Gerd Leonhard: Futurist, Humanist, Keynote Speaker: 2025 Topics
THE GOOD FUTURE: People • Purpose • Planet • Peace • Prosperity
I'm a Futurist and Public Thinker, Keynote Speaker, Advisor and Filmmaker - and I have written a few books, including the bestseller 'Technology vs Humanity' (2016). My credo is “People, Planet, Purpose, Peace & Prosperity” and I strive to share essential observations and foresights as well as some practical wisdom with my audiences.
In my talks & presentations, I focus on creating powerful, cinematic and immersive experiences, catalyzing penny-drop moments and sharing actionable narratives 👉 SuperKeynotes
I am an advocate of The Good Future. I take an optimistic, hopeful, practical view of the future. Imagine, envision – and then create the Future!

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Protopia: Building The Good Future: Yes we can! Futurist Gerd Leonhard's powerful online keynote

The future is not written—it’s a choice. In this talk, I explore why #thegoodfuture is entirely possible and how we can build it—step by step, painfully, but surely. #protopia not dystopia @KevinKelly From solving climate change to wrestling with the rise of artificial intelligence, the next ten years will bring more change than the last 100 years. Will we let technology dictate our destiny, or will we use wisdom, ethics, Telos, and collaboration to shape a future worth living in? We’re standi

I often take a meta-level view of the next 10 years, covering many different domains such as society, policy, business, technology (in particular, artificial intelligence), climate change + green futures, the future of jobs, work and education, learning, and human resources.
My keynotes can be held online, i.e., virtually, as well, using my unique and very popular keynote television approach. All talks are usually deeply customized for every client and their audience.
New topics currently in preparation:
Intelligence vs Consciousness: AI and the Future of Humanity
Chatbots and generative AI: my experiences
Love thE Future? What? Why? How? A branding guide
Please have a look at my essential topics below or fish for my best video quotes via NoteBookLM. Try my ChatGPT bot ​here. If desired, please ​reach out to me directly​ to discuss a possible collaboration.
2025: Emergencies and Opportunities
The year 2025 isn't just pivotal – it's the stage for a new world order. The ‘New USA' has plunged global diplomacy and economics into chaos, establishing misinformation and intimidation as cornerstones of global interaction. What happens if truth is negotiable, political issues are tested on social media, and established diplomatic procedure is upended? As longstanding alliances strain and trust erodes, the critical question emerges: how long before democracy fractures even more, and what comes next? Which opportunities may result from this crisis (such as the USofE)? Simultaneously, the climate emergency is no longer just a potential threat— it's here, now; devastatingly real and relentless. And if that's not enough, while humanity could potentially prosper with the wide availability of amazing AI tools, we must also face the very real threats of Artificial General Intelligence (our last invention?). Will AGI elevate humanity to unprecedented heights, or swiftly render us irrelevant? The fight for The Good Future is ON – and this keynote will show the way forward.

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Emergencies & Opportunities: 2025 is a fighting year! New speaking topic.

2025 Emergencies and Opportunities #futurist Gerd Leonhard's new speaking topic see https://futuristgerd.com/topic:emergencies *version 2 NEW: Spanish Dub Version https://youtu.be/KplORivoUFM?si=WFdQY85uSsnvOfO_ NEW: Spanish Dub Version using @Rask_ai https://youtu.be/q7QYeHQ06lw?si=fk16jaLqc29-Gcgr 00:00 Introduction: 2025: Emergencies and Opportunities 00:14 The 'New USA': a New World Order 01:21 Climate Emergency 02:32 Artificial General Intelligence 04:05 Humanity's Future: Collaboratio

The Good Future?
Our world is changing faster than ever, fueled by deep geopolitical shifts, long-standing, complex conflicts and regional wars, the accelerating climate emergency, the mind-boggling pace of technological transformation, and the confusion that comes with the meteoric rise of AI. What used to be unthinkable or deemed impossible is quickly becoming the new normal, and science fiction is increasingly becoming science fact. The excitement about amazing new tech is real, but worries about the future are also at an all-time high. So how could we reset, i.e., rebrand the future as ‘good'? How could it become a reality? How can humanity go beyond the amazing science and the cool tools towards more collaboration and TELOS? I believe that The Good Future is real and attainable – and I'm ready to explore it with you!

