese warfare metaphors known as “The 36 Stratagems.” “The Art of the Advantage” marries these ancient principles with modern application through graphical depictions, ancient examples, and modern case studies. More than a traditional business book, “The Art of the Advantage” is a manual for systematically outthinking the competition.
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