Harper Reed Keynote Speaker

Chief Technology Officer, Obama for America 2012
Entertaining and insightful keynote speaker
Head of Commerce, Braintree, a PayPal Company (2015-2018)

Harper Reed's Biography

Harper Reed is a technologist, entrepreneur and hacker – he predicts the future for a living. He travels widely showing people the possibilities of tech and sharing his experiences to propel the greater good, all while raising the level of fun in the room.

Harper’s role as Head of Commerce and as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence allowed him to guide teams into the thrilling future of e-commerce. The technology that Harper developed as co-founder at startup Modest Inc. had initially garnered the attention of PayPal, which led them to acquire Modest only a few years after launch.

Harper also believes the talent of a great bunch of humans can transform an organization like nothing else, and he uses that belief to strengthen, deploy, and inspire every team he works with. Previously, Harper was the Chief Technology Officer of the Obama 2012 campaign, where he was the first to bring the mentality and connective capabilities of tech to the political stage. He was also the CTO of Threadless.com, where he pioneered crowdsourcing and grew the company from a 12 person startup to a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Harper was fellow at the MIT Media Lab (2018-2020) and he also sat on the advisory boards for IIT Computer Science (2016-2021), and Cornell College (2016-2024).

He currently serves as an Advisory Member of the Royal United Services Institute and as Chief Executive Officer of 2389 Research.

Building creative and innovative teams

Nurturing a startup mindset

Cybersecurity

The impact of digital technology on business

He shares lessons from scaling high-growth technology companies and leading digital innovation, demonstrating how strong teams and experimental thinking drive breakthrough results.
He draws on experience building technology at the highest levels of business, startups and politics to show how emerging technologies will reshape commerce, organisations and society.
He translates complex technological trends into clear insights, helping leaders understand what is coming next and how to prepare their organisations for rapid change.
He offers a candid, behind-the-scenes perspective on how technology and data transformed the Obama 2012 campaign, revealing how digital tools can mobilise people and accelerate impact.
His engaging and energetic keynotes challenge audiences to think like hackers and builders, inspiring organisations to embrace curiosity, collaboration and bold experimentation.