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The Good Future? Technology & Humanity. Immersive, wide-screen keynote by #futurist Gerd Leonhard

Here is a really special keynote from this year's Spark event presented by @CapgeminiGlobal see https://www.capgeminispark.com/ (a huge thanks to Cap Gemini for inviting me, and for making this video available). In this super-wide screen presentation (I now call them #superkeynote) I make my argument for why the future is better than we think, and how we can get there. I cover my key topics such as #thegoodfuture #techvshuman and of course, needless to say, #artificialintelligence. 00:00 -

DIGITAL LABOR: AI AGENTS, AUTOMATION: THE FUTURE OF WORK
Why ‘Smart’ Machines Still Can’t Replace You
Digital Labor (Salesforce's definition: “A digital workforce of intelligent AI agents that augments the human workforce, and transforms the way work gets done”) is all the rage: Swarms of AI agents poised to tackle all the routine work that once bogged down human time and productivity. From drafting simple contracts and NDAs to interpreting scans and MRIs, hundreds of vendors are painting a utopia where drudge tasks vanish, productivity soars, and boardrooms celebrate a future with a lot less “expensive” (and pesky) humans. My hunch is that behind the glossy demos and the “frontier firm” pitches lies a techno-optimistic reductionism: swap flesh-and-blood employees for lines of code, automate oversight, ethics and authenticity into oblivion, and watch more profits funnel into the corporate coffers.
But of course, in real life, many so-called commodity tasks demand embodied judgment, social nuance, holistic understanding, and contextual awareness—capabilities that – being devoid of agency and consciousness – no algorithm can reliably emulate. When today’s glitchy chatbots can barely book a meeting without crashing, the dream of wholesale human replacement feels more like a pipe dream than a panacea. But, yes: will that change, and when?
We must ask: Who benefits when “ the full automation of the economy” becomes more than a Silicon Valley VC fad? If real intelligence is social, embodied, and holistic, then “machine smartness” is merely a power tool—useful, yes – but unthinking, unaware, and uncaring. And let's remember that the race toward AGI isn't really about business innovation; rather, it increasingly looks more like an arms race in which investors and super-funded startup CEOs dream of human labor as an obsolete line item in a pitch deck. So: Before our jobs—and our dignity—become disposable commodities, I think it’s time to insist that the spoils of “post-labor prosperity” (whatever that is) be shared, not annexed or hoarded. Let’s resist this digital coup against the very concept of work…and remind our new AI wranglers that consciousness, not code, remains uniquely human.

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The Rise of AI and Digital Labor: Will humans still be needed?

#superkeynote on Future of Digital Labor: AI, Automation, and Human Impact This is thedited version of my #livestream show from June 12, 2025, on Digital Labor, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Au-1Af304 (this version includes the q&a session as well) #futurist #thegoodfuture #futureofwork In this fast-moving #keynotetelevision - style presentation, I explore the transformative impact of so-called "digital labor" driven by artificial intelligence (AI). I discuss the shift from human to

Beyond AI: What really matters in technology & society by 2030
THINK LARGER. IMAGINE. PREPARE.
AI is now a general-purpose technology, and the platform ‘for everything' – yet AI is clearly not the panacea or the magic wand many entrepreneurs, tech moguls, and Silicon Valley investors have envisioned. It's time to look beyond AI. While we certainly need to get ready for the 5 hyper-exponential technological game-changers (quantum computing, nuclear fusion, synthetic biology & nano-technology, genome editing, and geo-engineering) we also need to ask this crucial question: What kind of future do we want? In this talk, I outline what to expect by 2030, while correlating the technological breakthroughs with wider societal developments such as the rapidly accelerating climate emergency, technology regulation, global governance and global consciousness, the rise of Gen Y & Z, global demographics and various important geopolitical mega-trends.

