Tom Wujec

Tom Wujec

Pioneer of Business Visualisation, Design Thinking & Strategic Innovation

Core Intelligence Domain: Innovation
Location: Toronto, Canada | Languages: English
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence

Tom Wujec is a globally recognised authority on innovation, design thinking, and the profound impact of disruptive technology on modern enterprise. As the founder of The Wujec Group and a former Autodesk Fellow, he has spent over two decades advising Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organisations, and international governments on how to harness the power of emerging technologies to solve highly complex business challenges. A pioneer in the field of business visualisation, Wujec’s proprietary frameworks—most notably ‘Wicked Problem Solving’—equip C-suite executives and leadership teams with the cognitive tools required to navigate uncertainty, foster high-performance collaboration, and drive strategic foresight.

Autodesk Fellow and Technology Visionary

During his distinguished tenure at Autodesk, the global leader in 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, Wujec served as a Fellow and Chief Changemaker. He was instrumental in mapping the future of design and manufacturing, helping to formulate strategies that anticipated the integration of artificial intelligence, robotics, and cloud computing into traditional industries. Wujec’s deep understanding of how things are made—and how they will be made in the future—makes him an invaluable asset to leadership teams seeking to future-proof their operations. Furthermore, his early work in technology includes contributing to the development of Maya, the Academy Award-winning 3D animation software.

The Marshmallow Challenge and Team Dynamics

Wujec is perhaps most famous for popularising the “Marshmallow Challenge”, a simple yet profoundly revealing design exercise that has been adopted by business schools, corporate retreats, and design workshops worldwide. Through this exercise, he has revolutionised the global understanding of team dynamics, demonstrating the critical importance of iterative design, prototyping, and collaboration over rigid planning. His TED Talk on this subject has garnered millions of views and remains a foundational resource for leaders looking to build agile, high-performing teams.

Mastering ‘Wicked Problem Solving’

Today, Wujec focuses extensively on ‘Wicked Problem Solving’—a structured, visual approach to untangling massive, multi-stakeholder challenges that lack clear solutions. By combining principles of design thinking, agile methodology, and visual mapping, he provides executives with a highly actionable playbook to break down silos, align competing interests, and map out clear, strategic pathways forward. His methodologies are actively taught in executive education programmes and are leveraged by global consulting firms.

Author and Highly Acclaimed TED Speaker

An exceptional communicator, Tom Wujec has delivered six highly acclaimed TED Talks, accumulating well over 10 million views. He is a faculty member at Singularity University, where he teaches the impact of exponential technologies on business and society. He is also the author of several influential books, including Imagine Design Create, Return on Imagination, and Pumping Ions, which explore the intersection of creativity, business strategy, and technological advancement.

Key Speaking Topics

• Wicked Problem Solving: A strategic, visual framework for leaders to navigate complexity, align teams, and solve the unsolvable.
• The Future of Making Things: How disruptive technologies like AI, robotics, and generative design are fundamentally reshaping global industries and value chains.
• The Marshmallow Challenge: Unlocking high-performance collaboration, iterative design, and agile thinking within corporate teams.
• Business Visualisation: The power of visual mapping to clarify strategy, foster shared understanding, and accelerate decision-making at the board level.
• Return on Imagination: Cultivating a culture of strategic innovation to drive measurable growth and competitive advantage.

Key Takeaways

• Actionable Frameworks: Master the ‘Wicked Problem Solving’ methodology to untangle complex, high-stakes organisational challenges.
• Technological Foresight: Gain a deep, strategic understanding of how exponential technologies will disrupt and redefine traditional business models.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Learn proven techniques to foster agile, iterative, and highly collaborative team environments.
• Visual Strategy: Acquire the skills to utilise business visualisation to communicate strategy effectively and align cross-functional teams.