Future

Simon J. Anderson
Founder of Venture Foresight, Futurist, Award-winning Author and Global Speaker on Trends & Technology.
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• International Futurist and Applied Foresight Expert

• Co-author of the award-winning book Foresight 2020: A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming Tomorrow

• Creator of the Future Ready Formula™ which empowers audiences to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities created by rapid change.

• Past clients include: AT&T, American Heart Association, Michigan Bankers Association, Telekom Austria Group, TMW
Simon Anderson is an international futurist keynote speaker, applied foresight expert, executive advisor, and award-winning author. With a mission to help executives and organizations move beyond resilience and become future ready, Simon translates complex emerging trends and technologies into actionable insights and strategies using his Future Ready Formula™. Drawing on his extensive experience in applied foresight with executive leadership and a global perspective gained from speaking on four continents and his travels to more than 35 countries, he empowers leaders across industries to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities created by rapid change.
As the co-author of the award-winning book Foresight 20/20: A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming Tomorrow and former advisor to technology startups and a multinational education non-profit, Simon has established himself as an expert in emerging technologies and trends. He was a co-founder of the Future Ready Economies network, and now partners with economic development professionals to prepare and adapt their communities and regions for a successful future. Simon’s insights have been featured in a wide variety of publications worldwide, including CityWire’s New Model Adviser, Commercial Factor, Crain’s Business News and Executive Connections, a publication of the International Executive MBA Council. His captivating, insightful, and immediately actionable presentations make him a popular speaker among executives, boards, and organizations eager to increase their success by confidently embracing the future.

Nikolas Badminton
Futurist Speaker, Advisor, and Best Selling Author
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Nikolas Badminton is a world-renowned futurist speaker and Chief Futurist that mentors top executives and the highest levels of government to create bold visions by exploring desirable futures, anticipating opportunities and risks, and strengthening strategic planning.
He has spent 30+ years working with leadership at over 400 leading organizations at the frontline of futures, strategy and disruption - including NASA, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, WM, JP Morgan, Verizon, VISA, TD Bank, American Express, BISCI, ISACA, Rolls Royce, Procter & Gamble, US Department of State, UK Home Office, United Nations, and many more.
Facing Our Futures: How foresight, futures design and strategy creates prosperity and growth - is Nikolas’ number one best selling book and has been named Top-50 Business Books of 2023 by The Next Big Idea Club, and JP Morgan Private bank’s “Next Gen Pick” for their 2023 Summer Reading List to guide new leaders to ignite curiosity and embrace futures thinking.
Nikolas’ essential research has been featured by the BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Business Insider, Forbes, Sunday Telegraph and many others. He appears on SIRIUSXM and CTV regularly, was a key advisor to the ‘Age of AI’ series with Robert Downey Jr, and appears in the Franklin Institute's series ‘2050’.

Lisa Bodell
Global Leader on Simplification & Banishing Complexity, Innovation, Leadership, Change, Collaboration, and Transforming Culture
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Futurist and Founder of Futurethink – The World’s Largest Source of Simplification + Innovation Tools and Training.

• Author of Two Bestselling Books: Why Simple Wins and Kill the Company.

• Expert on Replacing Mind-Numbing Complexity With Simplicity So People Can Focus On Work That Matters.

• Monthly Contributor, Forbes; Frequent Appearances Fast Company, Wired, the New York Times, Inc., Harvard Business Review, CNN, and More.
“Complexity is crippling our organizations. It’s stifling our people and keeping them from doing their most meaningful and impactful work.” Lisa Bodell, a global leader on simplification, collaboration, and innovation, has a solution. Lisa shows organizations how to eliminate complexity and leverage simplicity – unleashing creativity and sparking the energy so essential to innovate and compete in a rapidly changing world. FutureThink, which she founded in 2003, works with leading brands worldwide and has become the largest source of innovation research, tools, and training in the world. Lisa is the author of two groundbreaking books, Why Simple Wins: Escape the Complexity Trap and Get to Work That Matters and Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution. She ranks on the list of Top 50 Speakers Worldwide and captivates audiences with her energy and humor. Lisa’s keynotes leave audiences inspired to change and arms them with radically simple tools to get to the work that matters.
After earning her business degree from University of Michigan, Lisa launched her career at Leo Burnett in Chicago, where she discovered a gift for uniting strategically-driven ideas with forward-thinking themes. She went on to build two successful businesses before moving to New York and focusing on the simplification and innovation space with FutureThink.
Lisa brings a compelling perspective to the sought-after topics of simplification and innovation to over 100,000 people each year. A thought leader and serial entrepreneur, her transformational message has inspired executives at top-ranked organizations such as Google, SAP, Citigroup, and the Department of National Intelligence.
Lisa has contributed her expertise to a wide variety of media. She is a monthly contributor to Forbes and has frequently appeared in other media including: Fast Company, WIRED, The New York Times, Inc., Harvard Business Review, and CNN. She has also been featured in many major books such as Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question, Adam Grant’s Originals, and AfterShock, the 50-year celebration based on futurist Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock.
Lisa has taught innovation at both American University and Fordham University and has a TED talk on the topic. She has served on the board of advisors of several organizations, including the Global Agenda Council for the World Economic Forum, the United States National Security Agency, the Association of Professional Futurists, and the Novartis board of Diversity & Inclusion.

Book Your Next Great Speaker in 5 Easy Steps
5 Tips to Book your Next Great Speaker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Did last year's speaker knock your socks off? Not sure where to go next? Let our team of experienced professionals help you find your next great speaker. 
Here's a quick guide to help you get started:
Find A Theme
Decide on a theme or topic for your event.
Going through a period of transition? Looking to shake up your creative? Building trust within your teams? We have great speakers on all of those topics.
Having trouble? Check out our IDEA GENERATOR for inspiration.

Get in Touch
Get in touch with your Event Date & Theme.
We will ask you some key questions to find the perfect speaker for your live or virtual event.
We pride ourselves on our personal touch. We are small team of dedicated professionals with over 20 years experience. When you call us, you speak to us directly... and quickly.
 
 
Shortlist
By now, we have a great idea of what you are looking for and will send you a shortlist of exceptional speakers.
Each speaker will be vetted with YOUR event in mind, along with our personal thoughts on how that speaker can inspire your attendees.
Let's talk

From the shortlist, you've narrowed it down to two great speakers. Let's discuss your needs to help make the final decision.
With over 20 years experience, you can trust us to provide all of the information you need to choose the right speaker.
We work with you to find the best format for your presentation, including live streams, Q&A sessions and even follow up programs to ensure maximum engagement for your key stakeholders.
The Details
We will facilitate a call with your leadership team & our speaker to do a deep dive into your business to make sure their presentation really hits home.
As trusted experts, you can rest easy knowing our experience will guide you every step of the way.
get in touch
Get in touch to book your next great speaker.

Daniel Burrus
Futurist Expert and Speaker on Business Strategy, Technology, Innovations & Their Impact
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Trusted by Industry Leaders – Advisor to Google, Microsoft, Deloitte, and top global organizations.