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Why the next 5 years will break or remake humanity (Futurist Gerd Leonhard)

What if our obsession with profit is sabotaging our very survival? In this no-holds-barred video culled from a June 2025 interview in AbuDhabi, I explain why we need to shift from the outdated operating system of "profit and growth" to the new paradigm of what I call the 5Ps Economy: People, Planet, Purpose, Prosperity, and Peace, see #peopleplanetpurposeprosperity NEW: SPANISH DUB: https://youtu.be/wMg5leAsm1g?si=FEInqGNfi-LStPr_ I also touch on these topics: 🤖 Is AI our greatest servant—or

Examining Techno-Optimism
Too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing!
Techno-Optimism (often coupled with accelerationism) is the increasingly popular belief that leaps in science – and the corresponding exponential advances in technology – can solve most if not all societal problems and that all technological progress will enhance human well-being. Therefore, it is important not to get in the way of technology unfolding at the fastest possible rate.
Proponents of Techno-Optimism such as the famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen assert that technology is the primary driver of growth and prosperity, advocating for a dramatically accelerated approach to technological development, in particular in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). In contrast, I caution against this often cult-like approach to technology's importance, its over-reliance on data and computing, deep learning, and ‘intelligent machines’, downplaying the drawbacks such as an increasing loss of trust in each other, disinformation (such as with social media), job displacement, privacy concerns, deep surveillance, and the very real outcome of general reductionism and dehumanization.
Transcending the AI debate, I explain why we need a balanced perspective that considers both the super-exciting potential benefits and the likely devastating unintended or unplanned consequences of rapid technological progress, arguing for a more holistic approach that goes beyond mere economic or geopolitical power gains. Our views on what technology should or should not do are becoming crucial as we head into a future where AI is at the center of ‘everything, everywhere ‘ – as many major players such as OpenAI seek to invent machines that are generally intelligent and capable of reasoning, surpassing human capabilities in all relevant tasks (HaltAGI presentation).
In this talk, I also dive into why I remain optimistic and explain that while ‘embracing technology' will be crucial for making The Good Future a reality, I also think we must reiterate the urgent need for collaboration and create incentives to do the right thing (i.e., to pursue people, planet, purpose, and prosperity, not just profit and growth). Exponential technological gains alone are not enough – we must develop science and technology while we pursue humanity at the same time.  The Future is amazing humans on top of awesome technology!

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The convergence of humans & machines? Artificial General Intelligence? Singularity? Digital Humans?

Futurist Gerd Leonhard presents a powerful 10-minute summary on #virtualreality, #artificialintelligence Digital Humans, Synthetic Media, the #singularity and more. The key question is no longer what we CAN be, but what we WANT TO BE. Watch Gerd's new film #lookupnowthefilm at www.lookupnow.tv and #thegoodfuture https://www.futuristgerd.com/sharing/thegoodfuturefilm/ #techvshuman #futurist New: Spanish Dub Version using @Rask_ai here: https://youtu.be/SYeyXoDbYnk?si=8MIp_dTRWaTxt64v - gi

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AGI… AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
AI is now a general-purpose technology like fire or the printing press, and it's a new technology platform as well. It could be heaven, or it could be hell, depending on whether the tools will dominate us, or whether human telos (the purpose) will prevail. The more power we have, the more wisdom we'll need! And that's true no matter whether we will pursue AGI, or not.
Science fiction is increasingly becoming science fact as smart machines – both physical and virtual – take on more 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 organizations. What will happen if and when machines become ‘ generally intelligent‘?
We must embrace these new possibilities while also preserving and protecting our humanity. We need proaction and precaution. We must define new values and goals that transcend increased efficiency or the resulting financial gains. I think it will be our androrithms, our uniquely human skills and traits that will make us invaluable in this coming age of AI, not just our ability to command technology or to become faster by using it (or even to merge with it).
In this customized talk, I guide my audience through what is important (and real) versus what is utopia or plain false (or dangerous) when it comes to AI. I delineate how we can harness the power of AI to further human (and planetary) flourishing, happiness, success, and 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.

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Immersive keynote on artificial intelligence, learning and education (Gerd Leonhard)

This is a special post-event edit of my full-lenght keynote at the Sharjah International Summit in the UAE Feb 24 2025 I explore the convergence of humans and machines, highlighting the digital, sustainability, and purpose revolutions shaping our future. I discuss the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) as a general-purpose technology. I explain that while AI enhances efficiency and capabilities in various fields, it lacks emotional and cultural understanding - and imho, it shou

