Futurist Speakers

With more than a decade working at the heart of the technology industry, Dex Hunter-Torricke has managed communications for some of the most-influential and admired Silicon Valley leaders and corporations of our day. In his daily work, Dex plays a critical role in writing the next chapter on science, tech, the economy, and society across the globe, and spearheads efforts to bring the stories of how the world is being moved forward to light. From 2012-2016, he led the executive communications team at Facebook and served as personal speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg. He then went on to join SpaceX as senior director of communications. He later served as the VP Global Communications & Public Engagement for the Oversight Board for Meta, the independent body that makes decisions on Facebook and Instagram’s most challenging content issues. Dex takes audiences into Facebook’s boardroom, Musk’s open-concept cubicle, the famed Googleplex, and finally to the UN itself to share lessons on what it takes in today’s environment to build highly effective internal teams, how to use storytelling in modern communications, and what to make of the steady transition from local to global that’s unfolded over the past decade.

When organisations and individuals want to better their understanding of the latest technology trends and their impact on business and society, Greg Williams is among the first names they seek out for thought leadership. As the deputy global editor for WIRED magazine and a widely respected strategic forecaster, Williams has exclusive lines of communication to the innovators, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and creatives who are changing the world and draws upon his conversations with them to publish insightful and influential pieces on innovation, technology, and the ideas that are reshaping our world in real time.

Christina von Messling is a forward-thinking multi-industry thought leader and strategist whose methodology and insights are sought out by Fortune 100 businesses and world governments as they prepare to chart the path to the most successful futures for their organizations. As the head of Europe and senior foresight manager at the Future Today Institute (FTI), a global foresight and strategy firm founded by world-renowned futurist Amy Webb, von Messling collaborates with clients to learn their organizations and industries inside-out and guide them to the untapped opportunities that exist, and that can be created, to innovate their businesses, disrupt their industries, and become the standard that other companies seek to emulate. Von Messling has led cutting-edge teams across the world in the life sciences (pharma, health, food and agriculture, chemicals) and entertainment industries, and combines a global perspective with in-depth, holistic knowledge of technology, societal dynamics, and the other main drivers of change.

Erik Peterson sits at the intersection of global economics, geopolitical changes, and future trends. His riveting presentations are eye-opening glimpses into how we can and should address some of the most challenging global issues of our time. He maps the key long-range trends transforming the opportunities and risks and traces the simultaneous and significant global shifts in the areas of population, resources, technology, economy, security, and geopolitics. He untangles these complex trends for audiences and examines the real-world implications—both present and future.

After a successful spell at top ten ad agency TBWA, working on disruptive brand strategies for clients like PlayStation and Nike, at the age of 24, Nick decided to set up on his own. He founded a pioneering innovation consultancy, which has seen him work on numerous global launches including Xbox, Unilever’s 7 year future of laundry, the BBC’s most successful TV show of all time (Dancing with the Stars) and sustainable cities for the UK government.

Jeremy is the Senior Innovation Editor of Wired, the influential technology and trends magazine that covers innovation and the businesses that are building the future. He is in charge of analysing and identifying emerging trends and technological shifts that will impact consumers and businesses alike. He is an expert on a broad range of technology trends including artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IOT), quantum computing, FinTech, retail disruption, health tech, autonomous cars and transport, cyber security, 3D printing and maker culture, industrial design, and more.

A globally recognized technology entrepreneur and renowned futurist, Salim Ismail is a sought-after exponential strategist who advises organizations of all sizes and across industries, as well as heads of state, on how they can turn cutting-edge ideas into viable business opportunities and apply inventive thinking to drive innovation and achieve their desired futures sooner. He is the Founder and Chair of OpenExO, a team of innovation experts who create customized solutions for corporations and organizations seeking to emulate the world’s fastest growing organizations.

With a profound passion for technology and its potential to transform business and society, Noelle Russell has dedicated her career to helping organizations uncover the possibilities artificial intelligence presents to their businesses, and guiding them through the intricacies of AI adoption. In her daily work Russell advises companies across industries on how to integrate emerging technologies — including AI, Web3, and the Cloud — into their operations and workplace strategies. She is an award-winning technologist with an entrepreneurial spirit who has led innovative tech teams at Accenture, NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS, and Amazon Alexa, and is among the world’s leading voices on data and AI literacy.

Neil Jacobstein is the chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Track at Singularity University, an organization whose founders hail from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation and has a goal “to educate, inspire and empower a new generation of leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.” Jacobstein shares one of the most thoughtful and up-to-date looks at the future of technology and how it will impact a variety of industries. He explores innovation, disruption, and artificial intelligence as he offers audience a glimpse into the future and its real-world applications.

Working at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, behavior, technology, and science, Nichol Bradford’s mission is to empower human transformation and wellbeing by creating or curating new visions, opportunities, and tech-enabled tools for all. She catalyzes new ways to use technology to expand beyond our perceived limits and reach our fullest potential through her global non-profit Transformative Tech.org, working with talented researchers, founders, and investors across the globe who build wellbeing tech for human health and happiness. Bradford speaks extensively on human transformation, transformative tech, and the future of health, work, and human excellence. Using real-life examples and use cases from the latest trends in wellness technologies, she demonstrates to groups how these emerging advances can be applied to heal, upskill, and enhance human capability and benefit all of mankind.

A leading expert in robot ethics, Dr. Kate Darling is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. Forever interested in how technology intersects with society, Kate has a background in law & economics and intellectual property, she explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Dr. Darling’s work has been featured in international media, and she has authored multiple academic publications and contributed to industry publications from Vogue to Die Zeit to the BBC, and in 2017, the American Bar Association honored her legal work with the Mark T. Banner Award in Intellectual Property.

When the world’s top companies want to understand what’s next for their businesses and how they can create the next big breakthrough in their industries, they turn to world-renowned futurist Sheryl Connelly. Connelly is a global trends and consumer expert whose mastery at identifying what’s coming around the corner and the potential influences on customer attitudes and behavioral patterns that directly impact business strategy is unparalleled. From 1996-2023, she was a cornerstone presence on Ford Motor Company’s global trends and futuring team, working her way up the ranks at the automotive juggernaut and becoming the company’s chief futurist. Connelly draws upon her business foresight expertise and experiences at Ford to help organizations in any industry identify and analyze global consumer trends in order to lay the groundwork for long-term, future-focused planning and strategy across the entire company, and anticipate the ever-evolving needs and desires of the people they serve.