Atif Rafiq | Source | CEO at Ritual
Atif Rafiq
Atif has blazed trails in Silicon Valley and the Fortune 500 for over 25 years, reshaping industries and generating billions in revenue for some of the world's leading companies. His involvement in business has seen over half a trillion in value creation and he's still going.
After rising through digital native companies like Amazon, Yahoo!, and AOL, Atif held C-suite roles at McDonald’s, Volvo, and MGM Resorts. He oversaw thousands of employees as a global P&L, transformation, and innovation leader.
Rafiq was the first Chief Digital Officer in the history of the Fortune 500, a pioneering role he held at McDonalds, and he rose to the President level in the Fortune 300.
While leading business units, teams, and growth for companies, Atif has built a large following as one of today’s top management thinkers. Over 500,000 people follow his ideas about management and leadership on LinkedIn, where he is a Top Voice, and his newsletter Re:wire has over 100,000 subscribers. Atif is also a Thinkers 50 nominee, a global list of today's top management thinkers.
Atif is passionate about helping companies push boldly into the future. He accomplishes this through Ritual, a software app revolutionizing how teams innovate and problem-solve, and through his work as keynote speaker, Board member, and CEO advisor.
o Big ideas meet big execution
o Tech innovator who's reached the President level in the Fortune 300.
o Product & business savvy
o P&L ownership as a General Manager for many years; including most senior commercial leader for a Fortune 300
o Founder and CEO of venture backed firm, raising $10mm+ in the content mgmt sector (2000-2005)
o Active public speaker across 25+ tech events (Google I/O, Cannes, Fortune, SXSW, CES). Quoted in WSJ, Fast Company, Fortune Magazine, TechCrunch, Forbes, Mashable, & ABC News.
o Advisor and investor to 25+ startups (Headspace, SpaceX, Anthropic, Groq, Salad & Go, Liquid Death, etc.)
Boards:
o Flutter [NYSE: FLUT] - global leader in sports betting, $10bn+ revenue
o Mister Car Wash [NYSE: MCW] - Largest car wash business in the US, $1bn revenue
o KINS [NYSE: KINZU] - $300mm SPAC which merged to form a tech company
o ClearCover, - late stage tech company, raised hundreds of millions through Series E
o betMGM - growth engine for MGM Resorts [NYSE: MGM]
o Defy Ventures - national level board for this non profit, addressing prisoner recidivism through business education
-
Ritual
CEO
-
Why teams should work ‘upstream,’ according to the first Fortune 500 chief digital officer
Upstream work is how unknowns are sourced, synthesized, and reasoned through to arrive at conclusions that drive decisions.
Article -
3 experts predict how AI will change the workplace
There's still a lot of work ahead for companies to capture the value of AI.
Article -
How to Lead Business Transformation and Innovation, with Atif Rafiq (CXOTalk #790)
#businesstransformation #digitaltransformation #innovation Business leader, Atif Rafiq, author of 'Decision Sprint,' and former President of MGM Resorts International explores business transformation on CXOTalk episode 790. Atif explains how to manage business transformation and innovation in the face of uncertainty. The book emphasizes the importance of "upstream work" - a structured initial phase that addresses unknowns in innovation projects - and outlines a three-step approach comprising Exploration, Alignment, and Decision-making. Rafiq’s methodology distinguishes itself by emphasizing purposefulness and inclusiveness. The conversation includes these topics: ► About Atif Rafiq’s book, Decision Sprint ► Upstream work: Challenges of business transformation ► Reframing approaches to risk management ► Complex business problems require inclusive thinking ► How to cultivate “input obsession” to develop robust ideas ► Use collective intelligence to hack the corporate culture for innovation ► Practical examples: Amazon and Volvo ► The innovation pipeline: Breaking down silos and unifying goals in digital transformation...
Article