HOW CAN WE TRUST EACH OTHER AGAIN?
Trust is the glue that holds societies together
…but in the past decade, it’s been dissolving at an alarming rate. Trust in government, public organizations, media, and even in each other has eroded. ‘ Too much technology’ might be at least partly responsible, as we increasingly spend more time with screens (and soon, AIs?) than with people, and our news is now fed to us by social media algorithms designed not to inform, but to generate the most clicks.
It turns out that ‘more technology’ does not inspire more collaboration and understanding; instead, it fuels mistrust and fear. As a result, democracy is in decline, while authoritarian and populist leaders gain ground. Is democracy likely to die in a digital-first world?
We’re already struggling with these issues today (in 2025) but what will happen when AI—specifically AI Agenting and AI Search—really takes off? When virtual reality, spatial computing, and the metaverse become as common as WhatsApp, will we remain trapped in our dystopian obsession, or can we steer technology toward Protopia—a world where progress, growth, and trust coexist?
I think we must reclaim trust—not just in institutions, but in each other. That starts with a **new narrative**—one that reminds us why humans can be trusted and why a Good Future is entirely possible. But it doesn’t stop there. We must also take action: Reboot social media to prioritize truth and meaningful discourse over outrage and engagement. Rekindle public media to provide independent, trustworthy journalism. Regulate AI to ensure it enhances humanity rather than ending up dehumanizing us.
In this brand-new keynote, I first analyze what is happening, then share my key foresights for the next five years, and finally, propose concrete actions for rebuilding trust.
“We are to be architects of the future, not its victims.” Buckminster Fuller

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Rebooting 2025: TRUST ISN'T DIGITAL. Humans CAN collaborate.

In this fast-paced video that features some new AI-generated backgrounds and animations, I first explore the diminishing trust among people in today's tech-driven world, and the fact that many GenY/Z humans think that the future is bleak. Yet contrary to the prevalent belief that humans are inherently selfish and untrustworthy, I argue that history provides numerous examples of successful collaboration, from controlling nuclear weapon proliferation to eradicating smallpox to the Paris climate ag

THE GOOD FUTURE – WHY IT'S REAL, AND HOW TO DESIGN IT
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 for eating meat) are increasingly likely, concerned citizens (especially the Gen Y) around the world will 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, and/or liberalism to 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 latest learnings on The Good Future, and help show the way forward.
Watch my Good Future films and videos here.

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Navigating the Good Future: Understanding the Role of AI in Shaping Our World

In this video, I explore a key topic in my work: #thegoodfuture and investigate how technology, business and science can be harnessed to create a positive future. The discussion delves into the nature of exponential technology and the critical need for ethical frameworks and standards to guide its use. Highlighting the limitations of machines—such as the absence of compassion, common sense, and ethical understanding—I emphasize the irreplaceable value of human judgment and creativity. I tou

SYNTHETIC EVERYTHING: THE ALGORITHMIC SOCIETY?
REHUMANIZE AND THRIVE!
Artificial Intelligence can generate media and content that is nearly indistinguishable from human creations – at least when consumed quickly or on small devices. Globally, some 50% of consumers already get their ‘news' from social media and various mobile/video platforms that are essentially programmed by AI, with very little human supervision. The Internet is bound to change forever, with AI at the helm. Manufactured and fake narratives are certain to lead to stock market disruptions and railroad political decisions and elections.
Augmented and virtual reality, the metaverse, as well as spatial computing (see Apple's Vision Pro) will soon allow us to transcend spatial (and thus, human) limitations and literally be anywhere, anything, anytime, with anyone. But if most content/media/narrative is synthetic, i.e., generated by algorithms, and most decisions are made by algorithms (trivial or more essential alike), and AI's ‘black box' extends over most of our daily activities, how will we retain what makes us human? How can we still connect to each other in real life? What will happen to democracy? How will we pursue real happiness and deal with the increasing loneliness syndrome? Gerd will outline what may happen in the near future and suggest ways that the trend towards dehumanization could be halted, how exponential technologies could be deployed more wisely, and generally, why human connectedness is so essential. “Algorithms know the value of everything but the feeling of nothing.”

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Synthetic Everything: The Future of Social Media, AI & VR?

