Deborah Schultz

Deborah is an Internet industry veteran who merges expertise in design, marketing and innovation to bring fresh approaches to business. She is widely recognized for her practical understanding of the dynamics of the social web and its impact on culture, society and business. Deb was responsible for architecting the first-of-its-kind Social Media Lab for Procter & Gamble focused on customer relationships. This successful program led to P&G reinventing the nature of the company's customer connection. Her current work focuses on the importance of real-world experimentation, open-innovation and the new human dynamics required for both startups and large organizations to succeed in an always-on, collaborative and connected world.

A 'practical utopian' Deb inspires her audiences with excitement about possibilities and how to turn ideas into action. In a world that's changing too quickly to be definitive about anything in technology or the digital space, Deb offers her audiences an understanding of the fundamentals threaded through the issues that require examination to understand our connected world. Deb speaks and consults on digital user experience, innovation and the business impact of the Internet, specifically on the impact of the social web. She currently serves on Procter & Gamble's Digital Advisory Board. She has consulted with and advised Fortune 50 companies including Pepsi, General Mills, and GE, as well as numerous Internet startups and VC firms. She is a regular keynote speaker at tech and business conferences and is a co-host of the popular podcast Tummelvision.tv

Previously, Deb was a Founding Partner and Senior Fellow at the Altimeter Group, Marketing Director at Six Apart, ran her own technology consultancy firm, was a management consultant at AnswerThink and spent five years at Citibank where she developed many of the global bank's first internet initiatives. One of her proudest accomplishments was launching the Downtown Info Center, a lower Manhattan community center & online hub to revitalize lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th. Deb is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University.