Founder and first CEO of Shazam, holder of 12 patents, and pioneer behind one of the earliest consumer AI products.
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Chris Barton turned an idea that every expert called impossible into Shazam — the app that changed how the world discovers music, reached over two billion downloads, and became Apple's sixth-largest acquisition. He shows audiences not just why breakthrough innovation matters, but the specific methods to pursue ideas when everyone says they can't be done.
Technology and AI are dramatically changing what's possible — but our challenge is to break free from the comfort of what we already know. Barton created Shazam after being told by experts it was impossible, eight years before iPhone apps even existed. In this keynote he helps audiences imagine and then build new visions for the future, sharing jaw-dropping stories from Shazam's creation and a framework for driving change through technology.
A great idea gets you nowhere without tenacity — and true disruption requires both persistence and creativity. Building Shazam, Barton faced obstacles many considered insurmountable. Rather than give up, he challenged every assumption behind them. He shares actionable lessons that push audiences to question the status quo and break past the barriers that stop most ideas from becoming real.
We all know simple is powerful — so why don't more organizations build like Apple? Friction permeates almost everything we do, frustrating customers, partners, and colleagues. In creating Shazam, Barton moved mountains to make one thing effortless: identifying any song. Drawing on his years at Google (Android) and Dropbox, he shows audiences how to identify and eliminate friction to drive growth.
Entrepreneurs have passion and ideas but get stuck on the hard journey of bringing something genuinely new into the world — overcoming obstacles, choosing priorities, and convincing others of a vision only they can see. Using the scrappy, creative hacks behind Shazam's creation, Barton inspires audiences to embrace the mindset that builds the next great companies.
Chris Barton is an American tech entrepreneur, inventor, and investor, best known as the founder and first CEO of Shazam — the music-recognition app that changed how the world discovers music. When Barton conceived the idea in 2000, there were no smartphones, no app stores, and no algorithm capable of identifying a song from ambient audio. Experts told him it couldn't be done. Shazam survived years of near-bankruptcy before the App Store finally unlocked its potential, going on to surpass two billion downloads and become, in 2018, Apple's sixth-largest acquisition at a reported $400 million. It is often described as one of the first artificial-intelligence applications to reach mass-consumer scale.
After Shazam, Barton spent eight years at Google, where, as the first employee focused on mobile, he built the carrier-partnership framework for Search and Android from scratch. He then joined Dropbox when it had roughly 90 employees, helping build its mobile business. Across Shazam, Google, and Dropbox, he holds twelve patents.
Today, Barton is the founder and CEO of Guard, an AI venture building never-before-accomplished technology to detect drowning in swimming pools — a continuation of his lifelong pattern of using technology to solve problems others consider impossible.
Barton holds a Bachelor's degree and an MBA from UC Berkeley and a Master's degree from the University of Cambridge. He has spoken about overcoming undiagnosed dyslexia in his youth, which he now describes as a "superpower" that helps him find novel solutions to hard problems. He has appeared in a Super Bowl television advertisement and has taught business and entrepreneurship across multiple online universities.
On stage, Barton is known for cinematic, emotionally resonant keynotes rich with story, humor, and music. Clients describe content that "generates talkability across the organization" and "sticks for years." His message: breakthrough innovation is not luck or magic — it is built through method, conviction, and the courage to defy barriers rather than respect them.
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