Sparking creative collisions to transform leadership and shape innovative culture
Andrew Grant is a leading innovation and transformation expert, Director of Tirian, and co-author of The Innovation Race and the international bestseller Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?. He works with global leaders to drive cultural change and unlock creative potential through practical, research-backed strategies.
Andrew has delivered keynote sessions and programs for Fortune 500 companies across sectors, including Google, Disney, Salesforce, Nestlé, and the UAE Prime Minister’s Office. His work has been featured in the BBC, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal.
In partnership with Dr Gaia Grant (PhD), University of Sydney Business School, Andrew has spent three decades researching what drives innovation in organisations and societies. Together, they’ve developed tools such as the Innovation Climate Indicator (iCLi) and a CSI-style board game to help teams diagnose and improve creativity.
Andrew’s sessions are interactive, engaging, and outcome-focused. He combines academic rigour with humour and global insight, ensuring relevance for diverse audiences. His keynote highlights include TEDx, APEC CEO Summit, YPO Global Edge, and major corporate roadshows across Asia-Pacific.
With over 20 years of full-time professional speaking experience, Andrew equips audiences with the mindset and tools to lead innovation and manage change with confidence.
Talking Points
Leading Innovation on the Edge Navigating the AI Adoption Divide (Andrew Grant &/or Dr Gaia Grant)
The rapid rise of AI is reshaping leadership, adding an unpredictable ‘X factor’ to an already complex landscape. Leading Innovation on the Edge Navigating the AI Adoption Divide (Andrew Grant &/or Dr Gaia Grant)
As businesses race to innovate, leaders must juggle competing demands—balancing urgency and caution to drive sustainable growth. This new wave of growth is reshaping leadership, forcing executives to balance tradition with transformation, speed with strategy, and agility with stability.
This session cuts through the noise, tackling the core paradoxes of AI-driven transformation and providing practical strategies. Covering areas such as decision-making, problem-solving, innovation culture development and leadership tactics, participants learn how to balance creative ingenuity with AI-powered efficiency. The topic provides a powerful introduction and/or subplot to ensure AI works for—not against—innovation, empowering organizations to thrive in an era of disruption.
The dynamic keynote also investigates the unique challenges of AI adoption: exploring how leaders can harness the potential without losing control. Through groundbreaking insights from Andrew and Gaia Grant’s book The Innovation Race and Gaia Grant’ unique research with the University of Sydney Business School, the keynote/workshop introduces powerful tools like the Innovation Climate Leadership Indicator (iCLi) and Dynamic Polar Positioning (DPoP) tool to demonstrate to leaders how to navigate digital transformation. A number of case studies are also introduced to demonstrate how the principles and tools introduced can be applied in practice.
While many futurists indulge in revealing dazzling forecasts and speculative tech marvels, Andrew Grant and Dr. Gaia Grant offer a grounded, strategic approach. This keynote doesn’t seek to predict the future. Instead, it equips leaders to confidently manage uncertainty. The messages are not focused on future fantasy, the focus is on future readiness. As a result executives and leaders are equipped with practical strategies to foster agility, resilience, and sustainable innovation, ensuring they don’t just keep up with AI but lead through the disruption.
Dr Gaia Grant &/OR Andrew Grant will not just help you keep up with AI, but lead through the tension. Participants walk away with the confidence to lead transformational change in an era where complexity, creativity and AI must coexist.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1) Understand the impact of AI on leadership and innovation
2) Navigate the tensions between speed and strategy in AI-driven change
3) Gain insights into effective leadership styles and how to manage the competing demands
4) Apply practical models and tools designed to executive digital transformation with confidence
Remaining Competitive in The Innovation Race Who will win, who will lose, and why it matters
Why do so many innovation initiatives fail, and what can be done about it?Remaining Competitive in The Innovation Race Who will win, who will lose, and why it matters
This fast-paced global keynote journey explores how cultures, companies, and countries have faced the onslaught of unfettered innovation – and how some have successfully navigated the twin challenges of rapid innovation and change. Drawing on fascinating case studies from The Innovation Race, the session offers practical strategies for staying ahead by turning disruption into opportunity.
