Exploration isn’t optional, it’s how discovery happens. In cave diving, there is no map. You move slowly, test your assumptions, and feel your way forward—because getting it wrong has consequences. Innovation works the same way.

Most companies explore only the obvious: surveys, focus groups, and customer feedback loops that rarely go deeper than the surface. But the insights that lead to real breakthroughs? They’re hidden in places your competitors haven’t reached—and your customers can’t easily explain.

In this keynote, Jeremiah Gardner shows how the exploration protocols used by elite cave divers can help leaders discover untapped customer needs, new market opportunities, and moments of profound product clarity.

Grounded in his Disruptive Empathy Framework™ and experience advising brands like Roche, Nike, and eBay, this talk equips audiences with a method for uncovering what really matters—and what to do with it.

Because in business, just like underwater, the real risk isn’t moving too slowly—it’s assuming you already know the way.