Bio

Brent Dixon is an interdisciplinary designer, educator, and facilitator. He most recently served as Chief Design Officer for Trabian, a digital technology studio that builds fintech with startups, financial institutions, and major service providers like Q2, Jack Henry, and Fiserv. Trabian recently joined the MVB Bank family to lead technology innovation for new ventures.

Brent has spent his career creating pathways for inclusive innovation in consumer finance, education, government, and humanitarian response.

Previously, Brent worked as an Innovation Specialist within the United Nations Secretariat. During this time, he led the creation of Unite Labs, an experimental think-and-do-tank housed in the UN’s Office of Information and Communication Technology, co-chaired the newly-created UN Innovation Network, and increased public participation in the UN system through the UN’s Non-Governmental Liaison Service.

Brent is a thought leader in the consumer finance space, with over 15 years of experience working with some of the largest community financial institutions in North America. He has a unique ability to take complex concepts and translate them into actionable plans that help organizations achieve their goals.

He worked with the Filene Research Institute to launch new advisory and strategic planning services focused on meeting the needs of young adults with the next generation of financial services. Through Filene, he worked with countless financial institution leadership teams across North America to translate those services into direct impact for their organizations.

Brent has partnered with PBS Kids, TEDxAustin, South by Southwest, and Dell Children’s Hospital, among others, to create hands-on science, technology, art, and design learning experiences for kids.

He was Future of Finance Teaching Fellow at Singularity University and mentored 80 entrepreneurs and researchers from 36 countries on using disruptive technology to address global challenges.

Brent currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife, 3-year old son, and a surely-yet-lovable cat.

Speaking Topics

None of Us is as Smart as All of Us: Using Collective Intelligence to Build Teams of Problem Solvers

Solving complex problems requires new approaches to problem-solving. By bringing together diverse groups of people, data, and technology, we can create a greater collective intelligence than the individual parts in isolation. And by doing this, we can achieve things far beyond what any particular employee could achieve alone. This interactive presentation uses rich storytelling to cover:

• How to gather and use new sources of data
• How to improve your shared understanding of complex problems
• How to create and find solutions to current problems
• How to make more informed and inclusive decisions
• How to facilitate space for employees to think collectively

Frictionless Leadership

Friction. It’s the force that resists the motion of one object against another. And in the world of work, it’s the enemy of productivity.

How much time do you spend every day fighting friction? Dealing with unnecessary bureaucracy. Wading through mountains of irrelevant information. Pushing back against outdated processes.

It’s time to put an end to the madness. It’s time to get rid of the friction in your organization.

Brent Dixon is on a mission to do just that. In this talk he takes us through the causes of friction, and how we can heroically save our organizations from its wrath.

In this playful and interactive session, Brent uses Filene research to show us how bad organizational friction is the effect of well-intentioned systems and processes that overload employees, waste their time, and devalue their work. He then provides concrete examples of how we can overcome friction and make our organizations more productive, efficient, and human-centered.

If you’re ready to tackle the enemy of productivity head-on, then this session is for you.

Innovation Through Experimentation

How can your organization drive innovation and remain competitive in today’s fast-paced business world? Join Brent Dixon in this insightful keynote session as he shares why experimentation is fundamental to achieving successful innovation and how it can impact every area of your business, from product development to customer experience and operations. You’ll learn the fundamentals of designing, executing, and analyzing business experiments, and explore how to build a culture of experimentation that fosters creativity, curiosity, and healthy risk-taking. With insights ranging from startups to the United Nations, this session is sure to change the way you think about innovation and provide you with practical strategies to drive continuous improvement in your organization. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain a competitive edge and thrive in today’s business world.