Futurist & Humanist | Keynote Speaker | Author CEO The Futures Agency
For IN-PERSON EVENTS, the exact fee falls within the fee range on this page, unless this is a “Call for Fee.”
For VIRTUAL EVENTS, the fees can vary depending on how the presenter is used (example: virtual keynote, workshop sessions, multiple video messages, etc).
To learn the exact fee, complete the “Check Availability” form or call us (at 973-313-9800), email us at info@eaglestalent.com, or chat with one of our team members on LiveChat.
We look forward to helping you.
Futurist & Humanist | Keynote Speaker | Author CEO The Futures Agency
For IN-PERSON EVENTS, the exact fee falls within the fee range on this page, unless this is a “Call for Fee.”
For VIRTUAL EVENTS, the fees can vary depending on how the presenter is used (example: virtual keynote, workshop sessions, multiple video messages, etc).
To learn the exact fee, complete the “Check Availability” form or call us (at 973-313-9800), email us at info@eaglestalent.com, or chat with one of our team members on LiveChat.
We look forward to helping you.
“People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity.” – That is Gerd Leonhard’s motto. Over the past two decades, he has risen to one of the top 10 futurist keynote speakers worldwide, and has recently become the #1 virtual speaker in the age of Corona. With nearly 2,000 engagements in 60+ countries since 2004, and a combined audience of over 2.5 million people, Gerd has been listed by Wired magazine as one of the Top 100 Most-Influential People in Europe, and as ‘one of the leading media futurists in the World’ by The Wall Street Journal.
Gerd focuses on the intersections of humanity, science / technology, business, and culture. He promotes sustainable, human-centric values, and emphasizes the importance of foresight, future-ready leadership, and resilience in the face of uncertainty. He is also known for speaking out against the pitfalls of unbridled extractionist capitalism. His acclaimed keynotes (both live and virtual) are renowned for their hard-hitting and provocative style – inspiring, humorous, motivational, and always personal. Using cutting-edge creative motion design and immersive backdrops, Gerd’s performances (both in-person and for online events) have reinvented the very definition of ‘presentation.’
Gerd is highly regarded as a global influencer and has advised business leaders and government officials around the globe. His diverse list of clients include countless governments, NGOs and Fortune 500companies such as SAP, Microsoft, Google, VISA, Accenture, Deloitte, Motorola, KPMG, Sony, UBS, Tetrapak, Mastercard, BBC, Unilever, Lloyds Bank, WWF, Sony, The Guardian, PwC, Siemens, RTL,The Financial Times, Ogilvy, Omnicom, The EU Commission, Audi and many others. A true thought leader in the futurist space, Gerd is above all a dedicated humanist who believes that all technological progress should further collective human flourishing.
Gerd uses his keynotes, presentations, workshops and advisory sessions to deep-dive on complex topics. Recurring themes include business in the post-Covid-19 world, the need for a sustainable, equitable reform to conventional capitalism, addressing existential risks like climate change and uncontrolled technological proliferation, the future of work and of the human-machine relationship, exploring what it means to be human in a world of machines and algorithms, and the ethics of technology and tech regulation in an interconnected world. As Gerd likes to say, humanity will change more in the next 10 years than in the previous 100 years – so let’s embrace technology but also maintain, protect and nurture what makes us human!
As a professional artist, internet entrepreneur, film producer, bestselling author, and visionary thinker and speaker, Gerd Leonhard has spent his lifetime engaging with change. Gerd’s background is in the music business; in 1985 he won Berklee College’s ‘Quincy Jones Award’ and subsequently spent 12 years working as a professional guitarist, composer, and producer. But in 1995 he caught the internet-bug, seeing the future of music as being in the cloud, and became a digital music & media entrepreneur.
From 1995 to 2002 he raised Millions as Founder/CEO of several San Francisco-based internet startups. In 2002, following the dotcom meltdown and the 9/11 crisis, Gerd returned to Europe, wrote his first book (The Future of Music) and became increasingly in demand as keynote speaker as he discovered his new calling as a futurist and as the CEO of The Futures Agency, a global network of over 50 leading futurists, speakers, and personalities. As he likes to say: The future is already here – we just haven’t paid enough attention!
As we rush headlong into a machine-led world where the very essence of what it means to be human is being increasingly challenged, Gerd reminds us to consider what moral values we are prepared to stand up for before “being human” loses its meaning forever.
Between traveling around the globe and teleporting-in virtually to speak at leading conferences, events and seminars, Gerd helps individuals, enterprises and government organizations to deal with ‘future shock’ and embrace change. When he is not speaking or consulting clients, Gerd is also an influential, bestselling author. He co-authored the visionary book ‘The Future of Music’ and has written five others, including his last bestseller, ‘Technology vs. Humanity’, which is now available in ten languages.
