Andrew Grant
- Global Innovation Leadership Consultant
- Bestselling international author
Andrew Grant Speaker Biography
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 ‘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.
Andrew’s significant success comes from the fact that he is not only able to talk intelligently and engagingly about the important elements of creative thinking and innovation, but it is easy to see in everything he does. He is a highly experienced professional presenter and facilitator, who will challenge leaders and their teams to think differently about innovation, collaboration and creative thinking. He is both globally minded and culturally fluent, resulting in sessions that are always relevant and sensitive to both the local mindset and diverse audiences.
Andrew can present to an audience that is wanting outcomes delivered engagingly in an intelligent and interactive way (avoid the traps of pure entertainment, dry talks, childish games and gimmicks). Topics are presented with a unique blend of research and live playful humor, previously not experienced, with a specialization interactive focus. There is also the option of hybrid integrated workshops & gamified simulations to get people talking, collect audiences’ input and develop action plans.
Andrew is a thought leader recognized internationally by executives from corporate MNCs to educational institutions and not-for-profit. Andrew has been engaged to be a facilitator / keynote speaker headlining many important events by clients including: AWS, Accenture, Four Seasons Hotels, Google, Singtel, Salesforce, Daimler, SIAC Motors, Estee Lauder, PwC, Accenture, Disney, Boeing, Dyson. He has presented at the YPO Global Leadership Conference, the APEC CEO Summit, TEDx, for the Aust Gov (ATO / DFAT / Aus Trade), UAE Prime Minister’s Office (Future Leaders), and most of the world’s biggest finance companies. (Munich-Re, Allianz, Citi, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Alipay, HSBC, NAB, ANZ, Visa Card, and S&P Global.)
Andrew Grant and his partner Dr Gaia Grant (PhD) (University of Sydney Business School) have spent 3 decades travelling the world to look at creativogenic cultures, and why is it that some societies & companies seem to have raced ahead with innovation, while others appear to have been left behind. As a result, they have developed a CSI-style gamified simulation to help teams diagnose their creativity, AND validated the Innovation Climate Indicator (iCLi) to assess the innovation readiness so as to manage tension in executive teams embracing change, to ensure innovation can be sustainably implemented & to become future-ready. To add an even higher level of dynamics, Andrew can partner up and co-present with Dr Gaia Grant, ensuring a highly interactive session.
Andrew has been featured in a number of international media, including BBC and ABC TV, along with commercial TV, Reuters, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and the Wall Street Journal. Outside of their corporate work, Andrew and Gaia have also worked on breakthrough pro bono education projects across Asia, including designing educational material that has been targeted to reach over 25 million people in developing countries worldwide.
As an executive-level global culture consultant and facilitator, Andrew has been engaged by market innovation leaders to help create a culture of innovation:
• Google: C-level & country managers, for strategic team development (Asia).
• AWS to help prepare teams to manage change. (Asia).
• Nestle (sustainable solutions for emerging markets in Switzerland)
• Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts (preparing the CEO, exec team & GMs for the future of the hospitality industry)
• Disney (creating compelling ideas for marketing, HK),
• Mercedes Benz (leadership & innovative brand positioning, China)
• Estee Lauder (reimagining regional retail models),
• Salesforce (looking at the future of marketing and the customer journey)
• UAE Prime Minister’s office (to help UAE develop future leaders in innovation / Dubai.)
• Boeing – Leading and Recovering from Crisis (during Covid)
• Many large finance institutions (Future of work, & how to innovate in a complaint-driven world.)
• Duke University Corporate Education – Educator and facilitator
• YPO – Top-ranked global facilitator recognized resource
In his role as a keynote speaker, Andrew has been in high demand internationally, including
• APEC CEO Summit & APEC University Leaders’ Forum (Vietnam)
• Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO) Global Edge & GLC ROW Conference
• TEDx (HK).
• Four Seasons Hotel International CEO Conference (Canada)
• The World Innovation Conference (France),
• HR Summit & HR Smart Workforce (Singapore)
Featured Videos
Speech Topics
LEADING INNOVATION ON THE EDGE: Navigating the AI Adoption Divide
CATEGORIES: AI, LEADERSHIP, INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, FUTURIST, + Business, Future of Work, and Asia / Global Affairs.
The rapid rise of AI is reshaping leadership, adding an unpredictable ‘X factor’ to an already complex landscape.
INTRO: 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.
ABOUT: Innovation has become essential not just because it’s fashionable, but because the challenges faced are compounding and won’t stand still. Yet many leaders feel torn between maintaining core services and rethinking how those services must rapidly evolve. The tension between competing demands is real, especially when teams are stretched, and the stakes are high. 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, fostering an innovation culture, 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 supports—not hinders—innovation, empowering organizations to succeed in an era of disruption
THE WHAT: The dynamic keynote also explores the unique challenges of AI adoption: examining 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’s 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) to help leaders navigate digital transformation. Several case studies are also included to show how these principles and tools can be applied in real-world settings.
THE WHY: While many futurists indulge in sharing dazzling forecasts and speculative tech marvels, Andrew Grant and Dr. Gaia Grant offer a grounded, strategic approach. This session isn’t about predicting the future. Instead, it prepares leaders to confidently manage uncertainty. The focus is not on future fantasies but 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 disruption.
