Cherry Rose Tan

AI, Innovation and Mental Health Speaker

Cherry Rose Tan is a tech and innovation leader, the Entrepreneur in Residence at the Schulich School of Business, and a world-class expert in AI. She advises over 250 startups, has helped Schulich founders raise $60M, and teaches MBA courses on innovation. A former venture capitalist, she turns exponential technologies like AI and blockchain into real-world solutions for her clients. As the Founder of #REALTALK, North America’s largest platform on entrepreneurial mental health, she helps organizations build the future without burnout. Featured in Forbes, Inc., and The Globe and Mail, Cherry Rose is a sought-after speaker on AI, innovation, and leadership.

Biography

Fifth-generation entrepreneur Cherry Rose Tan is the Entrepreneur in Residence at the Schulich School of Business, based in Canada’s third largest university, where she advises an ecosystem of 250 startups and 3,000 members. She leads Advisory and Fundraising services, where Schulich founders have raised $60M in four years, while teaching three MBA courses on Entrepreneurship.

With 18 years of experience in Tech, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, she has a reputation as the First Mover in several industries. Tan served as Pre-Seed Investor of Paycase Financial, a Canadian blockchain pioneer that provides infrastructure to global markets. She was also a General Partner at Renew Venture Capital, an early-stage firm focused on impact and underrepresented founders.

Her previous company #REALTALK, the mental health movement for the tech industry, is known for being North America’s first and largest platform on Entrepreneurial Mental Health. Specializing in working with C-Suite leaders, Tan grew the movement to 40,000 leaders and 70 national champions in four years, with a synonymous Top 14 Business podcast on iTunes as well.

As an Innovation & Mental Health Speaker, she works with clients to ensure that leaders build the future of their organization, without burning out along the way. Speaking to corporations, associations, and universities around the globe, Tan is adept at demystifying complex technologies and translating possibility into reality through her methodology Possibility Executed™.

Her companies have been featured on Forbes, Inc., The Globe and Mail, CBC, Nasdaq, Reuters, and Insider for being disrupters in their industries. She also sits on the boards for Wellspring and the Canadian Mental Health Association, and is the best-selling author of Still Standing: What It Takes to Thrive and Innovate in. a Messy World, a tactical roadmap for building and leading our organizations into the future.

Published Books:

A book named 'Still Standing' by Cherry Rose Tan — Still Standing: What it Takes to Thrive and Innovate in a Messy World

Expertise

Artificial Intelligence
Innovation & Disruption
Mental Health
Future of Work
Women in Leadership
Women in Tech

Videos

Keynote Topics

Possibility Executed™: Determining the Future of Your Organization in an Age of Uncertainty

In a world of exponential technology, organizations (and their people) face a daily environment of stress, uncertainty, and rapid change. This pressure continues to build, as we grapple with the long-term impacts of the pandemic and the recession. The fact is we need leaders who can rise to the occasion, but how do we build the future of our organization without burning out along the way?

In this keynote, fifth-generation entrepreneur and venture capitalist Cherry Rose Tan shares the mindset, heartset, and skillset leaders need to build future-proof organizations. Having coached and advised over 300 startups and their executive teams, she offers real-world insights and case studies on how to implement and scale strategies that will drive your organization forward.

This keynote is perfect for leaders and teams:

Navigating constant stress and change, such as emerging technology, new competitors, or low resources
Dealing with burnout, resistance, and/or low morale as you implement innovation or digital transformation
Struggling to recruit and/or retain talent as you navigate change

The audience will leave with:

A shared language for identifying and addressing stressors before they snowball
A 3-part leadership model that empowers every team member to create everyday resilience in the face of change
The awareness, energy, and inspiration to begin building an innovative culture

Possibility Executed™ with Artificial Intelligence

Is AI disrupting or helping you? Artificial intelligence (AI) is a historic moment: one of complete disruption and transformation of every industry, and the emergence of never-seen-before ways of optimizing, expanding, and monetizing our businesses. The advent of AI means that all organizations, regardless of industry, have the unprecedented potential to be more nimble, profitable, and responsive than ever before.

In this provocative keynote, serial founder Cherry Rose Tan demystifies the world of AI, weaving in real-life business cases from the world of startups and unicorns. From generative AI (like ChatGPT) to predictive AI, she covers three ways AI can help you create, work, and lead with scale, so you can accelerate your business and your leadership in these changing times.

This keynote is perfect for leaders and teams:

Eager to use AI, especially in staying relevant against competitors, but unsure where to start
Overwhelmed by AI and looking for an expert to show where the opportunities and distractions are
Experiencing massive industry or business disruption, and feeling the pressure to act now

The audience will leave with:

An understanding of the types of AI out there, and the opportunities and that each of them can unlock
The inspiration and energy to tackle AI head-on as an organization
Real-life case studies to translate this conversation from theory to practice and empower immediate application

Possibility Executed™ with Web3 and Metaverse

Has your organization integrated these technologies or are you being left behind? Web3 is the next evolution of the internet – a decentralized internet powered by blockchain and tokens, like cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and more. It’s not just a technological shift: it’s a fundamental shift in how we connect, control, and transact with each other and businesses.

