The air in the keynote hall crackled with anticipation. Then, a picture of a leopard, impossibly graceful, climbing a tree under the vast African sky filled the screen. This wasn’t a typical tech talk. This was the beginning of an adventure, guided by keynote speaker Steve Fredlund, who challenged Total Tech Summit 2025 attendees to view their lives and leadership roles through a new, exhilarating lens.
“Every adventure, including life and leadership, shares common characteristics,” Fredlund began, his voice resonating with the thrill of discovery. He proposed that to achieve true fulfillment, both personally and professionally, we must stop avoiding the unpredictable and start embracing it.
Courtesy / CI Staff
The Modern Business Safari
Using a recent African safari as a powerful metaphor, Fredlund painted a vivid picture of what real adventures entail. It’s not just a highlight reel. “There are amazing moments,” he explained, sharing breathtaking images of cheetahs hitting top speed and rare black rhinos. He prompted the audience of industry leaders to recall their own “amazing moments” — the project that succeeded against all odds, the breakthrough innovation, the perfectly executed integration.
But adventures are not defined solely by their peaks. Fredlund described the inevitable “annoying” moments, like a safari truck stuck in the mud or an airport fire delaying a flight. He recounted a genuinely scary encounter with elephants that tested his group’s resolve and a frustrating run-in with thieving baboons. The parallels to the tech and AV industry were clear: unexpected equipment failures, supply chain disruptions and market competitors who seem to appear from nowhere are all part of the journey.
“Life and business are filled with unknowns and unexpected challenges,” Fredlund stated. The key isn’t to create a perfectly predictable path but to build the resilience and positive attitude to navigate the bumps, detours and occasional charging elephant.
The Safari Way Roadmap: A Framework for Breakthroughs
How does a leader prepare their team for such a journey? Fredlund introduced his “Safari Way Roadmap,” a three-part framework designed to guide organizations toward extraordinary breakthroughs.
1. Choose Your Experience: The first step is to move beyond default objectives and clarify the desired experience. “Are you on a budget camping trip or a luxury safari?” he asked. In business, this means defining the vision with such clarity that every decision, from technology investment to strategic partnerships, aligns with that specific, chosen destination.
2. Get the Right Peeps in the Jeep: An adventure’s success hinges on the crew. Fredlund stressed the critical importance of having an aligned and connected team. He shared anecdotes of team members who were physically present but mentally elsewhere — the “phone guy” or the “outfit gal” — detracting from the shared mission. Citing workforce analytics, he reinforced that alignment with vision, values and mission is a direct driver of productivity and engagement. For the AV and integration leaders in the room, the message was potent: a team of highly skilled technicians is only as effective as their shared commitment to the project’s ultimate goal.
3. Do the “Unright” Thing: The final, most provocative step is about challenging convention. Breakthroughs rarely happen by following the herd. “Extraordinary results require taking risks and making unconventional decisions,” Fredlund urged. He shared his personal story of appearing on the Netflix show “Love is Blind” for his daughter — not for fame, but to create a unique, memorable experience. He pointed to companies that achieved massive success by upending traditional compensation models or launching seemingly bizarre products. This is the essence of innovation — daring to do what seems “unright” to achieve what is extraordinary.
Your Leadership Adventure Awaits
As he concluded, Fredlund brought the focus back to the core of the Total Tech Summit: leadership and technology. He framed these domains not as problems to be solved, but as a grand adventure to be lived.
His final call to action was a powerful mandate for every executive, integrator and tech visionary in attendance. “Clarify your desired experience, surround yourself with the right people, and have the courage to take risks,” he challenged. “Stop settling for the expected. Start expecting the extraordinary and pursue it relentlessly. That is how you create a culture of breakthroughs.”
Leaving the stage, Fredlund left behind more than just a compelling story. He provided a practical roadmap for turning the often-chaotic journey of business into a thrilling and rewarding adventure.
