Leading Smart Cities: Transforming Work & Life

Episode 27 of the Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future podcast, hosted by Innovative Leadership Institute, titled "Leading Smart Cities: Transforming Work & Life" was published on November 25, 2025 and runs 33 minutes.

November 25, 2025 ·33m · Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future

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Summary

Guests: Nikki Greenberg, Futurist, & Ugo Valenti, SCEWC Managing Director How do we build cities—and organizations—that can thrive amid AI disruption, climate pressure, demographic shifts, and rising expectations for livability? In this episode, futurist Nikki Greenberg and Smart City Expo World Congress managing director Ugo Valenti reveal how urban design, public–private collaboration, and visionary leadership shape the cities—and organizations—of tomorrow. From affordable housing to autonomous mobility to circularity, they share practical insights for leaders in business, government, and nonprofits navigating a fast-changing world. Here's what Nikki, Ugo and Maureen cover: Why cities matter for every business, not just for planners; The edge AI gives urban infrastructure (from snowplow routing to master planning); and The leadership traits you need to run a business in an increasingly complex urban landscape! Other episodes you'll enjoy: - Back to the Future…of Work with Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Suzie Lewis, & David Dinwoodie - Prepare for the Future with Foresight with Dr. Ciela Hartanov - The Future Is Yours to Create with Rebecca Ryan For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. RESOURCES: Find out more about Ugo’s work with Smart City at https://www.smartcityexpo.com/. You can learn more about Nikki’s work as a futurist at https://www.nikkigreenberg.com/. Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ. Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. ----------------------- OUR PODCAST TEAM: Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay. CONNECT WITH US: YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! ----------------------- About Our Guests: Ugo Valenti is a Barcelona-based leader in the global smart-cities and urban innovation space. He currently serves as Business Unit Director for the Cities & Society portfolio at Fira Barcelona and is the Managing Director of Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the flagship event that has become one of the world’s largest convenings for city transformation. In this role, Ugo helps connect governments, corporations, startups, and academia through large-scale events and digital platforms designed to accelerate the adoption of solutions that make cities more sustainable, inclusive, and livable. He has directed SCEWC since 2014, overseeing its evolution into a truly global platform—drawing tens of thousands of attendees from well over 100 countries and more than a thousand exhibitors annually. His broader portfolio includes Tomorrow Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow Building World Congress, Tomorrow Blue Economy World Congress, and Tomorrow.City, reflecting a focus on the future of urban life across transportation, infrastructure, climate resilience, and digital innovation. Nikki Greenberg is a futurist and multi-award-winning keynote speaker, focused on preparing organizations for a tech-enabled future. She helps leaders reimagine their businesses to bring them into alignment with the increasingly digitized way that people live, work, and communicate today. She has held leadership positions with Fortune 500s, and most recently served as the Head of Technology Strategy for Real Estate at QIC, an Australian investment manager with a $70 billion portfolio of assets under management. She is the founder and global ambassador

Episode Description

Guests: Nikki Greenberg, Futurist, & Ugo Valenti, SCEWC Managing Director

How do we build cities—and organizations—that can thrive amid AI disruption, climate pressure, demographic shifts, and rising expectations for livability?

In this episode, futurist Nikki Greenberg and Smart City Expo World Congress managing director Ugo Valenti reveal how urban design, public–private collaboration, and visionary leadership shape the cities—and organizations—of tomorrow. From affordable housing to autonomous mobility to circularity, they share practical insights for leaders in business, government, and nonprofits navigating a fast-changing world.

Here's what Nikki, Ugo and Maureen cover:

Why cities matter for every business, not just for planners;
The edge AI gives urban infrastructure (from snowplow routing to master planning); and
The leadership traits you need to run a business in an increasingly complex urban landscape!

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

- Back to the Future…of Work with Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Suzie Lewis, & David Dinwoodie

- Prepare for the Future with Foresight with Dr. Ciela Hartanov

- The Future Is Yours to Create with Rebecca Ryan

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES:

Find out more about Ugo’s work with Smart City at https://www.smartcityexpo.com/. You can learn more about Nikki’s work as a futurist at https://www.nikkigreenberg.com/.

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.

-----------------------

OUR PODCAST TEAM:

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

CONNECT WITH US:

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating!

-----------------------

About Our Guests:

Ugo Valenti is a Barcelona-based leader in the global smart-cities and urban innovation space. He currently serves as Business Unit Director for the Cities & Society portfolio at Fira Barcelona and is the Managing Director of Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the flagship event that has become one of the world’s largest convenings for city transformation. In this role, Ugo helps connect governments, corporations, startups, and academia through large-scale events and digital platforms designed to accelerate the adoption of solutions that make cities more sustainable, inclusive, and livable.

He has directed SCEWC since 2014, overseeing its evolution into a truly global platform—drawing tens of thousands of attendees from well over 100 countries and more than a thousand exhibitors annually. His broader portfolio includes Tomorrow Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow Building World Congress, Tomorrow Blue Economy World Congress, and Tomorrow.City, reflecting a focus on the future of urban life across transportation, infrastructure, climate resilience, and digital innovation.

Nikki Greenberg is a futurist and multi-award-winning keynote speaker, focused on preparing organizations for a tech-enabled future. She helps leaders reimagine their businesses to bring them into alignment with the increasingly digitized way that people live, work, and communicate today.

She has held leadership positions with Fortune 500s, and most recently served as the Head of Technology Strategy for Real Estate at QIC, an Australian investment manager with a $70 billion portfolio of assets under management. She is the founder and global ambassador of Women in PropTech and former three-term co-chair of the Technology & Innovation Council for ULI in New York City.