Web3 is intertwined with the rise of the Metaverse, virtual environments where Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha are thriving. In these digital and immersive worlds, entire communities and even economies exist that represent billions in untapped revenue. Leveraging 25 years of experience in Web3 technologies and digital worlds, crypto investor Cherry Rose Tan shares the trends, insights, and opportunities that will impact the businesses ready to embrace these technologies.

This keynote is perfect for leaders and teams:

Feeling pressure to understand or apply these technologies, but unsure where to start
Responsible for creating new revenue streams or opportunities, especially with growing market segments like Gen Z and Gen Alpha
Experiencing industry or business disruption, who need insights to stay competitive and make decisions

The audience will leave with:

- A framework for navigating the 3 key technologies and their applications in business
- The confidence and ability to identify business opportunities (and to mitigate the risk) that come with adopting Web3 and/or Metaverse
- A practical, everyday way of talking about Web3 and Metaverse with your teams, your customers, and other stakeholders

#REALTALK: Building a Thriving and Resilient Organization

How do we build resilient leaders (and thus, organizations), who will rise in the face of adversity? Cherry Rose Tan has spent the last 15 years answering this question, culminating in her company #REALTALK, the mental health movement for the tech industry. Known as North America’s first and largest platform on Entrepreneurial Mental Health, she has worked with over 40,000 leaders in 27 industries, helping teams build a strong foundation of mental health across their organization.

In this keynote, Tan shares how leaders can utilize “real talk” (the art and science of tough conversations) to build a stronger and healthier workplace at all levels of an organization. In an era of remote work and also burnout, organizational performance comes down to the mental and emotional health of your employees.

This keynote is perfect for leaders and teams:

Experiencing high levels of burnout, especially due to a post-pandemic, hybrid work, or recession context
Facing employee turnover or absenteeism, leading to costly talent and HR practices
Dealing with significant stress and change, causing a decrease in employee productivity or motivation

The audience will leave with:

- A shared and approachable language for talking about Workplace Mental Health
- A safe space that serves as a first step, so that organizations can build on this momentum
- A 3-step framework that will empower employees to manage and restore their workplace wellbeing

One Percent-Her: Lessons from a Fifth-Generation Entrepreneur

What does it take to be in the top 1% of your field? As a Filipino-Chinese Canadian woman who carved her own path as a C-Suite executive, Cherry Rose Tan’s success as a Woman of Colour represents less than 1% of all tech founders. Her experience in competitive and male-dominated industries like tech and academia gives her unique insight on what it takes to excel.

Through her raw and inspiring journey from poverty to success, Tan offers a proven roadmap and strategies for every individual, especially the underrepresented, to become a “one percenter”- a powerhouse leader in their organization or industry. Grounded in real-life stories, she brings two decades of entrepreneurial experience, along with lessons learned from 140 years of entrepreneurship in her family.

This keynote is perfect for leaders and teams:

Aware of the need to cultivate their organization’s future leaders
Looking for examples of leadership and success from diverse and decolonized perspectives
Desiring to be more inclusive and responsive to their employees, especially as they recruit and retain womxn and/or Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)

The audience will leave with:

A real-life perspective on what it takes to be a powerhouse leader and achieve career success
An inspiring and welcoming way of weaving inclusive leadership into your organization
The mindset and habits used by world-class founders and entrepreneurs to excel

Artificial Intelligence: Tools, Tips, and Tricks for Everyday Work

How can we make AI work for you? Ever since the entry of ChatGPT, every industry and every organization has grappled with how to weave artificial intelligence (AI) into their everyday work. Like the disruptive technologies that came before it, AI is a technology that can make-or-break your business in the long run.

In this hands-on breakout, tech founder Cherry Rose Tan will introduce and teach the AI-powered uses, tools, and prompts that you and your teams can apply immediately in your work or business. These tools (which includes ChatGPT) will help you delegate what is slowing you down, in order to maximize the productivity and profits of your organization. This session will come with practical demonstrations, Q&A opportunities, plus a take-home worksheet as well.

This breakout is perfect for leaders and teams:

Seeking to capitalize on artificial intelligence, including prompt examples for different outcomes
Identifying best-in-class tools to increase efficiency and profits
Integrating ChatGPT (or other comparable tools) into current practices, systems, and strategies, in order to leverage its business applications

The audience will leave with:

A step-by-step guide on how to utilize generative AI, including best practices on ethics and prompts
A clear understanding of how to apply AI-powered tools, plus its limitations
The confidence to apply at least one AI-powered tool, based on a toolbox of options presented by Cherry Rose

Testimonials

Cherry Rose is personable, funny, and captivating. She spoke to us about managing disruption as an organization and had the entire group engaged throughout her talk.

George Silva, National Manager, Dealer Operations at Mercedes-Benz

Cherry Rose did a great job taking her experience and applying it to the problems we are trying to solve. Her path to today was inspiring and she really ignited the team to think differently about innovation.

Eric Dressler, Associate Vice President, Data and Analytics at Canadian Automobile Association

Her presentation was tremendous in a room of women CEOs. She really helped us to understand the layers that go along with mental health, not only as a leader with the teams that we lead, but also with the challenges that women entrepreneurs across this country are facing.