Scott Bales

Biography

A technology and innovation guru, Scott Bales is a global leader in the cutting edge arena known as The Digital Shift, encompassing innovation, culture, design, and mobility in a world gone digital.

As a thought leader, Scott thrives on the intersection between cultural and behavioural changes in the face of technology innovations. With over ten years of international experience in innovation and implementation strategy, Scott has built a reputation as a sought after consultant and speaker with the ability to communicate unorthodox ideas with insightful passion.

Previous Chief Mobile Officer for Moven, the world’s first ever digital everyday bank, Scott has successfully meshed his fascination with people and what motivates them, with a raw enthusiasm for technology. Currently based in Singapore, Scott runs successful advisory firm, Innovation Labs Asia partnering with organisations as they embark on their own innovation journey.

He is the former Vice President of Visa Company Fundamo, former Head of Technology for ANZ subsidiary WING Money, founding member of Next Bank, a mentor to entrepreneurs across the world, sits on the Board of Care Pakistan and holds advisory positions at Startup Bootcamp Fintech, Hub Singapore and Apps 4 Good.

Scott is also author of best selling book Mobile Ready: Connecting With The Untethered Consumer and Innovation Wars due for release in 2019 is an essential guide for any corporate to drive successful innovation programs with impact.

Topics

• Are you ready for Isaac?
  The Future of Work
  Over the past 10 years, where and how we work has radically changed. Whether you work for a multinational corporate, or a small business, the tools at your disposal have dramatically changed. The way you run your business, interact with your customer, monitor business performance, and optimize for either local focus or global scale has changed.
  
  New technologies are evolving everyday - IoT, cloud, artificial intelligence and blockchain, are at our fingertips ready to empower a whole new way of operating. Learn about these technologies and how they will shape your outlook on the market.
  
  What will I takeaway from this keynote?
  • We will explore the HUMAN element of work, yes there will be robots and artifical intelligence around us but humans will still play a critical role in the creative and strategic direction of almost every business on the planet.
  • A framework to use in your business to document and understand the trends and customer preferences that are changing your business so you are not the next Borders or Blockbuster.
    
    
• Are you ready for Isaac?
  The Future Consumer
  We have witnessed an accelerated rate of adoption of technology both as organizations and as individuals. With that our proficiency with technology has also grown. But we are quickly approaching a large behavioral and cultural gap that will change the way we think about technology forever.
  
  In this keynote we will explore what makes a digital native, a person born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts. This generation is commonly referred to as the Millennials or Generation Z, those born around or after the turn of the millennium.
  
  What will I takeaway from this keynote?
  • An in-depth understanding of the realities that shape the modern consumer including TRANSPARENCY, AUTHENTICITY and UTILITY ANYWHERE
  • Actions that you and your organisation can take today to ENGAGE and SERVICE this generation and measure your impact.
    
    
• Are you ready for Isaac?
  Smart Cities & Citizens
  The world around us is changing every single week as new apps and technologies reshape the landscape in which we live, move, eat, socialize, educate and create communities. Our challenge is to figure out how this will evolve as IoT, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles become a part of everyday life.
  
  Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong & Dubai have heavily invested in Smart City technology but what does it actually mean? Where do we look for the technologies that are going to reshape society, reshape transportation, systems, utilities and the infrastructure in which we live.
  
  What will I takeaway from this keynote?
  • We take a look at how smart cities will evolve through the eyes of a digital citizen. Someone whose biases and preferences are shaped by the smartphones and Spotify’s of the world. Learn their daily habits and how they are different to their parents.
  • Understand the trends that are reshaping our nation’s and build a framework to demistify the technological buzzwords.
    
    
• Recode your leadership
  This keynote will ignite your drive to reconsider your purpose. You will learn how important it is to leverage your experience while embarking on a practical learning journey to: Reskill, Retool, Reinvent & Recode your Leadership.
  
  As organisations worldwide embark on bold transformations they continually struggle through challenges related to mindset, culture and leadership. The very people who have built these great businesses are feeling less and less significant in the ever changing digital world.
  
  What will I takeaway from this keynote?
  • Scott presents four simple steps that serve as lights on a path for the next generations of executives young and old. You can use these steps to analyze and transform your organisation.
  • Deep case studies and insights will help you to develop self awareness and strategies to reinvent your value and purpose in a world saturated with technology - to not only survive but also thrive.
  • Prospective leaders will learn how the modern reality is now different from what they were taught at business school and will get their leadership career off to the best start.

Testimonials

Scott Bales was not only a very engaging and thought provoking futurologist but he, and his team, were a pleasure to work with. From the pre-event briefing calls and logistics to the on- site rehearsals and delivery, nothing was too much trouble and the result was a great event and great feedback. We would readily recommend Scott for future events.
Organiser
Vodafone APAC NZ Gigabit Society Summit

Engaging and informative, Scott’s presentation was a great way to start off our 20th edition, and many of our attendees found his session to be both thought-provoking and useful.
Terrapinn Pty Ltd
Organiser of Submarine Networks World

Scott is one of the up and coming leaders in mobile financial services. He's got an abundance of broad experience in the hottest mobile markets on the planet, and gets the interaction imperative in the payments, banking and handset ecosystem.
The Asian Banking Summit

We worked with Scott at Cognizant Community, our annual and unique customer engagement event, in both Australia and New Zealand. His presentations and knowledge displayed at various panels were highly appreciated by the audience. I would not hesitate to hire Scott again, as he clearly makes a difference.
Associate Vice President
Cognizant

A true technology innovator and financial services guru.
Innovation Director
Next Bank

Scott’s content and stage presence are first class.
Microsoft

It's tough to make talks in the Financial space exciting, and Scott delivered. I would highly recommend him for speaking engagements in the Finance/Banking industry.
Google