Richard Thieme is an author and professional speaker focused on the deeper implications of technology, religion, and science for twenty-first century life.

Thieme’s early and creative use of the Internet to reach global markets earned accolades around the world. He is a member of the “cyber avant-garde,” according to CNN … “a prominent American techno-philosopher” according to LAN Magazine (Australia) … “a father figure for online culture,” according to the (London) Sunday Telegraph … “a keen observer of hacker attitudes and behaviors” according to Le Monde (Paris) … “one of the most creative minds of the digital generation” according to the editors of CTHEORY and Digital Delirium … “an online pundit of hacker culture” according to the L A Times … and “extremely subtle and deep” according to the Linux Journal. Thieme has published widely. Translated into German, Chinese, Japanese, Slovene, Dutch, Hebrew, Danish and Indonesian, his articles are taught at universities in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Thieme has spoken four times for the Black Hat Briefings (intelligence and corporate security) and five times for Def Con, the annual computer hackers convention. At DefCon VIII, he moderated a panel that included the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Director of Information and Infrastructure Assurance for DOD, and the Director of the Federal Computer Incident Response Team who came to "dialogue" with more than 5,000 computer hackers. He was invited to moderate because, according to the National Security Agency officer who asked, "You're the only one in the room with the acceptance and respect of both the hacking community and the Feds.“

“Nothing is ever what it seems.”

Stephen grew up in North Carolina & attended N.C. State University. He has owned a PC almost every day of his life since the Apple IIe was new. He entered the PC industry in 1994 as a member of the end-user help desk team at IBM. He later served in corporate support, education & five years as a worldwide product marketing manager for the ThinkCentre M Series. But, Stephen was proud of his PC-geekdom & wanted to be front and center promoting the technologies he believed would change the way we live.

Living out his dream as a champion for the #1 worldwide PC manufacturer, Stephen spends his days with technology press, corporate customers & business partners. Oh, and there was that day he was on stage with a monkey, but that’s a story for another day.

Although Stephen gets a new phone for his pants pocket more often than most people get new pants, he’s less concerned about product specs & more concerned about owning and sharing products he believes in, those a consumer can trust are the best on the market & will best meet their needs. If Stephen won’t buy it & can’t say why you should sell it, he’d rather spend his time telling you about the monkey.

Talking about Lenovo’s latest, innovative products takes up part of Stephen’s day, but the most important part of his job is listening to customers & business partners to find out what they need and want from their devices. A 20-year PC veteran & lifelong technology geek, Stephen couldn’t be happier spending his days talking about his life’s passion. Well, that and donning some of the best socks seen around Lenovo.

As a Business Group Leader for Microsoft Canada, Sherief is focused on driving the growth of the Windows & Devices business across both the Consumer and Commercial segments.

Sherief joined Microsoft Canada in 2013 to lead the Microsoft Surface launch and has over 15 years of experience across several successful roles in Technology spanning Service & Support, Operations and Marketing across Retail, Consumer and Commercial Marketing.

He holds a degrees of Administrative Studies from York University and when he's not working enjoys running, listening to music and podcasts, and most of all, spending time with his wife Risa and daughter Syra.