• Disruptive Innovation Expert – A leading authority on AI, automation, and exponential technologies shaping the future.

• Strategic Foresight & Innovation – Actionable insights to anticipate disruption and create competitive advantages.

• Author of seven books,  including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller Flash Foresight; One of the world's leading futurists who the New York Times called “…one of the top three business gurus in the highest demand as a speaker…”

• Master of Hard Trends – Navigate uncertainty with confidence using proven anticipatory strategies.
Click Here to Watch Daniel's Virtual Presentation
Daniel Burrus is considered one of the World’s Leading Futurists on Global Trends and Disruptive Innovation. The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in the highest demand as a speaker.
He is the author of seven books, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Flash Foresight and his latest Amazon No. 1 bestseller, The Anticipatory Organization.
He has delivered over 3,000 keynote speeches worldwide and is a strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies, helping them to develop game-changing strategies
based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. His client list includes Lockheed Martin, Verizon, Microsoft, VISA, Deloitte,
Google, Procter & Gamble, KPMG, Honda, FedEx and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Burrus is an innovative entrepreneur who has founded six businesses, four of which were U.S. national leaders in the first year. He is the CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology-driven trends to help clients profit from technological, social and business forces that are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities.
He is the creator of the Hard Trend Methodology, the Anticipatory Organization® Business Model, used by leading organizations worldwide, and he is a founding member of the
Department of Defense Joint Services Futures Group.
His accurate predictions date back to the early 1980s, when he became the first and only futurist to accurately identify the 20 exponential technologies that would become the driving
force of business and economic growth for decades to come. They included digital electronics, AI, distributed computing, genetic engineering, lasers, optical storage, photovoltaics,
fiberoptics and nanotechnologies to name a few. Since then, he has continued to establish a worldwide reputation for his exceptional record of predicting the future of technology-
driven change and its direct impact on the business world.
Burrus is a featured writer, reaching millions of monthly readers with his insights on disruptive innovation, exponential change and the future. His work is featured across various platforms, including LinkedIn, where he is a member of an exclusive invitation-only group of experts. On LinkedIn alone, he has built a following of over 1.2 million professionals.
He has been the featured subject of several PBS television specials and has appeared on programs such as CNN, Fox Business and Bloomberg. Burrus has been quoted in a variety
of publications, including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Fortune and Forbes.

Andrew Busch
Renowned Political Economist, Author, Keynote Speaker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Andrew Busch was the first Chief Market Intelligence Officer (CMIO) for the U.S. government at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As CMIO, he was charged with improving and enhancing the government’s understanding of the markets. Andy provided briefings to White House, US House and US Senate staffers on a wide range of issues including the economy, stock market direction, interest rates and China's influence on the global commodity markets.
Mr. Busch created and directed a new research group, Market Intelligence Branch (MIB), for the agency. As CMIO, his job was to provide objective research on the financial markets to the CFTC, SEC, US Treasury and Federal Reserve. Energy, agriculture, interest rates and technology (Bitcoin, blockchain, AI) were some of the areas of research covered by the team. Each week, he led the agency on a market and economic roundtable discussion with the staffs of the White House, the US Treasury, the SEC, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Reserve Board.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Busch was CEO and founder of a boutique financial markets and policy research firm, Bering Productions, Inc (BPI). Before BPI, he was the Global Currency and Public Policy Strategist for Bank of Montreal (BMO) in Chicago.
He is author of the book “World Event Trading” covering large crises like infectious disease outbreaks and their impact on the markets.

Dan Chuparkoff
Leading Experts on AI, Innovation, & The Future of Work
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Dan Chuparkoff isn’t just a speaker – he's one of the world’s leading experts on AI, innovation, & the future of work. As a technology leader at Google, McKinsey and more; Dan led transformations for teams in every industry as the world navigated three decades of technological change. Dan knows first hand that the people who leverage the power of technology will outperform the people who don’t.
The Technology-speaker for non-tech teams, Dan’s superpower is making complex things simple and useful. With his skill as an AI-educator combined with his formula for harnessing the power of innovation, he helps audiences to escape disruption and find growth and success. Dan shows teams how to make sense of AI, how to harness the Power of Technology, and how to combine that with the Power of Human Expertise. With this powerful blend, teams will learn to leverage AI & other technological advantages to thrive in the exponential future ahead.

Conference Plans Changed?
How to Plan a Great Virtual Event
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Click Here to Receive Your Customized List of Speaker Ideas
Virtual Events can:
1. Reach a wider audience
2. Offer a great experience at a much lower cost
3. Create long term impact with recorded elements that allow for content to be watched over a period of time
4. Have an increased impact over time, as viewers re-watch, discuss and connect over social media and other channels
And, most importantly: offer the ability for inspiring and impactful presentations to connect in a one-on-one way, directly to the attendee.
WHO is your audience?
Who are your virtual event attendees? Are they across a specific group within your organization, or are you serving clients across a wide range of levels? Determining who you are speaking to will help you determine a format for your event that will captivate your audience.
WHAT is your key message?
Are you focusing on change? Innovation? Leadership?
Creating a single focus or mission will allow you to hone in on the type of speaker(s) you need to engage your audience and help event producers to format the event into a dynamic program that balances inspiration with information and audience interaction.
WHAT type of event suits your audience?
• Virtual Conference
• Webinar
• Hybrid Event
Virtual event technology has come a long way over the last few months, offering a huge range of different options from pre-recorded webinars, to multi-day virtual conferences, to hybrid events with some attendees in the audience while the event is live streamed.
OUR ADVICE
A COMBINATION of live and pre-recorded elements will allow your virtual event to run smoothly and stay on time.
Many of our clients are also opting for multi-day virtual conferences with shorter segments spaced over a few days.
This allows some flexibility for attendees in different time zones and accommodates different teleworking situations for attendees, allowing them to tune in when it is convenient.
WHERE? It’s all about Tech.
Virtual meeting technology has exploded over the last few months as teleworking became the norm.
Consider your needs:
• Interactive elements like breakout rooms, polls & Q&A
• Seamless blend of live & pre-recorded elements
• Ability to replay segments
• Live tech support
If you plan for rain, it’s likely the sun will shine…
Tech isn’t perfect so don’t forget to test, rehearse and have a back up plan ready to go for your virtual event.
Pro Tip: Think of a virtual presentation like a podcast. Viewers can view the content multiple times and refer back to it.
  WHEN? A Date… or Dates?
As we have all noticed, our attention spans for meeting in real life versus meeting online are a lot longer.
When deciding on a date, consider spreading your virtual event out over a few days, with a variety of speakers, interactive elements and information.
The benefits of a multi-day format:
• Viewers watch content fresh for a short period every day
• Allows attendees in different time zones to stay on top of the content
• Attendees can review & re-engage with content
Virtual Event Checklist:
Is your event?
• Interactive?
• Informative?
• Able to be rewatched?
WHY? Pandemic 2020
Just because you are online instead of in person, it doesn’t mean you are missing out on connection.
Using the technology that we have become so accustomed to over the last few months, our keynote speakers have the ability to connect to your viewers one-on-one, in a way that was impossible in live events.
FIND YOUR WHY…
What do you want the audience to leave thinking at the end of the presentation?
Apply this question to all the presentations and segments in your event to create a cohesive, impactful virtual event.
  HOW? Virtual Event Checklist
To wrap it all up
• TECH: Find the right tech platform & don’t forget to test drive before your event
• AGENDA: Use a mix of live and pre-recorded segments, mixed with interactive elements, to ensure a smooth flow of events & audience engagement
• ANTICIPATION: Build up your event with emails, teasers and sneak peeks into what content will be offered
• NETWORKING: Create and encourage online chat functions, an event specific hashtag or even a dedicated event page to allow attendees to network virtually. Maximize the networking opportunities offered by your tech platform.
• EXTEND YOUR IMPACT: A dedicated social media page is a great place for attendees to connect after an event to discuss ideas and implement some of the learnings from the event.
Offer a password protected, limited time recording of keynote presentations to continue the conversation long after the virtual event has ended.
Continue the conversation with post-event touch points like emails or questions based on the key presentations.
To find a GREAT Speaker for your Virtual event, get in touch.

