Kaihan Krippendorff Keynote Speaker

Top 20 strategy & innovation thinker (Thinkers50; Global Gurus)
Credited with >$3B in new annual recurring revenue
Author of 6 books; founder of Outthinker think-tank

Kaihan Krippendorff's Biography

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, JPMorgan, 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 the 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 the Wharton 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, the Wharton School, 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 children, 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.

Outthink the Competition

Unleashing Agile

Proximity Revolution

Driving Innovation from Within

Be the Disruptor, Not the Disrupted

Outside-In Strategy

Outlead the Competition

Winning with AI, Technology, and People

2026 Trends, Tech, and Forces

Create Something Out of Nothing – Growth & Innovation Keynote Speaker Kaihan Krippendorff

Executive leaders offsite: think differently and drive growth

The Concept of Disruption and What People Get Wrong About It –Kaihan Krippendorff

Kaihan Krippendorff Full Speaker Highlights Video

Articles, Media & Podcasts

New Research Shows How an “Idea Marketplace” Can Boost Innovation

Harvard Business Review

A Strategic Approach for Meeting Customer Demand as Quickly as Possible

Harvard Business Review

6 Strategic Concepts That Set High-Performing Companies Apart

Harvard Business Review

Books by Kaihan Krippendorff

Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life

Outthink the Competition: How a New Generation of Strategists Sees Options Others Ignore

Driving Innovation from Within: A Guide for Internal Entrepreneurs

Comments & Testimonials

Kaihan is truly an extraordinary, world-class thinker, strategist and disruptive innovation practitioner. His books and talks demonstrate his ability to sense and elevate trends and disruptive forces when they are still fringe, to use his vast strategic understanding and cross-industry experience to clearly illuminate unheard-of but potent INSIGHTS (e.g., keys to driving large-scale innovation in companies through engaging employees) and a remarkable ability to ACTIVATE those insights in ways that resonate with practitioners in the field who struggle with transforming theory into action. His ability to drive clarity and offer actionable frameworks and approaches is unparalleled. And his ability to 'connect the dots' across his vast network of other leading thinkers (listen to his podcasts!), and his ability to facilitate on-the-ground feedback and results is truly exemplary. I gain meaningful, novel insights in each of my interactions with Kaihan. These have been pivotal in shaping work I do and initiatives I spearheaded as Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Finally, Kaihan's style is equally extraordinary -- he is exceptionally sincere, humble and inviting of others' perspectives and creates an inspiring and engaging forum for others. Having had the pleasure of working with many brilliant minds in the past both as a partner at Oliver Wyman, and at Harvard Business School, I can say unreservedly that Kaihan is 'tops' in my book.”

SUKANYA SODERLAND Partner at Oliver Wyman and former Chief Strategy Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield MA

Kaihan shows how large organizations can innovate, build, and adapt for the future.

REID HOFFMAN Co-founder of LinkedIn and Co-author of Blitzscaling

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.

AJAY BANGA President of the World Bank and former CEO of Mastercard

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.

AMALIA AVRAMOV President of Amdocs Financial Services

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.

SUSAN WINSLOW President of Macmillan Learning

Kaihan is a uniquely engaging speaker who energizes and inspires audiences. His cutting-edge ideas and hand-picked business examples make complex subjects simple while delivering the perfect balance of entertainment and deep insight. He was the highlight of our event.

HEATHER DAVIS Former President and Chief Investment Officer of Nuveen Private Investments

Feedback from Kaihan's sessions at IMEX Frankfurt was outstanding. It was an honour to have him take part.

CARINA BAUER CEO, IMEX Group

Kaihan- you really crushed it – thank you.... Our group SERIOUSLY loved your content. You were the highest rated speaker we’ve had in 6 years. We’ll be following up to have you come back to speak at our global conference.

CAMERON HEROLD Former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK

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.

MARY LUNDSTROM Managing Director at Northwestern Mutual

Kaihan, it was a pleasure to work with you. Your presentation at our annual partners meeting was engaging and thought-provoking. You left us all with a better understanding of innovation and actionable ideas we can start working on right away. Thanks again for how you customized your session; it felt like you were talking directly to us. Thank you!

PHILIP GRAHAM Partner at Harneys

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!

JOHN R. DIJULIUS President of The DiJulius Group

I would highly recommend Kaihan for your next event. Kaihan’s presentation at our annual meeting was the most thought-provoking and inspiring part of the conference. He spent extra time listening to us to learn more about our industry and was an absolute pleasure to work with. His passion and enthusiasm came across extremely well to our audience. We already know we want to bring him back to another event.

JOSH BONE Executive Director of ELECTRI International (National Electrical Contractors Association

Essential if you are itching to be more creative and tap into the resources of your company to create something amazing.

DANIEL H. PINK Bestselling Author of When, Drive, and To Sell Is Human

The feedback from our team was overwhelmingly positive – the extended ELT team and I fully support it. Kaihan is a compelling storyteller, adept at linking trends, tech, growth strategies, and frameworks to our leadership team's strategic planning efforts. He energized the group with insightful examples and case studies, and his ability to structure breakout sessions and discussions made the experience even more impactful. His extensive background in research and industry gave him the credibility to truly connect with our team, making the content not only highly relevant but also actionable.

Chief Operating Officer – $1B+ High-Growth PE Portfolio Company

Thank you for supporting the launch of our new strategy last week! The conference was a resounding success. Your comments set the right tone and context for our leadership team. The term ‘Outthinker’ was carried through the three days along with other themes and concepts that you raised. On a personal note, it was a real pleasure to work with you these past few weeks. I appreciate your thoughtful and highly customized approach.

Chief Strategy Officer – Fortune 100 Insurance Company