Lead through disruption and harness the creative potential of emerging technologies with proven innovation frameworks from Media & Gaming Tech keynote speaker Josh Linkner.
Key trends and opportunities that Josh helps leaders navigate
For over 30 years, Josh has advised leaders in media and entertainment, helping them navigate shifting consumer behaviors, evolving distribution models, and rapid technological change. From the five tech companies he founded and built to his venture capital and innovation consulting practice, Josh has served some of the most iconic companies in the field, including Disney, Comcast, Viacom, Sony Pictures, NBC/Universal, Thomson Reuters, Gannett, Activision Blizzard, and Warner Music. He helps media leaders build cultures where creative innovation thrives—because in this industry, standing still is the fastest path to irrelevance.
Read Josh's latest insights on AI in Media.
The Streaming-Linear Balancing Act
This evolution underscores a broader principle: creative problem-solving can redefine industry norms. The leaders who approach these structural shifts with an innovation mindset—rather than clinging to legacy models—are turning disruption into new sources of growth and engagement.
AI Reshaping Content and Commerce
AI is a powerful amplifier, not a replacement for human creativity. The media companies seeing the biggest returns pair AI’s speed and scale with the irreplaceable human skills of storytelling, artistic vision, and cultural intuition. The future belongs to organizations that build cultures where technology and human ingenuity work together.
The Live Experience Renaissance
The intersection of technology and live experiences is opening bold new possibilities for creators and business leaders. The organizations that invest in the convergence of creative thinking and emerging tech are building something AI alone can’t deliver.
Podcasting’s Compound Growth
You don’t need a blockbuster moment to transform an industry. Consistent, creative improvement is what turns a scrappy format into a cultural force. The same principle drives innovation in any organization.
Gaming as Social Infrastructure
As AI-generated content floods the market, human creativity becomes more valuable, not less. Audiences can spot the difference between soulful creation and algorithmic assembly. The companies that win will use AI as a creative tool while keeping human imagination, artistry, and storytelling at the center of everything they build.
Josh has unmatched ability to embrace innovation.
At his repeated visits to Viacom, Josh has consistently offered the strategic ideas and practical techniques necessary to drive creative thinking."
Nia Bates
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Viacom
I want to personally thank you for keynoting our industry event and delivering the most dynamic presentation I have seen in the 21 years since the event was started.
Large events like these require audience engagement and you were able to deliver that through your multi-media presentation, Q&A, and sheer force of personality. Your creativity topic hit home to every leader in the room. Thank you again for sharing your energy, passion, and skill to our industry conference."
Rob Lowy
Publishing Director, Industry Week
I again want to tell you howinspiring your words were.
Your passion was absolutely magnetic.
Stu Shinske
Executive Director of Content and Audience Development, Gannett
With the pace of innovation and resulting changes in consumer behavior, no company can afford to sit still.
Growing a successful company requires creative assessment and disruption – and this constant change can be tough on an organization. Josh Linkner illustrates how to steward this mindset in your organization; how to lead your employees to not only accept, but embrace, the necessity for continuous reinvention.
Carol Kruse
Former Chief Marketing Officer, ESPN
Hi, I'm Josh.
Josh Linkner — a New York Times bestselling author — is a rare blend of business, art, and science.
On the business front, he’s been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which created over 10,000 jobs and sold for a combined value of over $200 million.
He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking technologies.
Over the last 30 years, he’s helped over 100 startups launch and scale, creating over $1 billion in investor returns. He’s twice been named the EY Entrepreneur of The Year and is the recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.
For over 30 years, Josh has advised leaders in the Media & Gaming Tech space, helping them embrace changing marketing, customer and technology landscapes. From the five companies that he founded and built, to his innovation consulting practice, Josh and his team have served some of the most prolific companies in the field including Disney, Comcast, Viacom, Sony Pictures, NBC/Universal, Thomson Reuters, Gannett, Activision Blizzard and Warner Music.
While proud of his business success, his roots are in the dangerous world of jazz music. He’s been playing guitar in smoky jazz clubs for 40 years, studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and has performed over 1000 concerts around the world.
His experiences in both business and music led him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on innovation. Josh is the co-founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs, a global research, training, and consulting firm.
Today, he’s on a mission to help leaders Find A Way™ through creative problem-solving, inventive thinking, and ingenuity.
Keynote Topics
+ Outcomes
Find A WayTM
Every problem can be solved, and every opportunity can be seized. Through a proven innovative framework, you'll discover new paths to explosive growth, competitive advantage, and sustainable results.
Expand organization-wide capability for creative problem-solving and inventive thinking.
Big Little BreakthroughsTM
Instead of high-risk moonshots, the most innovative leaders cultivate a high volume of ‘micro-innovations’ and build a culture of everyday innovation.
Gain the tools to become an everyday innovator.
The Music of Business
What business leaders can learn about agility, collaboration, creativity, and performance under pressure from the mysterious world of jazz.
Inject artistry and agility into your business through an unforgettable, interactive experience.
*Please note this topic requires additional talent + gear. Accordingly, additional costs apply.
The Innovative Leader
Become an unstoppable force by unlocking your and your team's ingenuity, gaining confidence, and boosting results in times of dramatic uncertainty and disruption.
Elevate your capacity to lead and win in volatile times.
Disciplined DreamingTM
A proven system for driving breakthrough creativity. Learn how to balance raw imagination with business rigor to achieve profound and predictable results.
Boost creativity and rigor simultaneously to achieve better outcomes.
Rethink. Reboot.
Reinvent.
The business you’ll be running in five years will be dramatically different than today. Unlock the definitive playbook on reinvention, relevancy, and sustainable success.
Gain the confidence to venture into the unknown and thrive, no matter what the future brings.
Innovation in the Age of AI
A modern framework to unlock sustained profitable growth at the intersection of technology and human creativity.
Josh shows you how the path forward involves integrating human creativity with artificial intelligence to thrive amidst uncertainty, rapid change, and disruption.
For Media & Gaming Tech Meeting Professionals
5 Ways Josh Turns Your Event Up To "11"
Sparks a mindset & movement.
His authentic, relatable, research-backed content - with real-world case studies and a high-energy delivery - will inspire your audience to uncover and activate new opportunities every day.
Moves your team into action.
Your audience will not only be energized, motivated, and inspired, they’ll become better equipped with specific tools, frameworks, and techniques to drive meaningful results in the months and years ahead.
Handcrafted, not canned.
Josh takes the time to listen deeply before custom-building a keynote experience just for you. This ensures that every minute is on-point, relevant, and targeted to your unique challenges and opportunities.
Real and accessible.
Josh applies Find A Way™ principles in his everyday work as a leader, venture capitalist, musician, and author. Leaders inspired by his keynote often reach out to him for help finding a way in their everyday work.
Impact - 11, Drama - 0.
Coming from a place of humility and service, Josh believes that a great keynote is about the audience, not the speaker. Meeting professionals often call Josh one of the best keynote speakers to work with.