This an edit from my keynote at the 2024 HOAG lecture (online) see https://youtu.be/vstfBQS4INM?si=VCkeJaokuzq23X1o for the entire event. In the future of digital media, more and more synthetic realities are being created. For many 13-year-old girls on Instagram, theri reality is shaped by 'influencers', leading to a manufactured, artificial perception of the world. Artificial intelligence is now increasingly used to quickly produce synthetic (or indeed, hybrid) content, but the authenticity an

THE 10 ESSENTIAL FACTS ABOUT THE FUTURE
The most important future foresight, delivered straight up yet with optimism and inspiration
In these confusing times, where AI-infused media is constantly 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 continuously updated list of ‘facts & truths' about the future, such as:
  • Science and technology alone will not save us – we need the tools AND we need the TELOS!
  • Understanding the future is both an art and a science. Imagination & intuition beat knowledge.
  • AI tools are fundamentally labor-replacing, and we must prepare accordingly.
  • Transcending our human limitations by technological means will not make us fundamentally happier. Transhumanism is a dead end.
  • Until we change our reasons (the purpose), we won’t change our actions (and the resulting problems): We need to rethink our economic logic.
  • A technology-centric, reductionist approach to dealing with human realities will inevitably fail.
  • When it's about ‘intelligent digital entities', we should focus on competence (IA), not on consciousness (AGI)

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Navigating the Future: A Blueprint for Technology and Humanity

In this hard-hitting presentation at IBM's Tech Recognition event in Dubai, March 5 & 6, 2024, I talked about the critical importance of optimism about the future, not because we have less problems, but because our enhanced capabilities to solve them through technology AND the right policies and ethical frameworks. #thegoodfuture PORTUGUESE DUB: https://youtu.be/8PEuLYHwJRk?si=67qkXFzy0LjNB3bv NEW: Spanish Dub https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3U-QAzrObY NEW: GERMAN Dub: https://youtu.be/F04Rv

THE FUTURE OF WORK, JOBS, EDUCATION & TRAINING
Awesome humans on top of amazing technology!
All too often, scientific breakthroughs, industry hype cycles, the latest technological achievements or economic growth agendas dominate discussions about our future. Yet, as the world is rapidly going digital and becoming increasingly virtual, I believe it is our humanity – our androrithms – that needs the most attention. It will be our humanness which will make all the difference, not just our technology. 2021's hype about the Metaverse is a good example: sometimes technology promises to give us everything we've ever dreamt of but ends up giving us little of what we really need.
Computers will inevitably outpace humans in mere processing power, logic, and efficiency, and the 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. Yet I believe that machines, computers, and algorithms should have competence, not consciousness.
What will happen to humans when machines become truly intelligent – or even ‘super-intelligent'? What about privacy, mystery, or serendipity? What about emotions, intuition, imagination, and human agency? In this talk, I outline the challenges and present new ideas and feasible solutions.
Reminder: The biggest danger today is not that machines will eliminate us, but that we may become too much like them!

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Navigating the Future: AI in the Legal Profession | Gerd Leonhard SuperKeynote 2025: Live in Athens

Thanks to Nomiki Bibliotiki@nblearning for inviting me. This is my complete keynote in Athens, on July 3, 2025. This recording was edited after the event to make it more visually appealing. :: Dubbed in SPANISH using @Rask_ai : https://youtu.be/dL03UuXXVRE?si=Ipx3uef4x59ikoRY :: Dubbed in Greek using the amazing @Rask_ai : https://youtu.be/OLMxGPh0jno?si=Ua_swe2DBVgSFeOM 🔮 Navigating the Future: AI in the Legal Profession | Gerd Leonhard in Athens. This is not just a talk — it's a call to act

GERD'S KEY FORESIGHTS: THE NEXT 10 YEARS
What to understand about the future, today – how to be better prepared
  • Exponential technological change: It could be heaven, or it could be hell. What you should expect regarding regulation and policies, and why Digital Ethics is existential.
  • IA (intelligent assistance) versus AI versus HI (human intelligence). Why using AI is really all about competence, not consciousness, and why AGI might pose a serious conundrum.
  • Virtuality: AR/MR/VR, the Metaverse and Apple's Vision Pro: opportunity versus hype versus feasibility
  • A new capitalism? Examining the coming shift beyond GDP / Profit & Growth towards the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity.
  • The Sustainability Revolution: Big Blue/Tech + Big Green = Big Future (Green is the new Digital).
  • The coming human renaissance: rebooting education, training, learning, and HR. Life with/after automation and AI. Why humans will still matter!
  • Don't mistake a clear view for a short distance. A reality check on ‘big promises' such as GenerativeAI, self-driving, i.e., autonomous vehicles, NLP/computer language comprehension etc.
  • The coming convergence of biology and technology, rebooting healthcare, pharma, and life sciences.
This talk is constantly updated to reflect the latest developments.