While tech giants may dominate headlines, long-term research shows that they don’t hold all the answers — and most organisations today only grasp part of the innovation puzzle. By taking a broader view across diverse global contexts, this session reveals what truly drives sustainable innovation and how to avoid the pitfalls of short-lived hype. As they consider how they will navigate the innovation race, participants are challenged to move beyond passive observation — no longer simply marvelling at the pace of change, but instead actively engaging with the forces shaping the future.
The session explores the critical underlying factors that are under-recognized, but that will ultimately shape the future of innovation: leadership styles, team culture and organization’s readiness. It provides tools to show how leaders can successfully navigate core paradoxical innovation tensions to become more resilient, agile and adaptive.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1. Explore the global landscape to identify the secrets to sustainable development
2. Learn about global best practices as guidelines for strategic action
3. Gain exposure to practical culture change strategies to support sustainable organization-wide transformation
Are you an Ambidextrous Leader? Managing rapid innovation and change through strategic resilience
How is it possible to survive and thrive as a leader when the landscape is constantly changing? The secret lies in becoming more resilient through an ‘ambidextrous leadership’ approach.Are you an Ambidextrous Leader? Managing rapid innovation and change through strategic resilience
This session introduces the concept of ambidextrous leadership: the ability to lead with both agility and consistency across diverse roles and contexts. The audience is introduced to effective tools for managing these competing demands and for ensuring robust resilience. It includes a consideration of how to manage the AI paradox through learning to harness emerging technologies while preserving core values. This isn’t just a tech challenge; it’s now a leadership imperative.
In the dynamic session, the audience is challenged to consider how they can develop the strategic resilience needed to thrive through times of complex change. Drawing on 30 years of consulting experience and cutting-edge research, the session delivers practical tools for building cultures of integrity, agility, and long-term impact. Through interactive exercises and insights, participants learn how to transform tension into constructive creative energy.
The Innovation Change Leadership Profile (iCLi) and Dynamic Polar Positioning Tool (DPoP), as developed from extensive original research interviews with global leaders and in-depth case studies, are introduced as groundbreaking frameworks for navigating the paradoxes of innovation. Participants discover their unique innovation orientations through the interactive activities and learn how to balance the need for Exploration (for developing breakthrough new ideas) and Preservation (for continuous improvement) to drive sustainable growth.
Through exploring their leadership mindset, uncovering hidden biases, and learning how to manage the tension of change with strategic foresight, participants learn to balance these ‘Explore’ and ‘Preserve’ perspectives and gain the tools to move beyond hype and build lasting value.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1. Master ambidextrous leadership: Balancing agility and consistency across diverse teams and roles.
2. Decode leadership mindsets: Identifying default biases and uncovering potential obstacles to transformation.
3. Profile for practical impact: Includes individual and team diagnostics to support targeted development.
4. Lead through competing demands: Applying practical tools to drive sustainable change.
5. Build adaptive teams: Foster resilience and responsiveness across occupational profiles.
The Collaboration Concept Leading collaborative innovation and change in a competitive corporate culture (link) (Andrew Grant &/or Dr Gaia Grant)
Collaboration is a widely recognized core organizational value. Yet true implementation can be an incredibly deceptive challenge. The Collaboration Concept Leading collaborative innovation and change in a competitive corporate culture (link) (Andrew Grant &/or Dr Gaia Grant)
This unique session delves deep into the concept of collaboration, exploring the critical question: “Under what conditions will people really cooperate?” This seemingly simple question holds significant implications for anyone seeking to foster a collaborative environment for sustainable innovation and change, from corporate managers to governments and even countries in conflict.
Through honest and detailed investigation of this topic, the program strives to comprehend how to effectively incentivize cooperation (especially in the context of a competitive corporate business environment). During the session the participants engage in a social experiment (gamified simulation) to explore the behavioral economics of individuals, teams and whole business units. In this safe, reversible environment, they can experience firsthand the consequences of removing trust and accountability from the equation and quickly discover the power of real collaboration to achieve outstanding results.
