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Bio

• ADVISOR TO TOP ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERS: Lisa’s counsel helps organizations unleash new levels of performance by eliminating complexity, creating capacity, and increasing focus and clarity.

• TRUE TRANSFORMATION STARTS WITH SIMPLIFYING: Bolting AI onto broken processes doesn’t fix the problem – it just speeds up bad work. Lisa shows how to simply first – then apply agentic AI.

• SIMPLICITY DRIVES EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS: Complexity chokes innovation. What you don’t do is just as important as what you do. Simplicity helps people focus on the work that matters with less frustration.

• HELPS LEADERS LEAD BETTER: Leading through chaotic change demands simple, unapologetic focus. Lisa gives leaders the courage to burn down broken systems, pair empathy with standards, and end leadership as “performance art.” Newfound clarity and capacity drives bold execution and big results.

• SIMPLE IGNITES ENGAGEMENT: People can’t organize their way out of complexity. Change is exhausting. Lisa engages everyone in the process to Kill Stupid Rules and make simplification part of the organizational DNA.

• GETTING REAL: In one hour, Lisa helped one company identify over 500 rules that were bloating work. There’s a staggering increase in capacity when you subtract more than you add.

As epic change tests us daily, every leader and organization must urgently create new capacity – to adapt, to think, and to act on the work and priorities that actually matter. Easier said than done. People are drowning in the work of work and leaders are handcuffed by conflicting expectations and other hurdles. To meet this challenge, Lisa Bodell, the globally recognized authority and bestselling author of Why Simple Wins and Kill the Company, helps organizations fix what’s broken with work and leadership – the things that get in the way of building capacity and thriving in this environment.

Using her expertise, organizations and leaders are eliminating unnecessary complexity, restoring clarity, and creating the capacity leaders and teams need to perform, innovate, and thrive. Lisa is a trusted, non-threatening disruptor who shows organizations how to stop reacting to chaos and start redesigning how work actually gets done. She also helps leaders reclaim focus, lead with clarity, and replace burnout with momentum – so leadership becomes real again, not performative.

Lisa is the founder and CEO of FutureThink, a global innovation and simplification firm that partners with organizations such as Google, Netflix, Pfizer, SAP, AT&T, Citigroup, and the U.S. Department of National Intelligence. Since founding FutureThink in 2003, she has helped organizations challenge outdated models, eliminate friction, and simplify work in ways that drive speed, engagement, and sustained performance.

A bestselling author known for challenging the status quo while making change feel practical and human, Lisa encourages leaders to stop fixing people to do more work – and start fixing work to better fit people. Through powerful stories, interactive experiences, and real-world tools like “Kill a Stupid Rule,” she helps organizations turn clarity into action.

Lisa’s passion for simplicity is deeply personal. Raised in a family environment marked by instability and unpredictability, she learned early how to survive chaos – skills that fueled her success but eventually led to burnout. That experience shaped her belief that the answer isn’t learning to manage chaos, but eliminating it altogether. This perspective resonates strongly with leaders navigating relentless change and impossible expectations.

A sought-after keynote speaker ranked among the world’s Top 50, Lisa delivers high-impact talks that inspire leaders to lead with clarity, courage, and focus. Her work spans leadership transformation, simplification in times of upheaval, and reimagining innovation in an AI-powered world – always emphasizing that technology should amplify human thinking, not replace it.

Lisa began her career at Leo Burnett after earning her business degree from the University of Michigan, where she learned to merge strategic rigor with bold ideas. She has taught innovation at American University and Fordham University, delivered a popular TED talk, and serves on advisory boards including the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council and the Association of Professional Futurists.

Lisa Bodell doesn’t just talk about change – she helps organizations fix what’s broken, simplify what matters most, and build leaders and cultures ready for the future.

Keynote Topics

Keynote #1 : Unleash the Power of Simple: Eliminate Complexity, Reclaim Control, and Win in the Age of AI

The relentless volume and velocity of change is exhausting. Layered on top is AI, which means more tools, more
options, more expectations. And that’s the trap: Bolt AI onto broken processes and you don’t fix the problem – you
just speed up the bad work. The real path forward isn’t about more technology. It’s about simplifying first, so
humans can lead and AI can support.

When people are overwhelmed by complexity and the path forward isn’t clear, the easy answer is learning to
tolerate it better. But the goal isn’t endurance – it’s to eliminate the problem. Lisa Bodell shows organizations why
simplicity is no longer a “nice to have” – it’s the foundational strategy to reclaim focus, eliminate noise, and create
the space where both teams and technology can actually flourish.

