Salim Ismail
Salim Ismail is an entrepreneur, angel investor, technology strategist, and the lead author of the international bestseller Exponential Organizations. As the Founder and Chairman of OpenExO, he leads a global transformation platform and consulting network that helps corporations, public institutions, and startups adopt exponential frameworks to scale operations and accelerate innovation. A sought-after advisor on digital transformation and emerging technologies, Ismail regularly consults for Fortune 500 executives and heads of state. His work focuses on helping legacy organizations navigate rapid technological shifts by transitioning from incremental innovation model strategies to 10x exponential growth structures. Before launching OpenExO, Ismail held several foundational leadership roles across Silicon Valley and the broader tech ecosystem. He served as the Founding Executive Director of Singularity University, building its core curriculum and faculty alongside Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil. He also led Yahoo!’s internal incubator, Brickhouse, and is an XPRIZE Foundation Board member.
Salim Ismail Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Founder and Chairman
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Board Member
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Founding Executive Director
Academic History
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B.S., Theoretical Physics
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Co-Founder and Partner, Exponential Venture Capital
Chairman, Fastrack Institute
Board Member, Welwaze Medical
Board Member, Rokk3r
TECH INNOVATION & LEADERSHIP
Salim Ismail has held several foundational leadership roles across Silicon Valley, building and scaling companies that helped shape the modern digital economy.
He served as the Founding Executive Director of Singularity University, building its core curriculum and faculty alongside Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil to educate global leaders on applying exponential technologies to humanity's critical challenges.
He was Vice President at Yahoo, heading Brickhouse, the company's internal incubator designed to seed and launch disruptive web applications.
Ismail also co-founded several early tech ventures, including Ångströ (a real-time data analysis platform acquired by Google in 2010) and PubSub Concepts.
He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the XPRIZE Foundation, supporting high-impact incentive competitions designed to foster technological breakthroughs.
MEDIA PRESENCE & GLOBAL SPEAKING
A prolific speaker and public intellectual, Ismail delivers more than 150 presentations annually to global audiences ranging from executive boardrooms to major international forums.
Some of his speaking highlights include keynotes delivered at TED, the Vatican, the G20 Summit and the United Nations.
He has been featured across major international news and business publications, including The New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, WIRED, Vogue, Fox Business and the BBC.
He is also the co-host of the Moonshots podcast with Peter Diamandis, where he provides weekly insights on emerging technologies, AI, exponential growth strategies, and the future of innovation to over 1 million entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide.