Founder
The Flux Group
Robert Safian is one of the most sought-after speakers, moderators, and interviewers in the modern business. From leadership positions at Fast Company, Time, Fortune and Money, to incisive analysis across multiple TV networks, podcasts and digital platforms, Safian has been lauded as an unparalleled source of insight on the future of the global enterprise.
He is not only among the most acclaimed publishing executives in history but has deep relationships across the C-suite in multiple industries, accessing the cutting-edge developments that are reshaping our world. For decades Safian has chronicled thousands of odds-defying organizations and leaders, uncovering their secrets of success. He synthesizes their lessons into eye-opening and thoroughly entertaining presentations filled with compelling storytelling. He is warm, approachable, and an expert at working with event organizers to personalize his presentations for each audience.
Whether assessing a startup in Detroit, the tech scene in Palo Alto, or an iconoclast in Shanghai, Safian is constantly translating what is next and new to the mainstream. By presenting stories of the people behind innovative business thinking, he provides hope to millions of talented professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders that meaningful change is possible. Safian has been propelled by a reputation for near-clairvoyant prediction. He was the first editor to put Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on a magazine cover, covering Airbnb, Netflix, and Uber long before they became household names.
He led the influential, award-winning business magazine Fast Company for nearly twelve years, turning it into the world’s leading progressive business media brand. He was named Editor of the Year by Adweek and earned the highly coveted National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in 2014, beating out rivals including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and more. Prior to Fast Company, Safian was the executive editor for Time and Fortune and headed Money as its chief editor for six years. He is a frequent guest on CBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and other TV networks. His latest projects include The Flux Group, an advisory firm that is driving awareness of new business practices to both individual companies and mass-market audiences; The Flux Network, a special invitation-only community of leading thinkers, creative collaborators, and idea generators; and a highly-anticipated forthcoming book on the reinvention of business that is identifying how leaders at all levels can best adapt and thrive in today’s high-flux environments and turn disruption to their advantage.
Safian has also built a reputation as one of today’s top interviewers, conducting onstage dialogues with many of the world’s most intriguing leaders, including the CEOs of Starbucks, Nike, Target, Ford, Pepsico, Pixar, Walmart.com, Chobani, Under Armour, J Crew, Soulcycle, Casper, Pinterest, Warby Parker and more, plus celebrities including Kate Hudson, Serena Williams, Chelsea Clinton, Princess Reema Bint Bandar of Saudi Arabia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jordan Spieth, Jared Leto, Alicia Keys and more. He has been a keynote presenter at events ranging from SXSW Interactive to the United Nation’s Global Accelerators Council, the National Retail Federation’s “Big Show” to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, HSM Brazil to The World Congress on Intelligent Transport.
In addition to all of Safian’s wide experiences, pool of knowledge, and deft storytelling skills, he is also warm, approachable, and an expert at working with event organizers to personalize his presentations for each audience.
CXO
RemarkableMX
Kurt Schroeder is the Chief Member Experience Advisor at Remarkable MX, a Member Experience advisory firm helping credit unions thrive in the experience economy. Prior to starting Remarkable MX, Kurt retired as the Chief Experience Officer at Avtex which helped organizations win through designing more meaningful experiences in every customer interaction.
With over 35 years of experience, Schroeder has a background helping diverse industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, health care, financial services, distribution, insurance, consumer packaged goods, and non-profits. He leverages this experience while helping organizations turn insight into experiences that drive growth and pioneering new methodologies and approaches in customer experience to improve how companies innovate new and better customer experiences.
Known for his outstanding organizational and consulting skills, Schroeder has a thorough knowledge of customer experience, customer loyalty, market research, go-to-market strategy, digital and social experience, sales effectiveness, and experience innovation. He has been recently quoted in The New York Times, Forbes, and CMSWire. He also speaks nationally on various customer experience topics at conferences and corporate events.
Chief Data Officer
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Rachel Wilson spent the first 15 years of her career at the National Security Agency (NSA). Over the course of her NSA career, she held several key senior executive level leadership positions. Between 2008 and 2010, she ran NSA’s counterterrorism operations and led a global enterprise in detecting and disrupting terrorist plotting against the United States and its allies. Between 2010 and 2012, Rachel served as NSA’s Chief of Operations in the UK working out of the US Embassy in London. In this role, she worked with UK intelligence services to counter terrorist and cyber threats to the 2012 Olympics. Returning to the US in 2012, Rachel spent nearly five years leading NSA’s cyber exploitation operations within NSA’s Tailored Access Operations. In this capacity, she led the planning and execution of thousands of cyber exploitation operations against a wide array of foreign intelligence, military, and cyber targets and served as the committing official for many of NSA’s highest risk and most important intelligence-gathering activities.
In April of 2017, Rachel became the first Head of Cybersecurity for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Investment Technology. She is responsible for protecting the cybersecurity of Wealth Management, Investment Management and Prime Brokerage systems and the integrity and confidentiality of Firm and client data. Additionally, Rachel advises the leadership of Wealth Management, Investment Management and Prime Brokerage on cybersecurity issues, including secure code development standards, secure network architecture, vendor relationships, advanced persistent threat (APT) detection and mobile security. She also leads field and client education and communication on cyber risk, threats and mitigations. She and her team drive innovation for new cybersecurity and authentication technology. Rachel was recognized by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as part of the 2019 MAKERS Class, a program that honors women who serve as groundbreakers, innovators and advocates. She was also named one of the Top Women in WealthTech 2020 by ThinkAdvisor.
In her private capacity, Rachel advises individuals, corporations and institutions on cybersecurity best practices and strategies. She serves on the Advisory Board of WATSCO Inc (NYSE: WSO) and on the CISO Advisory Board of Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN). Rachel is a sought-after speaker for technology, financial, and professional forums and has recently keynoted the Barron’s Top 100, the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) 401k Annual Summit, the Portfolio Management Institute (PMI) Annual Conference, the Association of Professional Investment Consultants (APIC) Annual Conference, and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals Annual Conference. Rachel is a leading thinker on protecting children and teenagers from cyber threats and loves educating young people and their parents on how to be safe citizens on the internet. Rachel holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA from the University of Chicago. Rachel and her husband live in New York City with their two children.