Dr. Gaia Grant and Andrew Grant will not only help you stay current with AI but also lead through the tension. Participants leave with the confidence to steer transformational change in an era where complexity, creativity, and AI must coexist.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
• Understand the impact of AI on leadership and innovation
• Navigate the tensions between speed and strategy in AI-driven change
• Gain insights into effective (Ambidextrous) leadership styles and how to manage the competing demands
• Apply practical models and tools designed to executive digital transformation with confidence
CREATIVE & CRITICAL THINKING IN THE AGE OF AI: Building the Thinking Skills That Technology Can’t Replace
CATEGORIES: AI | LEADERSHIP | INNOVATION | CREATIVITY | FUTURE OF WORK | CRITICAL THINKING
In an era where AI is transforming how organizations think, decide, and innovate, this session equips leaders with the human capabilities that matter most: creative intelligence and critical judgment. Andrew Grant and/or Dr Gaia Grant demonstrates how to harness AI as a powerful accelerator—without losing the originality, insight, and reflective thinking that drive breakthrough performance and ensure ‘human-in-the-loop’.
Blending global executive experience, research insights, and frameworks featured in the Harvard case study JPMorgan Chase: Leadership in the Age of GenAI., this session explores how to generate novel ideas, evaluate them rigorously, and navigate complexity with clarity. Participants learn how AI reshapes problem solving and decision making, and how to avoid the cognitive biases and shortcuts that undermine innovation.
The session introduces practical tools and diagnostics—including the Creative Quotient (CQ), the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), and Tirian’s AI Creativity Utilization Dial—to help leaders identify their creative strengths, challenge assumptions, and determine when to lean on AI versus when human ingenuity must lead.
Designed as a keynote or an interactive workshop, this session gives teams the confidence and capability to tackle “wicked problems” using a balanced blend of AI enabled efficiency and human driven creativity.
Key Takeaways & Talking Points
• Strengthen creative and critical thinking as core leadership capabilities in an AI accelerated world
• Learn when and how to integrate AI into creative and design thinking processes
• Use the AI Creativity Utilization Dial to balance human insight with machine intelligence
• Use the CQ and TTCT to measure your creative thinking capacity—and examine where human creativity outperforms AI’s attempts.
• Overcome cognitive biases and build a culture of thoughtful enquiry and innovation
A dynamic, future focused session for organizations seeking to elevate thinking, sharpen decision making, and unlock the full potential of human–AI collaboration.
MORE CORE KEYNOTE TOPICS DR GAIA GRANT &/OR ANDREW GRANT
We need to be creative to be innovative. But the relentless push to innovate faster is producing a toxic culture that may undermine the whole creative process. In our rush for end results fast, we could ironically be killing the very thing that will lead us to innovation: creativity. Creativity and innovation are not interchangeable words, and it’s important for effective businesses to understand why. In these sessions, we explore why we need both, and the paradoxes behind this that can impact our work.
Core Keynote AND/OR A hybrid keynote / workshop. This option allows for the participants and all stakeholders to walk away with interactive, actionable data from the collective intelligence of the group’s contributions to real live workplace challenges and solutions. (rec 1- 2 hours.)
INNOVATE:
1. Leading on the Edge: Navigating the AI Adoption Divide. Explores the leadership paradox at the heart of AI adoption—how to embrace innovation without losing what matters most. By balancing the ‘Explore’ and ‘Preserve’ mindsets, leaders can move beyond hype to drive meaningful, sustainable change. (+ JPMChase Leadership in the age of Gen-AI case study).
2. The Innovation Race: Becoming Future Ready. Who will win, lose and be eliminated? What does successful & sustainable Innovation look like? Includes: best practices- Countries, Companies, Cultures, Innovation Leaders, Business Transformation in an AI world.
3. Are you an Innovative Leader? Creating agile leadership teams: Identifying ambidexterity across different occupational profiles to manage the tension of change. (includes an Innovation profiling assessment iLCi)
4. How to Make Rapid AND Responsible Decisions about New Innovations. Mastering the art of purpose-driven innovation leadership for driving sustainable change
5. The Collaboration Concept: A gamified simulation (including a live social experiment & gamified simulation to explore the challenge of building collaborative teams in a corporate competitive environment)
These programs have been successfully deployed to benchmark and develop the UAE Prime Minister’s Office Future Leaders (with DukeCE). + APEC CEO Forum, Baker McKenzie, Boeing, Channel, Gartner, General Mills, Google, HSBC, ICBC Bank of China, Lenovo, Lufthansa, Salesforce, YPO & for Harvard Business School.
CREATE:
1. The AI Creative Challenge: Leading Through Innovation. Harness AI without losing the human spark
2. Harnessing Creative Intelligence (CQ) – for a distinct competitive advantage
(including personal creativity measure feedback and goals).
3. Who Killed Creativity?… And How to Get it Back? Identifying creativity challenges and solutions from the classroom to the boardroom (including why Design Thinking often fails and how to prepare for it better).
4. The 7 Critical & Creative Thinking Strategies + AI Critical Thinking Lab: Future-Proofing Leadership- for generating practical new innovations (including 7 practical examples & applications from the 7-step process)
This framework has accelerated innovation across the mobility ecosystem, including Daimler, SAIC Motor & Toyota. Other industry leader engagements include: Accenture, Alipay, ANZ Bank, Citibank, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Google, KPMG, Nestlé, PwC, Salesforce, Swiss Re, YPO.
