Chris Barton Keynote Speaker

Founder and First CEO of Shazam
Long time technology executive with Google and Drop Box. Inventor with 12 Patents.
Founder of other start-ups including Guard Vision.

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Chris Barton's Biography

Chris Barton is the Founder at Shazam Entertainment Limited and was its first CEO. Chris led the creation of Shazam along with three co-founders from concept, through inventing a new pattern recognition technology, to building and launching the world’s first music recognition service. The service has had over 1 billion app downloads. Shazam was acquired by Apple in 2018. According to Wikipedia, it was the fifth largest acquisition by Apple in its history. Shazam had raised $140 million in venture capital.

Chris worked at Dropbox where he was in charge of business development with mobile operators. Prior to Dropbox, Chris spent nearly eight years at Google focused on mobile and the Android ecosystem as Head of Android Business Development for North America. He has also worked at Microsoft and LEK Consulting. Chris holds an MBA from UC Berkeley, a Master’s degree in Finance from Cambridge University and a BA from UC Berkeley.

Chris takes his audience through the inspiring story of the creation of Shazam – from the idea he conceived in 1999 to the invention of the artificial intelligence algorithms that everyone said were impossible. He shares actionable learnings that are applicable to audiences ranging from sales & business to technology & innovation. Speaks at corporate and industry events, sales meetings, and conferences. His message of determination and persistence inspires audiences ranging from sales executives to business leaders, technologists, and entrepreneurs. Despite having dyslexia, he didn’t let that get in his way. In fact, it gave him a different perspective and a new way of looking at problems.

Chris’s newest venture, Guard, aims to use AI to detect drowning in swimming pools.