Futurist Speakers

Dr. Shawn DuBravac is former chief economist of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, which owns and produces the world’s largest gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. In his role as CTA’s chief economist, DuBravac provided crucial economic analysis to association and industry leaders regarding future economic activity and the relative health of the technology industry. He also contributes research on technology trends that underpin the industry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nick Bilton, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair and former Lead Technology Writer for the New York Times, is a journalist, designer, UI specialist, technologist, author, hardware hacker, and researcher. Bilton has worked in many industries within the context of design, research and development, and technology. He is also the author of Hatching Twitter and I Live in the Future: & Here’s How It Works, which explores the effects of new technology on our brains. With highly visual presentations, he addresses innovation, the future of media, technology, and society and how technology affects our work and minds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.