Dr. George Friedman
Author of The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century and Speaker on International Affairs
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Talks about geopolitics, the state of international affairs, and the effects of both on the economy, business strategy, and wealth management.

• Audiences learn from one of  the pre-eminent geopolitical minds of our time as he analyzes and forecasts the course of global events

• New York Times bestselling author of The Next 100 Years. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Founder of Stratfor, and the online publication, Geopolitical Futures.

• Past clients include: CITGO Petroleum, Mackenzie Financial, Manulife Securities, KPMG, McKinsey, CFA Institute (various), CVC Capital, Wells Fargo, GIC Private Ltd., RBC, Fidelity Investments
Dr. George Friedman is an internationally recognized geopolitical forecaster, international affairs strategist and best-selling author. As Founder and Chairman of Geopolitical Futures, an online publication dedicated to forecasting the course of global events, Friedman combines his passion for writing and publishing for his readers world wide who follow international affairs.
Prior to founding Geopolitical Futures, Friedman guided the intellectual vision of Stratfor, the geopolitical intelligence publishing and consulting firm he founded in 1996.
In 2019, he was appointed as Senior Advisor to the Gallup organization - to help make sense of the geopolitical forces shaping U.S. and global economic and political policy.
Friedman is the author of numerous New York Times best-selling books. His book, Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe (2015), predicts the borderlands where centuries old tensions are re-emerging and will spark new conflicts. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century (2009), predicts the geopolitical changes shaping the 21st century and was published in over 20 languages. The prescience of Friedman’s geopolitical predictions keep this book alive as they continue to unfold in many countries. Friedman’s The Next Decade: Where We've Been and Where We're Going (2011), was also a best-seller. His other books on warfare and intelligence have included America's Secret War, The Future of War and The Intelligence Edge. Dr. Friedman's latest book: The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond – was  released in February-2020 (Doubleday).
A very popular keynote speaker on the future of international geopolitics, Friedman is in high demand at numerous conferences and industry-specific events. He has briefed for many major military and government organizations - and is frequently invited to speak internationally.
Friedman appears regularly as an expert on international affairs and intelligence on major television and radio networks - and is frequently quoted in leading American and international news publications.
Friedman received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of the City University of New York and holds a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University.  He lives in Austin, Texas.
Click here to subscribe to Geopolitical Futures

Get Your Customized List of Speaker Ideas
Get Your List Now
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Get Your Customized List of Speaker Ideas
Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch with a customized list of ideas for your event.
It's that simple.

Nancy Giordano
Futurist, Corporate Strategist & Speaker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Talks about exponential technologies that are changing “everything,” and how business can thrive by adapting to them

• Audiences learn to sense and synthesize future trends. Nancy provides a roadmap to those ready to build more relevant and sustainable solutions.

• Singularity University guest lecturer, SXSW Panelist, Founder/CEO of Play Big Inc.

• Past clients include: Nestle, Brinker International, The Coca Cola Company, Sprint, Acumen
Nancy Giordano is an exponential strategist, business futurist, and bestselling author who has consulted on a portfolio of $60+ billion well-known brands and given more than 200+ global keynotes.
With a drive to help enterprise organizations and visionary leaders transform to meet the escalating expectations ahead, she advises leaders on the organizational structures and new mindsets necessary to effectively harness the significant technology innovations heading our way.
Her expertise and experiences range from A.I., to frozen foods, to reinventing the internet, and all of her projects have a key common denominator: transitioning away from the extractive operating systems and outdated business thinking that no longer holds up... to create the more sustainable, inclusive and dynamic solutions the future demands.
Author of the Amazon bestselling book Leadering: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger, Nancy is a frequent panelist at South by Southwest, global keynote speaker, Singularity University guest lecturer, and the world’s first TEDx licensee. She is recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists, and is co-Founder of the Femme Futurists Society.

Kian Gohar
Founder & CEO of Geolab, Keynote Speaker on Innovation, Disruptive Technologies, & The Future of Work
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Kian Gohar is Founder & CEO of Geolab, an innovation research and leadership training firm. He is a master facilitator and has coached the CEO and leadership teams of over 50 companies in the Fortune 500 on innovation, disruptive technologies, moonshot thinking, leadership and the future of work.
He's co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book Competing in the New World of Work, published by Harvard Business Review and with #1 NY Times bestselling author Keith Ferrazzi. This bestselling book explores the most important leadership behaviors and team skills necessary to succeed in the post-pandemic era, and outlines how to build a successful hybrid workplaces and workforces.
Previously, Kian was an executive director at the XPRIZE Foundation, where he founded the world's leading corporate innovation ecosystem, and was also an executive director of Singularity University in Silicon Valley. His 20-year innovation career spans venture capital, academia and startups around the world. Early in his career, he was a Luce Scholar in China.
A sought-after public speaker, Kian has been featured in global media like CNBC, Fortune, Fast Company, HBR, Axios, and NPR, and headlined marquee events like SXSW and the World Economic Forum. He speaks 5 languages, is a graduate of Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics, and Northwestern.

Garry Golden
Academically Trained Futurist and Speaker on Emerging Trends
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Talks about: Finding the Future – Tomorrow’s Emerging Trends, and How to Anticipate and Act on Them for Success

• Garry works with municipal and investor owned utilities seeking to embrace the integration of new solutions ranging from new customer experiences to distributed energy resources.

