For this hospitality firm (revenues ~$1B), Chris executed the pilot and rollout of ChoiceMAX, an award-winning revenue management system, to over 4500 hotels, designed to increase revenues and automate setting optimal rates across the enterprise. The successful implementation of ChoiceMAX made Choice Hotels the first hospitality firm to leap back to pre-pandemic revenue levels.
Work
For this financial services firm (revenues ~$75B), Chris ideated over 200 patentable ideas for the innovation group. This resulted in enhancing their patent portfolio with 52 new patents in the areas of payments, insurance, security, authentication, and user experience. Additionally, during his tenure there (since 2015), he pivoted to developing product concepts, leading to the development of a number of forward-leaning products.
For this telecom carrier (revenues ~$133B), Chris executed the implementation of Workday Recruiting, SaaS-based recruiting software, streamlining the applicant hiring process. Additionally, he executed operations tied to Verizon’s M&A activity for a number of acquisitions.
For this hospitality firm, (revenues ~$6B), Chris executed the implementation of custom Sales Incentive Program software, used by all 584 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties with 216,379 rooms in 94 countries and territories across six continents. The execution includes managing multiple teams, external vendors, and also lead to the implementation of a new Hilton support and ticketing system to support the Sales Incentive Program, dubbed Sage.
For this internet services firm, (revenues ~$256B), Chris ideated with the Google Home division to inform their future vision, including participation in a panel on the effects of virtual assistants and human nature. The teams were looking into the future of the home product line, and the ideation included onboarding simplification (see Technology Products Should Just Work) as well as device personification and proactive actions, while keeping the balancing act of privacy and agency in mind.
For this San Francisco Bay Area city, Chris ideated with the leadership team to develop a vision framework for a Smart Cities initiative. Gathering and eliciting feedback from all city stakeholders, ranging from the police, the libraries, and parks, a plan was developed to create a true Smart City, not by simply adding technology. but by leveraging the human intelligence of the citizens of Palo Alto. The plan went on to become the blueprint for the future of Palo Alto’s Smart City initiatives.
For this futurist think-tank, Chris ideated and developed Future Now tech roadmaps, contributed to 10-year outlook, commerce, and conversational interface visions, developed strategic reports for clients such as Intel, Lowes, Huawei, and Dell. These roadmaps helped IFTF clients manage the future – Chris acted as an essential go-between the far future Foresight typically created by the IFTF, and concrete, tangible next actions, and tactics their clients could engage in today to prepare for the envisioned future.
For this financial services firm (revenues ~$80B), Chris ideated and executed a number of forward-thinking prototypes, including, a PayPal-like peer-to-peer fund transfer service, a mobile-based payment mechanism for underserved emerging markets, a treasury leadership management and communications tool. He also developed a targeted IP generation strategy to begin rebuilding their patent portfolio. Additionally, he ran the San Francisco-based innovation lab and assisted in ideation at the Singapore, Dublin, and Hong Kong labs.
For this retailer, (revenues $572B), Chris executed the internal innovation program, developing a framework to capture and process grass-roots innovation from the Walmart online division. The program, dubbed MindFuze, allowed Walmart personnel to submit and vote on product ideas for the retailer. Over 15k users submitted thousands of ideas, during the contract term. Chris also hosted in-person, first-ever to Walmart, Innovation Days, science-fair type events where teams of innovators would be able to present their concepts to internal teams.
For this internet services firm (revenues $118M), Chris ideated and executed a futurist program for the company’s 20th anniversary. The program consisted of an ideation contest, with employees envisioning a future 10 years out, and developing product concepts for that time frame. The program also generated ideas for a time capsule to be opened on the company’s 25th anniversary.
For this internet services firm (revenues ~$5B), Chris ran a number of projects over an extended period of time. Chris ideated and executed an idea capture/voting tool, allowing for 15k Yahoo employees to submit and vote on ideas. Additionally, he ideated hundreds of product ideas as part of the innovation program, and hundreds of patent ideas, helping to create a $4B patent portfolio, 82 issued patents.