Gerd’s films on the future of technology and humanity, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and work, jobs and education have reached millions of viewers and as a highly sought after futurist, he is no stranger to media, frequently sharing his often controversial but always prescient views with pieces in The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Wired UK, and interviews with the likes of BBC, CNN, Arirang TV, Swiss SRF, ZDF, ARD, ARTE. He has also been included as a special guest in over a dozen documentaries, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA, London), and an advisory board member of the Indian and Canadian Research Institutes. Today, Gerd resides in Zürich, Switzerland and presents both in English and German.
Why and how people, planet, purpose and prosperity is the key to The Good Future
Fueled by recent geopolitical conflicts, the urgency to address the accelerating climate emergency and the mounting societal challenges of technological hyper-transformation (in particular, AI). the world continues to change at a mind-boggling pace, and confusion reigns.
Once unthinkable climate-emergency measures such as new carbon taxes for aviation or eating meat are increasingly likely, concerned citizens (especially, GenY) around the world push for real change. CEOs are touting their commitments to stakeholder values but many doubt that corporate leadership toward a better future is sincere enough; resulting in a political power-shift that benefits autocratic regimes.
What kind of future do we want? Is our current economic logic even suitable for the future? Will the traditional model of ‘free and open markets’ deliver solutions for these complex global issues? Is this approach fit-for-the-future?
I believe that we must look beyond socialism, capitalism or liberalism and design a new economic logic, and reboot our stock markets as we transition from the suicidal single bottom-line of GDP-growth to what I call the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity. This keynote will dive into my learnings on The Good Future, and show the way forward.
AI is like a general-purpose-technology or the printing press, and it’s the new technology platform, as well. It could be heaven or it could be hell, depending on whether the tools will end up dominating us, or whether human TELOS (the purpose) will prevail. The more power we have, the more wisdom we’ll need! Science fiction is becoming science fact as smart machines – both physical as well as virtual – take on tasks once thought impossible for a digital entity to accomplish. As a result, knowledge work is transforming at a rapid pace, forcing us to reconsider what it means to ‘be human‘ – in our daily life, in our professions and in our organisations.
We must embrace these new possibilities while also preserving and protecting our humanity. We must define new values and goals that transcend increased efficiency or the resulting financial gains. It will be our androrithms, our uniquely human skills and traits that will make us invaluable in this coming age of AI, not only our ability to command technology or to become faster by using it.
In this talk, I guide my audience through what is important (and real) versus what is false (or dangerous) when it comes to AI. I delineate how we can harness the power of AI to further human (and planetary) flourishing, our happiness, our success and our well-being. I set forth why I believe the future holds great promise if we play our cards right and pursue People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity.
The most important future foresights, delivered straight-up yet with optimism and inspiration.
In these confusing times, where AI-infused media is increasingly spreading disinformation and fabricating fake realities, it is essential to learn how to see through the hype and unmask false promises. In this talk, I share my constantly updated list of ‘facts & truths’ about the future, such as:
Why and how the decarbonisation of our economies is the biggest opportunity in this coming decade
‘Digital transformation’ is just business-as usual-by now. The next really big topic is Big Green – the Decarbonisation of our economies and the ‘gradually, then suddenly‘ departure from the fossil-fuel era – and 2024 is when the gloves are coming off.
Get ready: wide-ranging new carbon taxes are inevitable (airlines, meat, personal carbon budgets etc) and fossil fuel subsidies will be turned into ‘nature positive’ investments. During the pandemic we learned that being prepared for emergencies is totally essential – and that yes we can indeed compromise and collaborate (if we have to:)
I set forth that the circular economy is the only economy we’ll have by 2030, and that ‘sustainable’ is becoming the new ‘profitable’ in the next 5 years (have a look at the stakeholder economy debates).
Any company that does not understand how this global move towards rapid decarbonisation will impact every segment of their business – from R&D to supply-chain, to production to distribution to marketing to branding – will wither and shrink or just fade away, and every individual that does not understand what it means as far as knowledge, skills and mindset is concerned, will quickly become dispensable.
In this talk, I explain why this tectonic shift is happening now, what it really means, and how to get behind it and prosper in this fork-in-the-road decade that’s coming up.
What to understand about the immediate future, today
This talk is constantly updated to reflect the latest developments.
How Organizations Can Define and Create Their Preferred Future
While a rising tide lifts all boats, one-sided or blind disruption can capsize any organization. To create enduring, dynamic organizations built to last in today’s era of accelerating exponential technology, the most important thing is foresight and preparedness.