• Author of   Designing Your Future, and The Age of Adaptive Experiences

• Past clients include: Alliant Energy, Chartwell, Sunoco, Eversource, Haliburton, Xcel Energy, Reliant Energy, Duke University EDGE, Direct Energy Business, The Energy Authority (TEA), ElectriCities of North Carolina, American Public Power Association (APPA)
Garry Golden is a professionally trained futurist who writes, speaks, and consults about issues that will shape society and business in the 21st century. His uncanny sense of what will hit—and what won’t—can be seen in futurethink’s research and heard in his international keynotes and corporate leadership seminars. His insights on how to align talent development to coming industry and market transitions have been shared with and implemented by such organizations as the McGraw-Hill Companies, Goodyear, S&P, and Reliant Energy.
Garry serves as Adjunct Lecturer on the Future of Energy and Environment for the University of Houston. He has consulted on projects as diverse as the future of utilities; transportation and supply chains; food safety and health; financial services; and sustainable retail packaging. He is the co-author of the inspiring book Designing Your Future, and author of the upcoming book titled The Age of Adaptive Experiences.
Garry attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his Futures Studies degree from the University of Houston. He is a past board member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) as well as an aspiring collector of street art (which will likely be huge in the year 2040.) If left to his own devices at a museum gift shop, odds are a micro-machine or geological piece will be finding itself a future home.

Ian Goldin
Former VP of World Bank, Speaks on Future Trends, Globalization & Innovation
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Professor Ian Goldin was the Founding Director of the Oxford Martin School from September 2006 to September 2016. He is currently Oxford University Professor of Globalization and Development and the Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change. He is a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School and a Professorial Fellow at the University’s Balliol College.
During his decade as Director, the School established 45 programs of research, bringing together more than 500 academics from across Oxford, from over 100 disciplines - and becoming the world’s leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges.
Professor Goldin initiated and was Vice-Chair of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, which brought together 19 international leaders from government, business, academia, media and civil society - to address the growing short-term preoccupations of modern politics and business, and identify ways of overcoming today’s gridlock in key international negotiations. The Commission’s report, Now for the Long Term - was published in October 2013.
From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice President of the World Bank, and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). He served on the Bank’s senior management team and led the Bank’s collaboration with the United Nations and other partners - as well as with key countries. As Director of Development Policy, he played a pivotal role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank.
From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa - and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Bid.
Previously, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Program Director at the OECD Development Centre in Paris - where he directed the Programs on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development.
He has a BA (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Cape Town, an MSc from the London School of Economics - and an MA and Doctorate from the University of Oxford.
Ian has served as a non-executive director on the boards of a number of leading businesses, including Old Mutual, Implenia AG, Metropolitan Life, and CDC Plc. His board positions include being the lead independent director - and chairing investment, credit, risk, audit, strategy, remuneration, social responsibility and ethics committees. Ian has advised over 50 governments and 100 leading global businesses. His non-profit activities include being the Chair of the CORE-econ.org initiative to reform global economics - and serving as a trustee of Comic Relief and other charities.
Goldin has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research, including having been knighted by the French Government and nominated Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. He has published over 50 articles and 20 books, including Globalization for Development: Meeting New Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2012), Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future (Princeton University Press, 2011), Divided Nations: Why Global Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2013), The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks, and What To Do About It (Princeton University Press, 2014) and an edited volume, Is the Planet Full?  (Oxford University Press, 2014). His latest books are The Pursuit of Development: Economic Growth, Social Change and Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2016) and  Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance (Bloomsbury and St Martin’s Press, 2016).

Nikki Greenberg
Futurist Keynote Speaker & AI Thought Leader
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Nikki Greenberg stands at the forefront as a world-renowned futurist and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, specializing in the intersection of artificial intelligence, real estate technology, and innovation. Her dynamic and high-energy keynotes delve into the fusion of real space and cyberspace, emphasizing the transformative role of emerging technologies. Nikki's mission is to not only ignite inspiration about future possibilities but also to provide actionable insights on leveraging these advancements for business growth and success.
As a digital nomad with a versatile career spanning the US, Asia, and Australia, Nikki has excelled in various leadership roles, emphasizing innovation and cutting-edge design. She has made significant contributions as the Head of Technology Strategy at QIC, an Australian investment firm, revolutionizing a $17Bn AUM real estate portfolio with tech-driven strategies. Her tenure in New York involved spearheading innovation at Brown Harris Stevens, the leading private brokerage for luxury residential developments. In Australia, she played a pivotal role in designing transformative projects with Lendlease and Koichi Takada Architects.
Nikki's expertise and influence in PropTech and real estate innovation have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including being named a Top 9 Most Influential Woman in PropTech (2024), Top Real Estate Influencer (2023), and a ULI Global Luminary (2022). As a sought-after speaker, she frequently shares her insights on the tech-enabled future of the industry at prominent global real estate conferences.
Her leadership extends to serving as a co-chair of ULI New York’s Real Estate Technology and Innovation Council and founding Global Ambassador of Women in PropTech. Nikki's educational background includes Masters of International Business and Architecture from UNSW, Sydney.
Currently based in New York City, this Australian national is celebrated as one of the most influential voices in the realm of AI, real estate technology, and future-focused thinking.

Kristen Hadeed
Founder & CEO of Student Maid, Author & Entrepreneur
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• CEO and founder of Student Maid, a cleaning company that has employed thousands of millennials and is known for building the next generation of leaders

• Kristen talks about how to build a culture of belonging with multiple generations in the workplace, and how to deliver and receive criticism as a leader.

• First TED Talk has received more than two million hits on YouTube

• Past clients include: Apple, Burger King, jetBlue, Ohio State University, PGA Tour,  Re/MAX
Kristen Hadeed believes that authentic, human leadership can change the world.
At 19, with hardly any leadership experience, Kristen started a cleaning business called Student Maid. She never expected it to be her career; it was simply a way to earn money while she was in college. But before she graduated, her company received a contract to clean hundreds of apartments—and it changed her path forever. Kristen hired a team of 60 people help her, and within days, 75% of that team quit. That’s when Kristen’s obsession with learning how to be a leader began.
Over the next 14 years, Kristen learned a lot by screwing up. But most importantly, she learned how to lead from her heart. Doing so helped her take Student Maid from a small cleaning company to a business known on a global scale for its culture of belonging, its focus on people, and its purpose of building leaders.
Today, Kristen spends her time helping leaders, teams, and organizations around the world embrace their humanity. She’s worked with just about every industry with one purpose behind it all: To build a better world through courageous, compassionate leadership.
Kristen’s work has been featured in news outlets including PBS, FOX, Inc., NBC, TIME, and Forbes. Kristen’s book, Permission To Screw Up, has sold more than 40,000 copies worldwide. Her first TED Talk has more than three million views on YouTube

