Chris grew up with a French mother and British father – both of whom were university professors. However, academics were a struggle for Chris. Eventually, he would learn he had undiagnosed dyslexia. Over the years, Chris learned to embrace what he now calls his superpower. He believes his dyslexia helps him uncover novel solutions to obstacles and allows him to achieve his many accomplishments. Shazam is a great example.
An A.I. Pioneer
Though Chris does not position himself as an expert on the broader future of A.I., his journey as a true A.I. pioneer started when he had the idea to identify music using a mobile phone. At the time, no technology existed to achieve this goal. In addition, he was told by Professors at MIT and Stanford that this application of pattern recognition was impossible.
Today, Shazam is a global phenomenon with over 2 billion downloads. The app lets people identify songs out of thin air from anywhere they are, making it nothing short of pure magic.
Besides inventing a new technology that didn’t yet exist, he had to build a search engine supercomputer from scratch, create the world’s largest music database, and create a user experience on very basic mobile phones. Did Chris ever think maybe the experts were right? “No,” he says.
Shazam’s Trials & Triumphs
When Shazam was founded in 2000, it was far ahead of its time. It was three years before iTunes, seven years before the iPhone, and eight years before the App Store. The nascent company struggled in the early days, teetering near bankruptcy for six years waiting for the key digital advancements that would allow Shazam to unleash its full potential on the world.
In 2018, Shazam and its 200 employees were acquired by Apple in Apple’s 6th largest acquisition of all time. It has become an integral part of our everyday lives, with its ability to instantly identify songs and provide information about the music such as lyrics.
Shazam has even become a verb, as in “Can you Shazam this song for me?” In addition to its widespread usage, Shazam has also been the inspiration for a popular game show hosted by Jamie Foxx called “Beat Shazam,” which has aired for six seasons on the Fox Network challenging contestants to recognize songs faster than the Shazam app.
Other Significant Contributions
Chris has also played a key role in tech history as a founding member of Google’s Android Partnerships team where he created Android’s mobile operator partnership framework. He also spent four years at Dropbox where he led carrier partnerships and was one of the first 100 people at the company.
Holding 12 patents, including one found within the Google search algorithm that billions of people use, Chris has made significant contributions to the tech industry. He also invests in a wide range of start-ups, including artificial intelligence for heart health and inflammatory disease therapeutics.
Now, Chris spends much of his time building his third startup company, Guard, a system that detects drowning in swimming pools using artificial intelligence.
Chris Barton Keynote Speaking
When he has time, Chris enjoys speaking at events and sharing lessons learned from his experiences achieving the impossible. In his speeches, Chris shares his Start From Zero thinking method of questioning assumptions and challenging conventional wisdom. He inspires people with stories of the unexpected mindsets that are necessary to overcome challenges and achieve success. His amazing story completely captivates audiences and motivates them to make big things happen in their organizations – to create magic in defiance of the obstacles.
When he isn’t working or speaking, you can find Chris enjoying the outdoors and spending time with his son, Jude.
