Salim Ismail

Salim Ismail is a futurist and author known for the books "Exponential Organizations" and "Exponential Transformation." Ismail has built disruptive digital companies as a serial entrepreneur since the early 2000s, focusing on innovation, exponential technologies, and digital transformation.

Ismail is the founding executive director of Singularity University and co-founder and chairman of OpenExO, a global transformation ecosystem that connects professionals with organizations seeking to implement cutting-edge ideas and actionable methodologies. The ExO consulting ecosystem includes more than 155 certified coaches and advisors from 29 countries, conducting business in 24 languages. OpenExO and the global consulting team at ExO Works support organizations in adopting exponential thinking through the ExO Sprint, a proprietary process designed to achieve 10x performance across various industries.

Ismail has founded and led several technology companies, including PubSub Concepts and Angstro, which Google acquired. He also led Yahoo!’s internal incubator, Brickhouse, and serves on the XPRIZE Foundation Board. Ismail co-founded the Fastrack Institute, which leverages new technologies to address urban challenges, and sits on the board of Rokk3r, Inc. He is a general partner at the Rokk3r Fuel ExO venture fund, identifying founders of high-growth technology companies.

As a speaker, Ismail delivers more than 150 talks annually to audiences worldwide, including keynotes at TED, the Vatican, the G20 Summit, and the United Nations. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, WIRED, Vogue, and the BBC.