Ignite Your Innovation
The Top Ten Keynote Speakers on Innovation
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
10 Most Requested Speakers on Innovation
Click here to get your Customized List of Speaker Ideas
Innovation is the catalyst for growth, profit, and sustainability for any business so it is no wonder that it is one of the most requested speaking topics from just about every industry. Here are our highest rated Speakers on Innovation:
Scott Anthony | Innovation Strategist
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Scott-Anthony
Lisa Bodell | CEO of Futurethink and Best-selling author of Kill the Company
Often innovation is associated with a complicated and overly challenging process, however, innovation expert Lisa Bodell argues that this need not be the case. Lisa’s keynotes demonstrate that the complex processes that organizations have developed over the years actually hinder innovation and block original thought.
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Lisa-Bodell
Whitney Johnson | Co-founder of the Investment Firm Disruptive Innovation Fund
Whitney Johnson will inspire audiences with her call for personal disruption as a means to create an organization-wide innovative culture. She motivates attendees to actually do the things they would only dare to dream. Whitney Johnson is a true influencer and innovator and will teach your audiences how to do the same.
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Whitney-Johnson
Kaihan Krippendorff | Strategy and Innovation Expert & Founder of Outthinker
Kaihan Krippendorff is committed to helping organizations and individuals thrive in today’s era of fast-paced disruptive technological change. Kaihan is known for his ability to turn difficult concepts into easy-to-understand ideas that drive meaningful outcomes and actions. He is an internationally recognized thought-leader, battle-tested consultant, and sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of business strategy, growth, transformation and innovation.
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Kaihan-Krippendorff
 
Polly LaBarre | Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur
Understanding that many organizations have been working since their inception to maintain and protect the foundational practices on which it was built, Polly LaBarre pushes audiences to break the status quo in order to achieve exceptional performance. Her keynotes highlight the importance of adaptability – or risk paralysis. Polly’s presentations are truly inspiring as she encourages attendees to be relentlessly creative, excited, and inventive.
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Polly-LaBarre
Josh Linkner | Bestselling Author on Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership
You’ve come up with a spectacularly creative idea for your organization – so the hard part’s over, right? Unfortunately it’s not. Turning raw, unpolished (albeit great) ideas into a reality can be very challenging. Josh Linkner’s keynotes provide practical tools and methodologies to turn those big ideas into big results and big profits. Oh, and he’s an excellent jazz guitarist too!
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Josh-Linkner
Mike Walsh | Best-selling author of FUTURETAINMENT, Speaker on Technology and Innovation
So often companies survive on one big idea or major breakthrough, however, in contemporary business those who thrive are continuously creating and cultivating those big ideas and breakthroughs. Mike Walsh helps organizations create strategic priorities in order to prepare for the future of business today.
Video: https://thesweeneyagency.com/speakers/Mike-Walsh
*Speakers are listed in alphabetical order
To Learn more about these speakers contact [email protected]
Derek Sweeney is the Director of Speaker Ideas at The Sweeney Agency. www.thesweeneyagency.com. For 15 years Derek has been helping clients find the right Speakers for their events. Derek can be reached at 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected]

Tom Koulopoulos
Chairman and Founder of Delphi Group, Author and Speaker on Innovation & The Future
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Click Here to Watch Tom's Virtual Presentation
Tom Koulopoulos is Chairman and Founder of Delphi Group, a 30-year-old Boston-based think tank named one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc. Magazine, and the founding partner of Acrovantage Ventures, which invests in early-stage technology startups. He is also the author of 13 books, an Inc.com columnist, the past Executive Director of the Babson College Center for Business Innovation, the past director of the Dell Innovation Lab, and a professor at Boston University.
His insights have received wide praise from luminaries such as the late Peter Drucker, the father of modern management; Dee Hock, founder of Visa International, and Tom Peters, who called his writing, “a brilliant vision of where we must take our enterprises to survive and thrive.” His Inc. column is read by over one million people yearly.
Mr. Koulopoulos’ thirteen books include his most recent, Reimagining Healthcare, The Bottomless Cloud, Revealing the Invisible, The Gen Z Effect, and Cloud Surfing. His upcoming book, Gigatrends, looks at the seven tech trends that are shaping the future of how we live, work, and play.
According to Tom’s mentor, Peter Drucker, Tom’s writing "makes you question not only the way you run your business but the way you run yourself."

Kaihan Krippendorff
Futurist, Strategy and Innovation Expert & Founder of Outthinker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Click Here to Watch Kaihan's Virtual Presentation
• Talks about the Outthinker Process, a set proven business strategy tools he has used with more than 300 clients in almost every industry to create innovative strategies and growth ideas that have generated more than $2.5B in revenue.

• Teaches audiences how to tap into the resources they already have to produce breakthrough market-disrupting solutions, without disrupting their own businesses

• Thinkers50 recognized Kaihan as one of the 8 most influential innovation thought leaders in the world. Bestselling author of five books, most recently the Edison Award nominated,  Driving Innovation From Within: A Guide for Internal Entrepreneurs

• Past clients include: AIG, Cisco, Google, Kraft, Sotheby’s, United Technologies, the YPO
Kaihan Krippendorff is the CEO of Outthinker Networks, a global think-tank of chief strategy and innovation executives shaping the future of business. A sought-after keynote speaker, Kaihan is recognized by Global Gurus and Thinkers50 as one of the top 30 global thinkers in strategy and innovation. His work helps organizations generate breakthrough ideas that drive transformation and growth in our accelerated world of change.
Leveraging skills and experience from McKinsey and Company with rigorous research of emerging trends, Kaihan designs practical business tools that he delivers through engaging and hands-on experiences. He is an innovation catalyst to business leaders and CXOs of some of the world’s most admired companies. To date, his work has generated over $2.5B in new annual revenue for clients that include Aetna-CVS, JP Morgan, Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Yahoo.
A prolific writer, Kaihan has published five books including the bestsellers Outthink the Competition and Driving Innovation from Within. Amidst a dizzying schedule of keynotes, workshops, ongoing research, and writing, Kaihan still finds time to teach for Wharton Executive Education, Florida International University, and New York University; host the Outthinkers podcast; and play an active role on two corporate advisory boards.
He holds a doctorate in strategy and has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering, Wharton, Columbia Business School, and London Business School. With a mother from Bangladesh, father from Germany, and wife from Latin America, Kaihan is a global citizen who brings a holistic, diverse, and worldly perspective to everything he does.
He is a passionate cook and lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, three kids, two cats, and a dog.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has said, "Kaihan shows that with a compelling idea anyone can change the world" and that message has made Kaihan one of the most sought- after business speakers in the world.

Charlene Li
Best Selling Author, Entrepreneur, and Leadership Speaker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
For the past three decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future. She’s an expert on digital transformation, disruption leadership and strategy, customer experience, and the future of work. She’s the author of six books, including the New York Times bestseller, “Open Leadership,” and co-author of the critically acclaimed book, “Groundswell.” Her latest book is the bestseller “The Disruption Mindset.” She is currently working on her next book, “Winning with Generative AI.”
Charlene is also an entrepreneur, the Founder and CEO of Altimeter, a disruptive analyst firm that was acquired in 2015. She most recently served as the Chief Research Officer for PA Consulting and currently leads her own firm, Quantum Networks Group.
Charlene has worked with hundreds of top companies ranging from Adobe to Southwest Airlines and advised 49 of the Fortune 100 companies. She has spoken at events like the World Economic Forum, TED, and SXSW.
Named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and a LinkedIn Top Voice on Culture, Charlene graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco and teaches her cat tricks in her spare time.