Now, companies and organizations – and their people – find themselves increasingly forced to pivot and reinvent themselves, or face sudden disintermediation and irrelevance. From music to the automotive industry, from big oil to big box retail and everything in between, the pace of change is increasing and only poised to accelerate further as the 3 Revolutions, the 10 Game-Changers and other Megashifts sweep across the industry and society, altering every aspect of daily life.
While organizations unprepared for the waves of change to come will not survive, those that ready themselves can take advantage of the enormous opportunities created amidst the chaos, from IoT and artificial intelligence to robotics and new human-machine interfaces (such as voice-control and intelligent bots).
10 Reasons to be optimistic, 5 Strategies and 3 Actions
For decades, film and TV studios have flooded the public with visions of dystopian futures – no wonder that many people fear AI and robots. Add the streaming platforms, social media, pandemics, (re)globalisation, automation and geopolitical upheaval to the mix, and the result is a widespread belief that the future is mostly bleak (read more about that here).
Yet the fact is that our world is not irrevocably destined to become a dehumanized hellscape ruled by AI, or some other Black-Mirror-like nightmare, and our future certainly isn’t fixed – we create it with our (in)actions, every day. And if you look at the correct data, you’ll find things often are actually better than ever before.
The world is, in fact, improving at a rapid rate. Sure, the world’s progress in the past 30 years is not all just peachy and amazing – especially when seeing it in context with the current corona crisis. Yet we are well on the way of reducing extreme poverty and hunger, and chiselling away at many of the other woes that have plagued humanity since the dawn of time, including diseases, crime and war. Indeed, we have a lot of reasons to be optimistic about our progress. In the next decade, I think we will have most of the tools (i.e. science and technology) we need – so now we must acquire the telos (will, purpose and wisdom).
So what can you do, as an individual, an enterprise or an organisation, to make sure your future will indeed be bright? How will you turn these challenges/opportunities into positive action? If we are (or become) what we believe we can be, how do we change our beliefs and mindsets?
Awesome humans on-top of amazing technology
All too often, scientific breakthroughs, industry hype cycles, the latest technological achievements or economic growth targets dominate discussions about our future. Yet as the world is rapidly going digital and becoming increasingly virtual, I believe it actually is our humanity that needs the most attention, and that it will be our humanness which will make all the difference. The nowthoroughly-deflated hype about the Metaverse makes for a good example: sometimes technology promises to give us everything we’ve ever dreamed of, but ends up giving us little of we really need?
Computers will inevitably outpace humans in mere processing power, logic and efficiency, and the resulting ‘End of Routine’ is a certainty. Thus, the ticket to our future is to become more human, not less, not to compete with the machines but to use their increased competence to handle those tedious commodity tasks better and faster. I think machines, computers and algorithms should have competence not consciousness.
What will happen to humans when machines become truly ‘intelligent’? What about privacy, mystery or serendipity? And what of emotions, intuition, imagination, consciousness (what I call, in my last book, the androrithms)? In this talk, I outline the challenge as well as some possible solutions.
Reminder: The biggest danger today is not that machines will eliminate us, but that we may become too much like them.
Character Traits, Personality, Skills and Attitudes: Your Mindset contains your Future!
While there is no such thing as “knowing the future,” nothing is more important to your future success than your mindset, your intuition, your imagination and your overall future-readiness. Looking at the Future is not about prediction – it’s about being better prepared – and it is something we can learn and practice.
In this popular talk, Gerd explains and shows how to develop your future mindset, how organisations can dramatically increase their future-readiness
The next 10 years will bring more change than the previous 100 years, driving by the 3 revolutions (digital, sustainable, purpose) as well as by simultaneous technological leaps in sectors such as AI, Quantum Computing, Synthetic Biology, Nanotech and Genetic Engineering and others.
Our future could be hell or it could be heaven – it’s our choice!
Science fiction is increasingly becoming science fact. Consider the dramatic technological advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, human genome manipulation, autonomous vehicles, and quantum computing. By 2030, the power of exponential technologies will become
almost limitless!
The ethical and humane use of technology can no longer be an afterthought, but is instead an existential challenge. If we define ethics as “knowing the difference between having the power to do something, and doing the right thing”, who do we want making these critical decisions? Should it be for algorithms and profit incentives alone to determine our fate? Who will be “mission control for humanity”?
To paraphrase Apple’s CEO Tim Cook “Technology can do great things, but it does not want to do great things…it doesn’t want anything” . In a world where technology will increasingly define every aspect of life, who do we want at the helm?
If we define ethics as “knowing the difference between having the right or the power to do something, and doing the right thing”, who, then will decide what is right, and who will be “mission control for humanity”?
Call us or Live Chat Below
Call us or Live Chat Below
Call us or Live Chat Below
Call us or Live Chat Below
Call us or Live Chat Below
"*" indicates required fields
"*" indicates required fields
