Palo Alto, California, United States
Mike Steep has been at the forefront of technology for the last 30 years. He is the author of the newly released book “First Light of Day: A Cautionary Tale of Our Future,” and the founder and executive director of Stanford University School of Engineering’s Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities Program. In his current role, Mike has built a bridge between Stanford’s disruptive technologies labs and 30 corporate partners—including Amazon, Cushman & Wakefield, Hitachi, Visa —to create new opportunities for innovation and monetization. In addition to his work at Stanford, Mike is an Adjunct Professor of Digital Business at the Imperial College London, and serves on the Smart Cities Board of London advising commercial clients on the impact of emerging technology in their industries. Earlier, Mike held management positions for the world-renown tech research firm, PARC (formerly Xerox PARC), and for tech giants including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, and Apple. A frequent keynote speaker, Mike is an active venture investor in disruptive technologies. He earned his MBA from the University of Virginia, and his BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Focus Areas * Early Stage Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities * Effective Leadership in Disruptive Innovation * Management of global sales operations, international business, and strategic partnering * Emerging technologies crossing advanced material sciences to persuasive technology
Mike is regarded as a legendary tech pioneer & operating executive. He is the Founding Executive Director, Stanford Program for Disruptive Technology & Innovation and works in partnership with Leading Authorities - one of the largest paid speakers bureaus in the United States. He delivered well over 60 global keynotes to thousands of executives crossing over 20 industries since 2016. His high demand keynotes include Transforming the Power of AI Into Bottom-Line Opportunities, Breakthroughs in Cybersecurity: New Advancements for Protecting Our Critical Infrastructure, and Digital Transformation of Healthcare and Patient Services. He is also CEO of Transform Innovation - a private investment company in early stage venture capital and disruptive innovation (2012-Present concurrent with Leading Authorities).
Mike founded and then managed Stanford's Disruptive Technology and Innovation Program connecting corporate affiliates with Stanford's engineering faculty members, and Ph.D. students - creating a bridge from early stage technology development to new innovation models for digital transformation. Corporate members had access to expertise through the faculty to conduct research projects and understand new techniques to manage innovation inside their own companies. Mike also developed and taught a course on reinventing innovation and published his first book - First Light of Day. He has also authored numerous papers on technology and its impact on business models.
Mike Steep is Senior Vice President of Global Business Operations, overseeing PARC’s global business development, sales, strategy, and marketing. He manages PARC’s strategic relationships for clients in diverse focus areas including Big Data, Cloud, networking, novel electronics, human-centered innovation services, energy, intelligent systems, contextual intelligence, and more.
Lead the startup, expansion, and general management of Microsoft’s customer-focused global innovation programs organized initially under the Office of Bill Gates. Created and managed a global alliance of 35 Fortune Group companies that help Microsoft identify how emerging technologies would fundamentally change customer business models and create new revenue growth opportunities. Program resulted in fundamental cultural change within Microsoft’s technical leadership by connecting top innovation and R&D executives from global customers to Microsoft’s senior technical community. Customers enjoyed a strategic relationship with Microsoft's top technical talent resulting in revenue growth overall for Microsoft. Big Data, Cloud, Server, Privacy, and Mobile technologies. B2B and B2C.
Managed HQ global direct and indirect sales operations for major account technical sales force. Team exceeded revenue plan growing $2B in revenue 7%. Drove key field programs supporting strategy of infrastructure optimization focused on increasing productivity through virtualization and SaaS technologies. Managed operations execution plan for revenue attainment, geography reporting metrics, division product roadmap coverage, technical direct sales force compensation, and technical readiness, and partner programs. Prior to this role, managed global technology and operational plans for Telcos to sell, and support services for Live Meeting™, Live Communications Server™, and web-hosted conferencing (2005). B2B.
Managed ‘C’ level retained searches for CEOs of Silicon Valley tech companies. Engaged in finding turn-around and start-up executives for Valley venture cap clients. Lead partner for startups in disruptive technology and innovation.