Greg Lindsay
Speaker and Author on the Future of Travel, Technology, and Urban Development
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Greg talks about how cities‐as‐a‐service are changing how we live, work, move, and more – and the new real estate, services, and business model opportunities this creates.

• Audiences leave with an understanding of how to recognize the changes technology and innovation have brought to urban environments and how to leverage the opportunities these disruptions have created.

• Greg Lindsay is a journalist, urbanist, futurist, and speaker, director of applied research at NewCities and director of strategy at its mobility offshoot CoMotion. He is also a non-resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative, a visiting scholar at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, and co-author of Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next.

• Past clients include: Intel, Samsung, Starbucks, Audi, Chrysler, Hyundai, Tishman Speyer, British Land, André Balazs Properties, Emaar, and Expo 2020.
Greg Lindsay is a non-resident senior fellow of MIT’s Future Urban Collectives Lab, Ari­zo­na State University’s Threat­cast­ing Lab, and the Atlan­tic Council’s Scow­croft Stra­te­gy Ini­tia­tive. He was the foun­ding chief com­mu­nica­tions offi­cer of AlphaGeo and remains a senior advi­sor. Most re­cen­tly, he was a 2022-2023 urban tech fellow at Cor­nell Tech’s Jacobs Insti­tute, where he ex­plo­­red the impli­cations of AI and aug­men­ted rea­lity at urban scale.
Greg speaks about the future of cities, mobility, tech­no­logy, security, and work, inclu­ding appea­ran­ces at 10 Down­ing Street, the United States Mili­tary Aca­de­my, San­dia Natio­nal Labo­ra­to­ries, Orga­ni­sa­tion for Eco­no­­mic Co-oper­a­tion and Deve­lop­ment, Har­vard Busi­ness School, MIT Media Lab, and Aspen Ideas Festival.
He also speaks to companies (Micro­soft, Deloitte, Gensler, Ford, Star­­bucks), orga­ni­za­tions (U.S. Confe­ren­ce of Mayors, Canada Council for the Arts), mem­ber asso­cia­tions (ULI, NAHB, NAI­OP, SIOR) and uni­ver­sities (Harvard, Yale, Prin­ce­ton, NYU, McGill).
He’s been cited as an expert by The New York Times, The Washing­ton Post, The Wall Street Jour­­­nal, The Guar­dian, USA Today, CNN, NPR, BBC, and CBC Radio.
Greg’s also a part­ner at the advi­sory firm Future­Map, and has advi­sed Intel, Sam­sung, IKEA, Star­bucks, Audi, Hyun­dai, Tish­man Spe­yer, Brit­ish Land, André Ba­lazs Proper­ties, Aldar, Emaar, and Expo 2020, along with nume­rous G20 govern­­ment entities. Pre­viously, he was urbanist-in-resi­den­ce at BMW MINI’s urban tech acce­le­ra­tor, URBAN-­X, as well as direc­tor of applied re­search at New­Cities and foun­ding direc­tor of stra­te­gy at its mobi­lity-focused off­shoot, Co­Motion.

Bjorn Lomborg
Author and speaker on the environment and climate change. Author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool it.
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Bjorn Lomborg is adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School and an international keynote speaker on climate change. He is the organizer of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, which brings together some of the world's top economists, including 5 Nobel laureates, to set priorities for the world. Time magazine named Lomborg one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2004. In 2008 he was named one of the 50 people who could save the planet by the UK Guardian; one of the top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazine in 2010 and 2011; and one of the world's 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire.
Besides working as the director of Copenhagen Consensus and as adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, Lomborg is the author of the best-selling The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool it in which he challenged mainstream concerns about the environment and pointed out that we need to focus attention on the most important problems first.
The Skeptical Environmentalist had its genesis in 1998, when Lomborg worked as an associate professor of statistics at the Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. He published four lengthy articles about the state of the environment in a leading Danish newspaper, which resulted in a firestorm debate spanning over 400 articles in major metropolitan newspapers. The articles led to the publication of The Skeptical Environmentalist in 2001, which has now been published in every major language in the world.
Since the publication of The Skeptical Environmentalist, Lomborg has been a frequent participant in public debate. His commentaries have appeared regularly in such prestigious publications as the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, Globe & Mail, The Guardian, The Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Australian, the Economist, the LA Times and Boston Globe. He has appeared on TV shows such as Politically Incorrect and ABC 60 minutes, Larry King, 20/20, 60 minutes and BBC Newsnight along with shows on CNN, BBC, CNBC, and PBS. In November 2001, Lomborg was selected "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum.
From February 2002 to July 2004 Lomborg was director of Denmark's national Environmental Assessment Institute. During this period he was named one of the 50 stars of Europe (as one of the 9 agenda setters in Europe) in Business Week. In April 2004, Lomborg was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.
Lomborg organized Copenhagen Consensus in 2004, a project which brought together some of the world's top economists to prioritize the best solutions to the world's biggest challenges. Essentially, he asked these experts to tackle the question: With limited resources, how can we do the most good possible?
In June 2006 Lomborg repeated the Copenhagen Consensus project with top United Nations ambassadors instead of economists. He managed to bring together representatives from China, India and the USA, representing about half the world's population. Their ranking of solutions to the world's challenges was the first of its kind for the United Nations. These two conferences and their results have resulted in two books: Global Crises, Global Solutions and How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place. The last global Copenhagen Consensus project was held in May 2008.
In September 2007, Lomborg published Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Climate Change, a groundbreaking book that is transforming the debate about global warming by offering a fresh perspective based on human needs as well as environmental concerns. It has already been translated into 17 languages.
In October 2010 Cambridge University Press released Smart Solutions to Climate Change, edited by Bjorn Lomborg. The highly anticipated collection presents a very wide range of climate policy options including ones that are not well covered in the media, making it highly relevant to climate policy debates in search for a new treaty to succeed Kyoto. Also in November 2010, Lomborg released the documentary film, Cool It.
In his most recent offering, How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place, Bjorn presents the costs and benefits of the smartest solutions to twelve global problems. Featuring cutting-edge research of more than sixty eminent economists, four Nobel Laureates, and produced for the Copenhagen Consensus, this book will inform, enlighten and motivate actions to make the world a better place.
Bjorn is also the editor of How Much have Global Problems Cost the World? and Global Problems, Smart Solutions, out in the fall of 2013.

Terence Mauri
Innovation & Disruptive Leadership Speaker
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Talks about 3D leadership & how leaders can own their future & helping organizations scale their purpose

• Audiences learn about the principles of 3D leadership that will help organizations go beyond disruption to take control of their futures and lead with improved mindset and agility to focus on creating exponential opportunities.