This program utilizes Dr. Gaia Grant’s Innovative Change Leader (iCLi) framework by demonstrating how genuine collaboration can be activated in relation to the apparently opposing force of independence, promoting sustainable innovation through recognizing the value of individual experiential insights combined with collective effort in co-creation.
A must for preparing teams for sustainable success.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1. Understand the forces that can impede collaboration in a typical competitive environment
2. Determine the impact of non-collaborative behaviours (e.g., defecting/freeriding) in business contexts
3. Address the concerns and interests of others with opposing viewpoints
4. Identify how to change behaviors and systems related to siloed “me/we versus they” thinking
The AI Creative Challenge Do we need to learn to be creative now that AI can do it for us? (Andrew Grant / Dr Gaia Grant)
The World Economic Forum continues to emphasize creative and critical thinking as essential leadership skills—even as AI transforms industries. The AI Creative Challenge Do we need to learn to be creative now that AI can do it for us? (Andrew Grant / Dr Gaia Grant)
In the age of intelligent technology, it will be important to learn to drive efficiency without sacrificing creativity or losing the human spark. As AI redefines problem-solving and innovation, it raises crucial questions about how human creativity can remain relevant. The challenge remains: Will AI kill creativity or enhance it? How can leaders strike the right balance between AI and human contribution when tackling wicked problems in projects requiring Creative Intelligence and Design Thinking?
In this keynote and/or workshop session, participants are invited to explore the evolving relationship between AI and creative thinking, offering strategic insights on how leaders can leverage AI without losing control of ingenuity and innovation. The practical AI Creativity Utilization Dial is introduced as a tool for identifying how and when to incorporate AI in the creative thinking process.
Andrew Grant &/or Dr. Gaia Grant won’t just help you use AI—they’ll show you how to harness it to supercharge creative thinking and tackle wicked problems with greater precision and efficiency.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1) Maximize creativity without losing control – learn when to integrate AI while maintaining human ingenuity, creativity and ensuring alignment with strategic goals
2) Use AI for better results in creative & design thinking through understanding how AI can collaborate with human thought processes, tackling complex challenges and wicked problems that defy simple solutions
3) Practice using the AI Creativity Utilization Dial for identifying how to lead innovation in specific contexts
Harnessing Creative Intelligence (CQ) Skills Solving wicked problems for a competitive business advantage
In an era defined by complexity and ambiguity, traditional problem-solving approaches often fall short. Harnessing Creative Intelligence (CQ) Skills Solving wicked problems for a competitive business advantage
Wicked challenges—those messy issues with no clear solutions—demand more than technical expertise or linear thinking. They require creative intelligence (CQ): the ability to navigate uncertainty with curiosity, adaptability, and insight.
Creative intelligence is no longer a luxury, it’s a strategic imperative. CQ empowers individuals and teams to reframe problems, generate novel solutions, and respond with agility. Individuals with higher CQ are more curious, open to new experiences, and better equipped to navigate complexity. They consistently outperform their peers, demonstrating greater effectiveness, resilience, and adaptability. For organizations, cultivating CQ is not just a nice-to-have, it provides a clear advantage. It fuels innovation, unlocks hidden opportunities, and builds the resilience necessary to thrive in competitive, rapidly evolving markets.
This engaging keynote introduces the 7 essential CQ skills required for success, revealing how they can be cultivated through targeted, research-based exercises. Participants learn how to map these skills to tangible business outcomes—unlocking practical, creative solutions to real-world challenges.
Blending science with creative revelation, the session features simple magic illusions that expose the cognitive traps of ‘inside-the-box’ thinking. These moments of surprise and insight are paired with best-practice case studies from leading organizations, offering inspiration and actionable strategies for embedding CQ into everyday work. The session is designed to be interactive, energizing, and deeply practical—ideal for leaders, teams, and organizations seeking a competitive edge. By the end of the session, participants walk away empowered with greater creative confidence to enhance their creative thinking capabilities.
