Raphaël H. Cohen Keynote Speaker

Co-author, ISO 56007 innovation standard
Creator of the IpOp pre-project analysis model
Board Director, BHI Private Banking (1990–2017)

Raphaël H. Cohen's Biography

Prof. Raphaël H. Cohen is a globally recognised authority who challenges conventional “best practices” in innovation governance and leadership.

His career spans 27 years on the board of BHI Private Banking (1990–2017) and extensive exposure to the banking value chain as a client and operator across private banking, derivatives, trade finance, M&A and more. Earlier, he was the first Geneva-based trader to deal equity options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He wrote his doctoral thesis on accounting for foreign-currency transactions under the supervision of Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum. A business angel focused on equity capital, he has helped create several dozen companies in Switzerland and abroad— notably in Canada—and has served on boards including the Swiss and European subsidiary of Bank Hapoalim. He also led Getratex SA, securing exclusive Tom & Jerry apparel rights in the US and Europe and launching Disney Adult apparel across the Atlantic.

An innovation coach to 300+ projects, Raphaël teaches at leading institutions including the University of Geneva, ESCP Business School and Thunderbird School of Global Management. His books—including Pre-Project Excellence and Les leviers de l’engagement—have reached 40,000+ readers. Known for humour, vivid stories and field-tested tools, he delivers in English and French (Spanish conversational), and travels worldwide.

Co-author of ISO 56007 and creator of two influential frameworks—the IpOp Model for rigorous pre-project analysis and the Fair & Caring Leadership framework—he blends academic rigour with entrepreneurial experience to help organisations make better bets, reduce waste, and mobilise people.

INNOVATION & PRE-PROJECT TRACK

1. Stop Wasting Resources: The Pre-Project Revolution

Most organizations waste millions on projects that should never have been approved. Raphaël reveals why traditional project selection fails and introduces the IpOp Model—the rigorous preproject analysis framework now part of ISO 56007. Learn how to optimize your portfolio by choosing the right projects before you invest, not after you have burned through resources. Includes real stories of projects saved (and killed) through better pre-project analysis.

2. From Ideas to Impact: Mastering Innovation Portfolio Management

This keynote debunks common myths about innovation management and presents proven best practices that some leading organizations use to select, prioritize, fund and execute initiatives that deliver measurable results. Perfect for leaders tired of innovation programs that generate buzz but no measurable business outcome.

3. The Intrapreneurial Advantage: Building Innovation from Within

Why do most corporate innovation programs fail? Raphaël shares contrarian insights and frameworks showing how companies like Nestlé, Microsoft, and Airbus have cultivated genuine intrapreneurial cultures—not just innovation labs that produce limited measurable outcome. Based on real experience of enabling change agents that build ventures inside and outside corporations.

4. The Missing Link in Risk Management

Most organizations miss one essential aspect of managing uncertainties. In this keynote, Raphaël presents a novel field-tested approach that prevents the waste of considerable resources resulting from current practice while giving management more transparency on project management.

5. Entrepreneurial Thinking for Corporate Leaders

Bridge the startup-corporate divide. Drawing from his experience as both entrepreneur and advisor to major corporations, Raphaël challenges conventional corporate wisdom and shows how leaders can adopt entrepreneurial mindsets without the usual platitudes. Practical, proven, and often surprising.

6. Digitizing the Pre-Project Analysis and Selection Governance

Theory without tools is just philosophy. Raphaël developed IpOpTools, the software platform that operationalizes the IpOp Model, showing how organizations can use digitization to accelerate and improve their pre-project analysis and portfolio management processes. Perfect for organizations ready to move from spreadsheets to systematic decision-making.

LEADERSHIP & ENGAGEMENT TRACK

7. Fair and Caring Leadership: The Engagement Equation That Actually Works

Everyone talks about employee engagement, but few can measure what matters: engagement generated by managers. Raphaël pioneers a novel measurement approach and reveals the Fair and Caring Leadership framework—the levers managers can pull to transform team performance. Unlike typical engagement talks, this includes a complete governance system for implementation, not just inspiration.

8. Beyond Psychological Safety: The Implementation Gap

Psychological safety is the buzzword du jour, but how do you actually implement it? Raphaël challenges preaching approaches and provides a structured governance framework to truly embed psychological safety organization-wide. Based on real implementations, not academic theory.