• Founder of Hack Future Lab, INC Magazine columnist, Partner at MIT Solve, Bestselling author of The 3D Leader & Former Director of Satchi & Satchi

• Past clients include: Facebook, HSBC, Alibaba, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix & Novartis
Leaders from Alibaba, HSBC and Facebook choose Terence to ignite Mindset 2.0 – a disruption mindset to break the rules and reimagine your business today.
Terence Mauri is the Founder of global think tank Hack Future Lab and is a Partner with MIT Solve, an initiative to address world challenges. He brings decades of experience and knowledge sharing cutting edge principles on the future of leadership beyond disruption. He is a Bestselling Author and his new book The 3D Leader: Take Your Leadership to the Next Dimension is an actionable and robust guide for ALL people to realize that a new dimension in personal leadership is at the core of creating opportunity. The 3D Leader is for  every person who wants to learn three winning mindsets - THINK BOLD, CHOOSE BRAVE, GO BEYOND - that will equip you with a practical set of actions for you to completely reimagine how you lead. 
Terence’s Inc. column Future Proof  has over 1M views per month, and his thinking on how to find your next cutting edge has been published in The Economist, Forbes, Reuters, HuffPost and Wired and he has delivered keynotes around the world for clients including Visa, Facebook, VMware, Capital One and HSBC, as well as fast-growing start-ups. Terence holds Entrepreneur Mentor in Residence roles at MIT and London Business School and has over 20 years experience of helping leaders bounce back from adversity and move beyond disruption. He has also been ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the top 30 management thinkers in the world. 
Terence has had first-hand experience growing $100m+ businesses in rapidly changing times as a former director at Saatchi & Saatchi, where he advised leaders from iconic companies including Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Novartis.  But one day his fate changed dramatically when a car lost control, mounted the curb and hit him. This terrible accident changed his life forever and has enabled him to share new growth strategies for one of the greatest challenges facing leaders today: transforming your business in the face of massive and yet hard to predict disruption.
Thinkers50, the global authority on leadership, has ranked Terence as one of the 30 top new thinkers in the world describing him as “an influential and outspoken expert on the future of leadership.” Whether you’re seeking a keynote speaker for a conference, a facilitator for a strategy workshop or a bold shake-up for a boardroom meeting, Terence’s TED style presentations act as a catalyst for reinvention. Leaders choose Terence to give them a path forward that will take them BEYOND DISRUPTION and stay focused on creating exponential opportunities.
Click Here to Watch Terence's Virtual Presentation

Heather McGowan
Top Futurist and Speaker on the Future of Work, Best-selling Author
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
One of Forbes' Top Futurists, Heather E. McGowan brings fresh energy and actionable insights to the future of work. A sought-after strategist, keynote speaker, and 2x bestselling author, she equips organizations to navigate relentless change by activating their most critical resource: their people. 
Heather’s audiences range from startups to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies, including Google, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, and Kaiser Permanente. Through data-driven insights and powerful visual frameworks, she helps leaders and teams transform their distinctly human capabilities—adaptability, empathy, and curiosity—into strategic advantages.
Often quoted in The New York Times, with Thomas Friedman calling her an "oasis" for her insights, Heather’s bestselling books include The Adaptation Advantage and The Empathy Advantage, which was named a Top 10 Business Book of 2023. 
By teaching people to ask better questions, she enables them to adapt at the speed of possibility to Solve Tomorrow's Problems™.

Jacob Morgan
4x Best-selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Futurist, and Co-founder of The Future of Work University
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Jacob talks about why employee experience is the next big area of investment, what the top companies are doing – and how you can go about creating an Experiential Organization.

• Audiences leave understanding what some of the world’s most forward thinking organizations are doing and how leaders can create strategies to design and create employee experiences based around three environments: culture, technology, and the physical workspace.

• Jacob Morgan is a trained futurist and one of the world’s leading authorities on the leadership, employee experience - and the future of work. He is a best selling author of 4 books on leadership.

• Past clients include: Unilever, Cisco, MasterCard, Nestle, Best Buy, SAP, KPMG, T-Mobile, and Schneider Electric.
Jacob Morgan is a trained futurist and one of the world’s leading authorities on the leadership, employee experience - and the future of work. He speaks in front of tens of thousands of people each year and his content is seen over a million times a year.
After graduating with honours in business management economics and psychology from the University of California Santa Cruz, Jacob was excited to join the corporate world. At his first job he was told that he’d be travelling the country, meeting with executives and entrepreneurs - and doing all sorts of exciting work. A few months in, he was stuck doing data entry, cold calling - and PowerPoint presentations. One day the CEO came out of his nice corner office, handed Jacob a $10 bill and said “I’m late for a meeting, go grab me a cup of coffee - and get something for yourself as well.” That was the last corporate job he ever had.
Jacob is the best-selling author of four books: The Future Leader (2020), The Employee Experience Advantage (2017), The Future of Work (2014), and The Collaborative Organization (2012). He speaks at over 50 conferences a year including TED Academy - which is one of the largest TED events in the world. In addition, Jacob provides advisory and thought leadership services to various organizations around the world.
Jacob created “The Future If” a global community of business leaders, authors and futurists - who explore what our future can look like IF certain technologies, ideas, approaches and trends actually happen. The community looks at everything from AI and automation to leadership and management practices to augmented reality and virtual reality, the 4th industrial revolution - and everything in between.
His work has been endorsed by the CEOs of: Unilever, Cisco, MasterCard, Nestle, Best Buy, SAP, KPMG, T-Mobile, Schneider Electric - and many others.
In addition, Jacob hosts The Future of Work Podcast - a weekly show where he speaks with senior executives, authors, and business leaders about how the world of work is changing. His Youtube channel explores the latest concepts and ideas around the future of work - with inspiring and educational 2-3 minute videos.
He has also contributed to - and been cited in publications such as Cosmopolitan, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, Glamour, the MIT Sloan Management Review, USA Today - and The Harvard Business Review.

Blake Morgan
Customer Experience Futurist, Keynote Speaker and Author
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Blake Morgan was called “The Queen of CX” by Meta. She is a customer experience futurist and author of three books on customer experience. Her newest book is called “8 Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership: The New Rules For Building Business Around Today’s Customer” coming out July of 2024. Her bestselling second book is called “The Customer Of The Future: 10 Guiding Principles For Winning Tomorrow’s Business” (HarperCollins), identified by Business Insider as one of the top 20 books executives are reading to deal with COVID-19. In 2021 the book won a top 5 spot on Book Authority’s list of the “Top 100 Future Of Technology Books of All-Time.”
She was called one of the top 40 female keynote speakers by Real Leaders Magazine. Blake is a guest lecturer at Columbia University, the University of California, San Diego as well as adjunct faculty at the Rutgers executive education MBA program. She has worked with companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, The Federal Reserve Bank and many more. Blake contributes to Forbes and is the host of The Modern Customer Podcast.
She lives in the Southern California with her husband, their two children and two dogs.