Whether you're leading change, solving complex problems, or building future-ready teams, this keynote offers the mindset shift and skillset upgrade needed to thrive.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1. Learn about the 7 key CQ attributes needed to be creative
2. Apply the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) to assess and map individual skills
3. Discuss company best practices (7 case studies) to identify how to apply CQ skills to business challenges
4. Apply the principles to your own wicked challenge(s) to generate creative insights to current challenges
The Creativity Crisis How to spot the psychological blocks that might be killing your creative thinking (Alternative heading: Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can we Get it Back?)
We are facing a creative crisis. Adults seem to lose their creative ability when they need it most. While 98% of children are classified as “geniuses” in divergent thinking tests, this drops to just 2% in adulthood. The Creativity Crisis How to spot the psychological blocks that might be killing your creative thinking (Alternative heading: Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can we Get it Back?)
Although recent research shows that creative thinking will be the most important leadership trait in the next 10 years, it has been found that adults tend to quickly lose their creative confidence and skills as they age. It has also been observed that despite an increase in IQ since the 1990s, there has been a general decline in creative thinking capabilities (CQ) – as revealed in the international bestseller "Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?".
This session embarks on a creatively memorable ‘CSI’-themed journey, moving from the classroom to the boardroom to help participants understand the current crisis in creative thinking. The session provides an engaging, interactive platform for examining potential barriers to positive change. Using the latest insights from neuroscience and psychology, participants explore how to spark their creativity and overcome mental blocks that hinder innovation. It also explores workplace implications beyond design thinking tools and AI, empowering participants to develop a creative mindset and foster an innovative culture.
The outcomes ensure that participants understand both the neurological (internal) and environmental (external) forces that can hinder creative thinking, equipping them with essential skills to succeed in complex, unpredictable environments.
(Interactive keynote + optional hybrid integrated workshop.)
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
1. Diagnose the psychological blocks to understand what hinders creative thinking and how it diminishes with age
2. Identify and apply the ‘creative rescuer’ strategies to reignite creative thinking capabilities
3. Investigate culture change principles that will support a positive environment for fostering creative thinking and innovation in your organization
Video
Andrew Grant | Keynote Show Reel | Saxton Speakers
Andrew Grant is an innovation for transformation specialist. He is the director of Tirian and author of The Innovation Race: How to change a culture to change the game along with international bestseller Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back? He is a highly experienced, humorous, and engaging presenter who facilitates leaders & teams to enhance collaboration and innovation using creative solutions. Andrew Grant has worked with world leaders in innovation to drive cultural change. An accomplished author, he has featured in global media and his educational programs and resources are used by Fortune 500 companies worldwide.You gave us compelling ideas that are worthwhile for use in our marketing. ... keep reading Disney Asia Pacific
You engaged our teams to really think through the value of creativity in business and about how to create a space that allows you to access that perspective. it made us really stop and think about how we were going about addressing our client's challenges.
Exceeded expectations... your program made our team more comfortable working with these issues, gave the topic more credibility, and it was actionable.
Both the book and the 'roadshow' are captivating. Andrew Grant has star quality and uses it positively. Andrew has worked on leadership and team development around the globe for more than 15 years, but his presentation still yields the bravado of youth, nicely seasoned with the wisdom of a recognised leader in his field. He's young at heart, and ferociously clever with it.
A quick note of appreciation for the keynote you delivered in Singapore this week. The time you took to have dinner with myself and several event attendees the night prior offered a great opportunity to connect you to the details of the industry and the points of interest of the audience. You asked some great questions and were able to leverage the information shared into a presentation that really connected the audience and the topic together thank you! I know that this connection took place based on the feedback I received from people at the event. Innovation, adapting to change, the importance of creativity, and how to introduce it into your daily life, personally and professionally: all of these were themes in the feedback I received. A little bit of humor, some magic and the simplicity of how you presented a pretty substantial topic kept the audience fully engaged and wanting more! As a sponsor, as an event participant, and as a person who cares about innovation and creativity, I thank you!
One of the highest ranked seminars of the year for YPO (Young Presidents Organization) scoring an amazing 9.6/10.
A truly magnificent achievement, particularity since the audience was from a multitude of cultures and listened in 5 different languages. This event scored the highest feedback in our 10 year history.
