Drive growth, navigate dynamic market conditions, harness new technologies, and build a culture of innovation that drives growth and guest loyalty with travel and hospitality keynote speaker Josh Linkner.
Key trends and opportunities that Josh helps leaders navigate
For 30+ years, Josh has collaborated with leaders and teams across the global hospitality and travel sector, advising industry leaders including Delta Airlines, Marriott, Royal Caribbean, Hilton, JetBlue, and Avis. He’s also deeply connected to corporate hospitality through his work with organizations like MPI, PCMA, and ASAE. For leaders in travel and hospitality, Josh delivers practical innovation frameworks that drive competitive advantage, deepen guest loyalty, and empower teams at every level to think creatively in an era of AI disruption and relentless change.
The Art of Anticipation
The accumulation of subtle, creative touches compounds into profound guest loyalty. When every member of the team feels empowered to personalize and innovate—from the front desk to housekeeping to the kitchen—the entire experience elevates.
Where Work Meets Wanderlust
The opportunity goes well beyond adding a co-working space. Creating environments where productivity and inspiration coexist—where travelers can seamlessly shift between deep work and genuine relaxation—is the real differentiator. For hospitality leaders, this trend is an invitation to innovate across the entire guest experience.
AI-Powered Hospitality
The best hospitality brands use AI to free their people for what they do best—building genuine connections, solving unexpected problems, and creating moments that no algorithm can replicate.
Frictionless Guest Experiences
Innovation doesn’t have to be dramatic to be powerful. Each contactless improvement is a small, practical upgrade that reduces friction and builds trust.
Selling Stories, Not Just Stays
The properties that stand out empower their teams to innovate on the guest experience, to spot opportunities for differentiation, and to build the kind of distinctive culture that can’t be copied by a competitor down the street.
Organizations that equip every single team member to become innovators are the ones that win over the long term.
Josh Linkner delivers a powerful framework that will unlock hidden creativity in order to drive growth, innovation, and sustainable success."
Duncan Wardle
Former Head of Innovation and Creativity, Disney
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.
Josh has deep experience in the travel sector, advising and collaborating with industry leaders such as Delta Airlines, Marriott, Royal Caribbean, Hilton, JetBlue and Avis. He’s also deeply connected to corporate hospitality, working with organizations such as MPI, PCMA, and ASAE.
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 Travel & Hospitality 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.