Natalie Nixon
Strategy, Foresight, and Innovation Expert, Award-winning Author
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Natalie Nixon, PhD is "the creativity whisperer to the C-Suite". She is a creativity strategist who advises leaders on achieving transformative business results by applying wonder & rigor. She is a highly sought after global keynote speaker, valued for her accessible expertise on creativity, the future of work and innovation.
Natalie was selected for Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2024; Real Leaders' "Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World for 2022" list; and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and INC. She is the author of the award-winning The Creativity Leap—an honoree in the creativity category of Fast Company's 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards. Her firm, Figure 8 Thinking, was named among the top 20 women-led innovation firms in 2021 by Core 77. Clients have included Microsoft, Salesforce, Comcast, Citrix, Morrison & Foerster, Living Cities, VaynerMedia and Bloomberg.
A hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology, fashion, design thinking and dance. She is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures, valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.
Natalie is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt Design Museum; and a former trustee of Vassar College and Leadership+Design. She has lived in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Israel, and Sri Lanka and is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish. She is certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future. She received her BA (honors) from Vassar College, and her PhD from the University of Westminster in London.
When she's not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, Natalie is fine-tuning her salsa, foxtrot and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia with her husband, John Nixon, and is the proud stepmother of Sydney.

Angela Oguntala
Global Authority on Foresight and Innovation
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
Named a Future Innovator by the United Nations, Angela Oguntala is a futurist and global authority on foresight and innovation.
She is a founding partner at Greyspace, a foresight consultancy. Across the globe, she helps organizations understand and innovate for a world in transition. Her clients have included IKEA, Hermès, Philips, Sky, Deloitte, The World Economic Forum, The World Trade Organization, Microsoft, Bayer and Swiss Life.
Over the past decade, Angela has been asked to speak on a wide range of future-facing topics. She has delivered hundreds of keynotes worldwide on themes including: innovating through uncertainty, emerging technology impacts, purpose driven innovation, leadership & organizational foresight, creativity, sustainability, as well as on specific domains from the future of work to futures of healthcare.
Angela leaves audiences with insights, inspiration, and actionable tactics to engage with significant shifts ahead, and to critically question what needs to shift to meet future demands. She is a Salzburg Global Fellow for leaders challenged to shape a better worldand has been featured as an expert on futures thinking on outlets including Sky, TED, and NPR.
Angela is an American who shares her time between the US (Atlanta, Georgia) and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Erica Orange
Leading Futurist & Speaker on Global Trends
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Erica talks about new and emerging trends in the global economy and what these mean for your business.

• Audiences leave understanding the trends affecting their organization and how to leverage those changes for growth.

• Erica is the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms and TEDx Speaker.

• Past clients include: Human x Design Conference, L’Oreal, Mastercard, Razor Technologies, BNP Paribas
Erica Orange is Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. She evaluates emerging social, technological, economic, political, demographic and environmental trends – and identifies the strategic implications (the “So what?”) of those trends for several of the most influential Fortune 500 companies, trade associations and public sector clients. Erica’s ability to think critically and translate that into actionable and tangible strategies is what has made her an invaluable asset to clients.
Erica speaks to a wide range of global audiences about the macro trends that are shaping and impacting today’s landscape. She has spoken at TEDx and keynoted over 250 conferences around the world, including across Europe, Latin America, and Asia. She has authored numerous articles and industry white papers, and has been featured in news outlets including Wired, NPR, Time, Bloomberg, and CBS This Morning. In 2020, she was named by Forbes as one of the world's 50 Top Female Futurists.

Deborah Perry Piscione
Authority on Changing Mindsets, Best-selling Innovation Author and Entrepreneur
•  View profile
•  View video
 About
• Deborah talks about  every organization can develop new mindsets, organizational structures, and product development/problem-solving processes – that will maximize opportunities in the future.

• Audiences leave inspired by her pragmatic presentation on harnessing the energy in every organization.

• Deborah Perry Piscione is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, national bestselling author, media commentator and public speaker.

• Past clients include: Google, McKinsey, TED Talks, Cadence Design, London School of Economics, Microsoft, McDonald's, NetApp, Princeton University, KPMG, Innotown, Qualcomm, Stanford University, and Accenture.
We know that great leaders are defined by the extraordinary people that they lead. What makes Deborah Perry Piscione so special is that she has uncovered the DNA from the inspired cultures of the most innovative companies in the world. It is no surprise that organizations that build systems to grow the passions of their talented workforce are more productive, more innovative, more loyal, and consistently move faster than competitors. Provocative and wonderfully entertaining, Deborah’s presentations are a prerequisite for leaders looking to shake the status quo.
Through her years of research and hands-on work with many of Silicon Valley’s pioneer companies, she has found the keys to building organizations into innovation machines and preparing leaders for the future. She is the architect of Improvisational Innovation, a bottom’s up innovation process, where anyone in any corner of the company can bring forth new ideas in a trusted environment and be rewarded for it. Adopted at Qualcomm, Tata Group, Nike, McKinsey & Co, among many other leading global companies, Deborah’s process has created a minimum of 10x ROI in new products and services for the company, and greatly assist in talent development as employees explore their passions.
Deborah’s discoveries are highlighted by her series of critically acclaimed books:
1. Employment is Dead: How Web3 Technologies will Radically Change our Relationship with Work (to be published Fall 2024, Harvard Business Review Press)
2. The People Equation: Why Innovation Is People, Not Products
3. Secrets of Silicon Valley: What Everyone Else Can Learn from the Innovation Capital of the World 
4. The Risk Factor: Why Every Company Needs Big Bets, Bold Characters and the Occasional Spectacular Failure
All of these books and the research in them stems from the differences between old-school power and new-school leadership, which Deborah understands well thru first-hand experience. Having worked as an insider at the White House and Capitol Hill, and then moving into the center of Silicon Valley, Deborah was struck by the vast differences in power and leadership between the two coasts. She became fascinated by the collaborative cultures of innovation that dominate the Silicon Valley region, especially the voracious appetite for growing value from ideas.
This spurred her to launch five successful companies, including Sterling Capital (a venture capital fund focusing on the future of work). Another, Alley to the Valley, has grown into the most influential program for connecting powerful business women.
It is this unique experience and understanding that has made her one of the most sought-after business speakers today. With companies and industries looking for every new customer, every new idea, every advantage they can find, Deborah specializes in helping organizations do this by understand their under-realized assets — their talent workforce — that they already have under their nose, and build systems that unlock their full potential. Both her keynotes and her innovation boot-camps for Fortune 500 leaders are fully customized for your very specific needs.
Deborah is a LinkedIn Learning author (“Executing on Innovation” and “Risk-taking for Leaders”), a Stanford University Case Study (Graduate School of Business) “Deborah Perry Piscione: Finding Opportunity in Silicon Valley” and a former television commentator with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.
Her speaking clients include Google, McKinsey & Co., TED Talks, Cadence Design, London School of Economics, Microsoft, McDonalds, NetApp, Princeton University, KPMG, Innotown, Qualcomm, Society for Human Resource Management, Stanford University, Accenture, Texas Economic Development Council, Singularity University, among many others.
• 1
• 2