Kapil Kane is a strategic innovator, product leader, and tech executive with 25+ years of global experience spanning deep tech, R&D, engineering, and corporate innovation.

Most recently, he served as Director of Innovation at Intel China, where he built and led the company’s award-winning internal accelerator, GrowthX. The program empowered employees to turn bold ideas into validated ventures — resulting in dozens of MVPs, multiple product launches, and measurable business impact. At Intel, Kapil also helped develop the Classmate PC, a low-cost educational laptop inspired by the OLPC initiative from MIT Media Lab, expanding digital access in emerging markets.

Earlier, Kapil was part of the pioneering design team at Apple, contributing to the first multi-touch screen — the foundational technology behind the iPhone — and leading product design for the iPod, iMac, MacBook, and iPad across teams in the U.S. and Asia.

He began his career in the automotive industry with Johnson Controls, designing interior systems and seating for leading global automakers. This multidisciplinary foundation shaped his approach to innovation — blending user-centered design, systems thinking, and technology strategy.

Beyond corporate roles, Kapil co-founded URBUNX, an innovation platform launched with UN-Habitat and the World Bank to support urban-tech startups in Africa tackling housing, mobility, climate resilience, and infrastructure challenges.

A recognized thought leader, he is a 3-time TEDx speaker whose work has been featured in case studies and executive programs at Harvard, MIT Sloan, INSEAD, CEIBS, and IIM, as well as in the book Gorillas Can Dance. He regularly mentors founders, advises accelerators, and speaks at international conferences on intrapreneurship, innovation strategy, and product leadership.

Kapil holds a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka. Based in Shanghai since 2007, he brings a rare blend of Silicon Valley innovation culture and deep experience in China and other emerging markets.