Chris Barton
Spend time with inventor Chris Barton and you’ll be inspired to believe anything is possible. His positive energy to make seemingly impossible ideas come to life is absolutely contagious. Chris’s latest venture, Guard, uses AI to detect drowning in swimming pools – a never-before accomplished effort.
Chris’s best-known creation is Shazam, the app that changed the way the world discovers music and laid the groundwork for the consumer AI industry we know today. With over 2 billion downloads, Shazam is a global phenomenon and Apple’s sixth-largest acquisition. The app lets people identify songs out of thin air from anywhere they are, making it nothing short of pure magic.
Chris holds 12 patents and played key roles in the early days of Google and Dropbox. He believes his dyslexia helps him uncover novel solutions to obstacles and to achieving audacious goals. In his speeches, Chris shares his Start From Zero thinking method of questioning assumptions and challenging conventional wisdom. His amazing story and storytelling completely captivate audiences and inspires them to make big things happen in their organizations – to create magic in defiance of the obstacles.
Speaking topics
- Create Your Own Shazam Magic - Disrupt Your Thinking. Defy Barriers. Inspire Delight.
Chris Barton knows a thing or two about bringing bold ideas to life. When he dreamt up Shazam, Chris was told using a phone to identify songs out of thin air was impossible. The rocky path from that audacious idea to becoming Apple’s sixth-largest acquisition is an inspiring story worthy of a Hollywood movie. With over two billion downloads, Shazam delivers pure magic and has changed the way the world discovers music.
In this presentation, Chris unpacks lessons learned from creating Shazam using the earliest forms of AI as well as his pioneering involvement with Android at Google and mobile partnerships at Dropbox. Doing something new – disrupting the status quo – tests our resilience and requires an ability to overcome obstacles with fresh eyes.
A holder of twelve patents, Chris’s storytelling and insights inspire people to accomplish big things within their own organizations using “creative persistence” and his Start from Zero methodology – new ways of thinking and overcoming barriers. Startups use these concepts to tackle insurmountable obstacles, and you should too – to create Shazam-like magic in defiance of all odds.
Chris customizes the emphasis of this presentation for each audience. Sample takeaways:
- Questioning the familiar to distill to the “basic truths”
- Reimagining what’s possible with AI
- Overcoming barriers with “creative persistence”
- Remaining focused on core insights despite resistance
- Making things simple and friction-free
- Delighting people by connecting to emotions
Video clips
Speaker testimonials
We recently had Chris Barton speak at our 40th anniversary celebration. He delivered what was by far the best one hour keynote that our clients and staff had ever seen. Chris was insightful, energetic, and entertaining speaker with thought-provoking ideas.
Chris customized a powerful keynote that delivered significant value for Coca-Cola. His messages sparked action among our executives and inspired our bottler partners toward our goals. Chris’s energy and enthusiasm really stands out. He is an inspiration with truly eye-opening insights and stories.
Brilliant brilliant brilliant speaker! Chris delivered an inspiring and on point presentation tailored to over 7,000 Optus employees to launch our new Innovation strategy. To date, Chris’s talk attracted the highest in real time attendance and engagement as compared to any other speaker we have had on this topic. Chris shed light on how innovation can be a big breakthrough, but it can also be an everyday improvement sharing practical examples from his time at Shazam and Google. The presentation balanced both the mindset that is required to drive a cultural shift for innovation as well as the process to bring innovative ideas to life. Chris delivered a compelling talk that generated talkability across the organization with leaders revisiting the recording later with their teams to help
reinforce key messages. Powerful content delivered with an engaging story!
We invited Chris as our keynote speaker for two events that we held in Brazil and Mexico for Mercado Libre in the summer of 2022. We invited more than 60 CEO’s and top executives to these exclusive “C-Club” events. Chris worked with us to understand the key objectives of these events and delivered a truly inspiring keynote speech that was customized for our goals. Our guests were thrilled! Chris’ powerful messages and stories changed their thinking on innovation. Everyone was able to take away unique insights that they can apply day to day in both their organizations and personal lives. It was very important for us at Mercado Libre to work with someone who reflects our culture and Chris could not have been a better partner. He is a down to earth and humble person who dreams big and is always thinking about new ways to improve people’s lives. At a personal level I can say that it was a huge pleasure to meet Chris.
Every single person loved your presentation. All day people were coming up to me. Loved that there was so much take away. People are still buzzing about your presentation days later. Thanks for making me look good.
Chris’s keynote completely captivated our audience of 1700+ SAP customers, partners, and employees. His talk was truly entertaining and inspiring. Our audience’s perception of entrepreneurial innovation was completely transformed.
A good speaker communicates but a great speaker connects. As an MC, applause usually signals the end of one speech and is my cue to get back on stage. Chris is a different breed of speaker – his story is so authentic and inspiring that he received multiple applause breaks throughout his speech. A particularly impressive feat especially given that he was addressing 5000+ predominantly German business professionals after they had already been wowed by President Obama earlier at that same event. I’ve been a professional Event MC and host to over 500 events around the world and I must say Chris is a truly gifted speaker and genuinely beautiful soul.