Professor · Author · Speaker · Entrepreneur
Jean-François Ouellet
I help people understand what technology changes, what it does not, and how to make smarter decisions when the ground is moving.
A life at the intersection of ideas, markets, media and people.
Jean-François Ouellet moves between academia, entrepreneurship, public communication and family life with one recurring obsession: making complex change usable. His work connects rigorous research, practical strategy, public storytelling and the lived reality of people trying to adapt.
01 · Professor
HEC Montréal, research and the classroom.
At HEC Montréal, Jean-François teaches entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing and technology-driven transformation. His classroom is built around action: students are pushed to test ideas, confront markets, make real decisions and understand that innovation is not a slogan, but a discipline.
His academic work has appeared in leading journals including the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Product Innovation Management. Across teaching and research, his focus remains the same: how people, firms and institutions adopt new ideas, build trust, and create value when behavior has to change.
View HEC Montréal profile03 · Media
Former TV host and public communicator.
Jean-François hosted Génération Inc., a television series devoted to entrepreneurship, business builders and the human decisions behind growth. His work as host earned him two nominations at the Prix Gémeaux for best host of a public affairs television show.
He continues to collaborate regularly with electronic and print media, bringing academic discipline and entrepreneurial realism to public conversations. He also writes a column in La Presse, where he examines artificial intelligence, technology, consumption, innovation and their consequences for ordinary people.
04 · Speaker
Artificial intelligence, technology and consumer behavior—without the hype.
As a speaker, Jean-François helps audiences navigate technological change with clarity: what AI can do, where it creates risk, how consumer behavior shifts, and how organizations can avoid being dazzled by tools while missing the human dynamics that determine adoption.
Speaking inquiries05 · Entrepreneur
From a first venture at 15 to technology markets and boardrooms.
Jean-François began as an entrepreneur at 15 and won the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Student Entrepreneur Award for Québec. He later became a technology entrepreneur with LYRtech, a venture introduced to the Canadian stock market in 2000.
Since then, he has launched or helped grow other ventures, sat on boards of directors, and served as Chief Economist of Creative Destruction Lab Montréal, a mentoring and investment platform for highly scalable technology ventures.
06 · Father
Also, and first: father.
Beyond the titles, Jean-François is the happy father of two sons, Xavier and Maxence. That part of life keeps everything else honest: ambition, work, risk, public life and technology only matter if they help build a life worth living.
Contact
Let’s talk.
For media, speaking, academic or strategic inquiries, reach out directly.
jf [at] ouellet [dot] tv
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