The Playbook for Scaling Innovation Across Industries and Borders S3 E10

On this week's episode of Silicon Valley Impact we speak with Sobhan Khani, President and Partner at Plug and Play Tech Center, and one of the earliest team members who helped scale the company from a 20-person Bay Area startup into a global innovation platform with over 800 employees worldwide.

Over the past decade, Sobhan has played a key role in expanding Plug and Play across multiple industries, including mobility, energy, fintech, and real estate. He has launched new verticals, opened international hubs, and partnered with some of the world’s largest corporations to help them adopt and integrate emerging technologies.

His journey has taken him from building early mobility programs in Stuttgart alongside Mercedes-Benz to scaling Plug and Play’s Smart Cities platform across four global markets—driving 20x revenue growth in his first year as VP.

Today, Sobhan oversees a broad portfolio of U.S. and international operations, working closely with Fortune 500 companies, governments, and investors to bridge the gap between innovation and real-world enterprise adoption.

He is particularly focused on the future of corporate innovation—where meaningful partnerships outperform hype—and on the growing movement around health optimization, where technology empowers individuals to take ownership of their well-being.

A global operator at heart, Sobhan spends much of his time connecting with founders, investors, and policymakers across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, staying close to where the next wave of innovation is emerging.

This and much more on Silicon Valley Impact!

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