Lisa’s passion for simplicity is personal. Raised in a home filled with instability and unpredictability, she learned
early how to survive chaos and create clarity when everything was unclear. That skill propelled her corporate
success, but it also led to burnout. It wasn’t until she realized she didn’t need to manage chaos – she needed to
eliminate it – that everything changed.

Backed by more than 25 years of global experience and compelling case studies from organizations like Netflix,
AT&T, and Pfizer, Lisa shares the practical tools and mindset shifts that help organizations simplify how work gets
done without sacrificing results. Through humor, interactive polling, and unforgettable storytelling, Lisa challenges
leaders to stop reacting and start shaping the work – and culture – they truly want.

Key Takeaways:
• Practical tools to help people focus on what matters most.
• Why adding AI to complex work amplifies problems instead of solving them.
• Real-world examples of how simplification drives speed and innovation.
• A call to action: stop fixing people to work harder – fix work to work better, then let AI amplify what’s great.

Keynote #2 : Let Leaders Lead: It’s Time to Fix What’s Broken

In this talk, Lisa Bodell tackles a truth many leaders feel but seldom say out loud: Expectations have multiplied,
clarity has disappeared, and leaders are being asked to do everything for everyone – at the expense of real
performance.

The urgent work of transforming organizations amid unprecedented change can’t happen if leaders have to
navigate systems so complex and contradictory that even the best of them are burning out. We tell them to be bold,
then drown them in process. We demand fast decisions, but require consensus. We celebrate courage, only when
it’s comfortable. This isn’t leadership; it’s performance art.

The pendulum swung from command and control to endless accommodation – creating an impossible situation for
leaders that won’t get organizations to the future fast enough. Lisa lays out a refreshing balance for leaders – the
kind that pairs support with standards, empathy with performance, and humanity with results. When leaders are
empowered to lead boldly, they don’t just elevate themselves – they elevate everyone around them.

It’s time to burn down the models that no longer work – and finally let leaders lead. “The future belongs to
unapologetic leaders who prioritize clarity over complexity, purpose over politics, and action over appearance,” she
says.
“The future belongs to unapologetic leaders who prioritize clarity over complexity, purpose over politics,
and action over appearance.”

Key Takeaways:
• Inspires leaders to lead with clarity, boldness, and simplicity.
• Understand why leadership feels impossible – and how to fix it.
• Real-world stories of leaders who simplified, clarified, and took back control.
• How clarity, focus, and boundaries lead to higher performance and engagement.
• Practical shifts that drive productivity gains and execution speed.
• Tactical tools to cut through noise and lead with focus.
• The permission to stop performing and start actually leading.

Keynote #3 : Igniting Innovation: AI-Enabled, Human-Led

In too many organizations, teams are stuck in the comfort of the status quo. We’re moving faster than ever,
surrounded by powerful AI tools – but spending less time thinking than ever. That’s the real risk. AI doesn’t replace
thinking; it exposes whether we’re doing any at all.

The challenge isn’t a lack of technology. It’s a lack of curiosity, courage, and clarity. Many of the processes
designed to drive innovation actually suppress it, reinforcing existing behaviors instead of challenging them. When
AI is layered onto these systems without intention, it simply accelerates what already exists.

This keynote is an inspiring call to rethink how we approach change. It reframes AI not as a shortcut or crutch, but
as a thinking partner – one that helps humans question assumptions, explore new possibilities, and make better
decisions. True innovation starts by changing how people think, not just what tools they use.

Drawing on insights from Kill the Company and Why Simple Wins, Lisa Bodell shows how to reignite the most
underused human capabilities in organizations: curiosity, creative problem-solving, and judgment – and then
amplify them with AI in practical, responsible, and unexpected ways.

This is not a passive keynote. Through live, interactive moments, participants transform the room into a real-time
innovation lab – challenging assumptions, stress-testing ideas, and uncovering new opportunities together.
Attendees leave inspired and equipped, ready to think more bravely about change, growth, and transformation.
“AI doesn’t replace our thinking – it supports it. It gives us the chance to think bigger, challenge faster, and
imagine more boldly than ever before.”

Key Takeaways:
• AI’s blind spot: it amplifies thinking, it doesn’t replace it?
• How to reignite curiosity and creative problem-solving at work.
• Using AI as a safe provocateur, not a replacement for judgment.
• Practical human-centered techniques to drive innovation immediately.
• A clearer, braver mindset for leading change in an AI-powered world.

Call or text Neal at (720) 498 -3275 or email neal@infinitespeakers.com to set up a discovery call or book Lisa for your next event today.