Discover how this Innovation Strategist & Incubator Leader bridges Silicon Valley agility with global scaling, teaching corporations to think and grow like high-growth startups.
North America
Core Intelligence Domain: Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Location: Zurich, Switzerland | Languages: English, German
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence
Gert Christen is a globally recognised innovation strategist, serial entrepreneur, and executive leader specialising in the commercialisation of emerging technologies and the architectural design of scalable business ecosystems. With an extensive background bridging the vibrant startup hubs of Europe and the high-growth environment of Silicon Valley, he provides C-suite executives, corporate boards, and ambitious founders with proprietary frameworks for accelerating digital transformation, corporate venture structuring, and transatlantic market expansion. As an authority on bridging the gap between legacy corporate processes and agile startup methodologies, he equips organisations with the strategic foresight required to thrive in an era of continuous disruption.
Serving as a pivotal figure in the Swiss and global innovation landscape, Gert previously held the position of CEO at Startzentrum Zürich, one of Switzerland’s most prominent startup incubators. During his tenure, he was instrumental in shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem, guiding hundreds of early-stage tech ventures through critical growth phases, securing venture capital, and facilitating strategic partnerships. His deep operational expertise is rooted in his own experience as a founder and executive in multiple technology-driven enterprises, where he successfully navigated the complexities of product-market fit, international scaling, and successful exits.
Beyond his ecosystem-building capabilities, Gert Christen is highly sought after by multinational corporations seeking to inject intrapreneurship into their organisational DNA. He has developed robust methodologies that allow large-scale enterprises to adopt the lean, iterative, and high-velocity characteristics of startups without compromising their core business stability. His consulting and advisory work frequently involves designing corporate accelerators, leading executive innovation sprints, and establishing outposts in global tech hubs to monitor and integrate disruptive trends such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and advanced automation.
An engaging and thought-provoking international speaker, Gert delivers highly tailored, data-backed keynotes that demystify the mechanics of exponential growth. He combines macroeconomic insights with tactical, ground-level business strategies, ensuring his audiences leave with both a visionary outlook and practical tools for immediate implementation. He is a trusted advisor and lecturer at leading business schools and innovation summits worldwide.
“Gert is the visionary every team desires in their leader. He approaches every challenge with analytical and creative determination, inspiring and encouraging his team with every direction. As our Director, Gert was the leader whose strategy we believed in, whose integrity we valued, and whose charisma made the job a more enjoyable adventure.”
“Gert is a multi-faceted executive with limitless vision and a knowledge portfolio that is both deep and wide. I've had the pleasure to work with him for many years. He's leading with passion and empathy and is able to safely maneuver his ship through the roughest waters while motivating his crew to perform at their very best.”
“I worked Gert at Nokia for 3-5 years on various projects. Typically we were trying to either obtain content, establish a key relationship for the delivery of content or applications to our key carrier customers or set up a whole infrastructure system (Preminet, know now as Nokia Content Discoverer) for the procurement of content and SW applications for mobile devices from SW developers, the selection of content by carriers for their subscriber ecosystems and then the delivery and billing of subscribers and payment of royalties to the applicable developers. In all these projects I found Gert to be a fantastically successful business person and driver, both externally with develpers and carriers and internally in motivating staff and resources to achieve major goals and achievements. Gert is able to cut to the chase to understand key business and legal issues and navigate his way through them, all while motivating everyone around him to achieve goals on time or in advance of the required timeline. I wholeheartedly endorse Gert for any company looking for a great business person and leader.”
“Gert is a very energetic, passionate, goal oriented, but very personal individual. He clearly understands what a win-win situation is, and thrives for it. Gert has the creative talent and intellectual horsepower to be a top-level performer in any organization. A person I would very strongly recommend either to hire, or to work together again. It was a pleasure working with Gert.”
“Gert is an excellent colleague and manager with high sales skills and a clear business view. Always motivating. I recommand any company to work with Gert.”
“I had the utmost experience of working reporting to Gert for the ramping up of Mobile Internet Applications business for LATAM. It was very impressive his deep knowledge of the business operations, having to estabilish the project management and technical support organizations in the region, under a complex and multicultural scenarios. His strong and consistent driving, hardworking, and competence, at the same time supporting his team for achieving the best, certainly contributed for the successful implementation of the new organization and for the overall high performance at an individual and organizational levels.”
“Gert is an extremely knowledgeable, productive, and highly ethical individual who added greatly to Nokia's CDMA success stories in Latin America. He handles pressure well and treats all around him with respect. Gert is a true professional.”
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North America