9. Measuring What Matters: Manager-Generated Engagement as a KPI

What if we measured managers not just on deliverables, but on their ability to generate engagement? This thought-provoking keynote introduces a very simple pioneering measurement methodology that reveals which managers leverage team potential and which hamper it. Includes frameworks for developing engagement-generating capability.

10. Attracting and Retaining Millennial Talents

This keynote provides concrete tools for selecting and motivating millennial talents who are compatible with older generations and your company culture. Challenges conventional recruitment management practices with forward-thinking alternatives.

ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

11. Quickly Changing the Culture of the Organization

Changing company culture is usually a long and painful process. This forward-thinking keynote provides a concrete governance-based approach for accelerating the evolution of the organization culture. It targets leaders looking for sustainable change beyond their current leadership team.

12. The Engagement Equation: Unlocking Your Team's Full Potential

Based on his new book, Raphaël reveals the science and practice of employee engagement, combining his Fair and Caring Leadership framework with real stories of transformation. Learn how to turn disengaged teams into high-performing innovation engines.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & CAREER

11. Quickly Changing the Culture of the Organization

In this keynote, Raphaël explains the tools, approaches and mindsets that can boost your career— the same ones that allowed him to go from average student to first of his class, to become a successful serial entrepreneur, an engaging professor at prestigious business schools, and the trusted advisor of C-level executives at Fortune 500 companies. Personal, practical, and proven.

CUSTOM PROGRAMS

14. Custom Keynotes

Raphaël specializes in creating customized presentations that address your organization's specific challenges, combining elements from his frameworks with tailored insights and governance systems for your context.

He challenges conventional innovation “best practices”, equipping leaders with practical frameworks that help organisations make better bets and reduce wasted investment.
He draws on decades of experience across banking, entrepreneurship and venture investment to show how innovation decisions are made in the real world.
He combines academic rigour with entrepreneurial insight as a professor at leading institutions including the University of Geneva, ESCP Business School and Thunderbird.
He is the co-author of ISO 56007 and creator of influential frameworks such as the IpOp Model and Fair & Caring Leadership, helping organisations strengthen innovation governance and engagement.
He delivers engaging keynotes filled with vivid stories and practical tools that enable leaders and teams to turn ideas into successful projects.

Videos of Raphaël H. Cohen

Trailer for EIRMA Webinar ISO 56007 - Raphael H Cohen

Cohen Examen Oral Math dubbed English with subtitles

Books by Raphaël H. Cohen

Pre-Project Excellence: Unleashing the Power of IpOp Model and ISO 56007 for Superior Project Selection and Outcomes (Future of Business and Finance)

Winning Opportunities: Proven tools for converting your projects into success (without a business plan) - Full color edition

Concevoir et lancer un projet: De l'idée au succès sans business plan (French Edition)

Les leviers de l'engagement: 54 bonnes pratiques pour entraîner, inspirer et réussir ensemble (French Edition)

Comments & Testimonials

I have no hesitation to state that Raphael H Cohen has been instrumental in the success of the Nestlé Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program. In close cooperation with several of our executives, he has managed the program and coached all the project teams to achieve impressive results. As he has been truly committed to the participants’ success and personal development, he has encouraged them to go out of their comfort zone and reach new heights. Thanks to Raphael’s experience as a seasoned serial-entrepreneur, business angel and expert in executive education, participants have been forced to think out-of-the-box and explore unchartered territories. He has been a true source of inspiration to boost their entrepreneurial potential and their professional agility. The program is certainly tough and demanding but all the participants say that they have really enjoyed the journey and all its learning opportunities.

Valerio Nannini Nestlé R&D

Raphaël has immediately captured the stakes of such a program. He respectfully challenged me to improve the learning experience. He has a powerful approach to impact and give audience an unforgettable souvenir of his “performance” (it is a real performance…he does not deliver training or animate a workshop, he is unconventional). Our intrapreneurs who have been trained with the IpOp Model confirmed that the it has improved their ability to analyze innovation projects in a more holistic manner and that it has changed the way they look at their projects. I recommend Raphaël Cohen to any type of organization wishing to increase innovation capacities and empower intrapreneur profiles.

Alice de Casanove Innovation Culture Lead

Raphael H Cohen has made a significant contribution to the Innovation culture transformation of Bühler and with his knowledge, hands on entrepreneurial experience, network of trainers and entrepreneurs and benevolent approach to his participants we are convinced he can add value to the innovation culture, spirit and process of most organisations.

Stefan Scheiber/Ian Roberts CTO Bühler Group