Dustin Garis

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School, Dustin Garis is a pioneer in business innovation, defining the future of brand building, corporate entrepreneurship, and organizational design. His unique view of the world is born from an unusual professional career and fascinating life experiences across over 50 countries and six continents, not only preaching innovation but also seeking it out and living it. Throughout his disruptive career at companies like the Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble, Garis has held the title of Chief Troublemaker, renowned for his deep and original understanding of consumer choice, product development, and employee creativity.

Known as the "Indiana Jones of Marketing," Garis has been known to begin his meetings with the help of opera singers, use an elevator as an office, conduct negotiations in Hong Kong spas, fetch well-water with low-income women in rural India, ride an 1,800 pound-bull in an Ohio rodeo, and travel through the office by Segway. But there's a method to this madness. Garis integrated these practices into his role leading global marketing innovation at P&G's FutureWorks—an innovation hub responsible for accelerating discontinuous growth by incubating, launching, and scaling breakthrough ventures worldwide. He also handled leadership for the P&G FutureWorks Emerging Markets division in Singapore, where his team managed a billion-dollar portfolio of new business models and early-stage technologies across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Garis's other roles at P&G included Chief Marketing Officer of Mr. Clean Car Wash, which paved the way for P&G's expansion into the services sector, with follow-up businesses such as the Tide Dry Cleaners. He also managed global marketing innovation at P&G's billion-dollar Oral Care brands (Crest, Scope, and Oral-B brands) and Fem Care (Tampax brand), where he developed and taught original consumer understanding practices. On stage, Garis challenges his audiences with talks focused on helping organizations expand innovation capabilities that drive consumer passion, employee well-being, and unreasonable business success. He has spoken at various prestigious platforms, including TEDx, sharing his insights on the pursuit of a memorable life. Currently, he serves as the Chief Troublemaker at Ericsson, continuing to influence global brands and foster innovative corporate cultures.