Anil K. Rathi

Anil learned at an early age about the power of people. The son of an international businessman, he watched his father travel the world and paid particular attention to what he brought back with him. “He’d meet all these people from everywhere,” he says, “and when they would come into town, he’d invite them over for a dinner party with authentic Indian food. This was in the middle of Iowa! So, I watched people from everywhere get together and share their experiences, their stories, and their cultures. It shaped my life.”

Well, that’s not entirely true. It shapes his life. “For almost 20 years now, I’ve made it my mission to carve out a crossroads where people from all walks of life can come together and share their ideas and their passions.” After graduating from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Anil created the Innovation Challenge®, university-based competitions uniting the world’s brightest students with global brands — Hilton Hotels, American Express, AT&T, Shell, Harley Davidson, Google— to foster new products, services and business models. Now, as the CEO and founder of Skild, he’s taken innovation to the next level, crafting challenge programs that tap into unheard voices and fresh perspectives. To date, he’s produced over 500 public & private challenges generating $200 million in prizes; in the process, he’s worked with clients like Cisco, Samsung, Activision-Blizzard, National Science Foundation and Disney on employee engagement programs and causes ranging from clean energy to childhood obesity.

With all of those challenges, prizes, and partnerships under his belt, you’d think Anil would have perfected a formula for his success. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there is no formula,” he counters. “Ideas are fleeting. Challenges come and go. But people, in all of their complexity and diversity, are the beating heart behind all of it — and the true driver behind any successful organization.”