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The next 10 years: Why #thegoodfuture is entirely possible

This is an edited recording of a pretty hard-hitting (imho:) and immersive widescreen keynote at Spark Europe 2024 in Versailles see https://spark-europe.capgemini.com/. Thanks to @CapgeminiGlobal for hosting me and for making this video available! My talk is about #thegoodfuture and how we can design and build it, together. With the rise of #artificialintelligence (and the quickly approaching AGI scenarios) we stand at an extraordinary junction where almost anything seems possible - and this

THE 3 REVOLUTIONS: ARE YOU READY?
The next 10 years will bring more change than the previous 100 years.
We are warp-driving into a future, characterized by the 3 Revolutions: The Digital Revolution (including AI), the Green Revolution (sustainability & decarbonization), and the Purpose Revolution (a new economic logic, and ‘beyond GDP', based on what I call People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity, the 5Ps). Big Blue, Big Green, Big Purple
If indeed “the future belongs to those who can hear it coming” we would do well to develop a future mindset, question our assumptions about what's possible, and boost our ability to better respond to the framework changes (not just to the individual pictures).
The future is no longer about tomorrow – the future is already here; we are just not paying enough attention yet! By 2030, we will have approx. 9 billion people connected at high speeds and very low cost. Virtual/augmented reality will be as normal as WhatsApp. Conversational AI and natural interfaces will be how we interact with computers, and the rapid convergence of online, virtual, and real-life physical worlds will upend how we do everything, from working to traveling to shopping to healthcare to banking.
The power of exponential, general-purpose technologies such as AI and VR will become almost limitless – which is why we must start focusing NOW on remaining human. Ethics and values will become the new product (reminder: green is already the new digital).

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Decoding 2023: The Three Revolutions that will define our Future, by Futurist Humanist Gerd Leonhard

#futurist Gerd Leonhard explains the 3 revolutions that are now happening simultaneously: the digital revolution, the sustainable revolution and the #purpose revolution. In many ways, 2023 is a bit like 1968: a moment of deep pivoting in how the world works. The old isms such as #capitalism or #socialism are becoming useless - the only thing that matters is whether we can create a new economic logic, a new OS, that's fit for the future, and how we will develop our #futuremindset #techvshuman

GREEN IS THE NEW DIGITAL, SUSTAINABLE THE NEW PROFITABLE.
Why and how the decarbonization of our economies is the biggest opportunity in this coming decade
Digital transformation is just business as usual. The next massive topic is Big Green: the decarbonization of our economies and the gradually-then-suddenly departure from the fossil fuel era. 2024 will be 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 turn into nature-positive investments. During the pandemic, we learned that being prepared for emergencies is essential – and that yes, we can indeed compromise and collaborate (if we must).
I set forth that the circular economy will be the only economy 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 decarbonization will impact every segment of their business (from R&D to supply chain, from production to distribution, from marketing to branding), will wither and fade away. Those who don't understand what knowledge, skills, and mindset mean, will quickly become dispensable.
In this talk, I explain why this tectonic shift is happening now, what it means, and how to get behind it and prosper in this fork-in-the-road decade which is coming up. Related: Watch this short film.

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Big Green - The Sustainability Revolution. #futuristgerd #climatechange

A short excerpt from my keynote @futuristoftheyear in Warsaw last week, see https://youtu.be/6pEIVeYXEvY?si=-Zlx-_B8oY-chevA for the entire keynote This clip discusses the significant shift from fossil fuels to renewables and nuclear fusion, aiming to solve the energy problem within ten years. It mentions the impact on every product, upcoming emergency regulations due to climate change, including carbon taxes on flying and meat consumption, but expresses optimism that the issue is solvable thro

WHY AND HOW THE FUTURE IS BETTER THAN WE THINK
10 Reasons to be Optimistic, 5 Strategies and 3 Actions
For decades, film and TV studios have flooded the public with visions of a dystopian future. It's no wonder that people fear AI and robots. Add the streaming platforms, social media, pandemics, (re)globalization, 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.
The fact is: Our world is not irrevocably destined to become a dehumanized hellscape ruled by AI, or some other Black-Mirror-like nightmare. Our future certainly isn’t fixed – we create it with our (in)actions, every day. If you look at the correct data, you’ll find things often are better than ever before.
The world is improving at a rapid rate. Sure, the world’s progress in the past 30 years is not all peachy and amazing – especially when seen in context with the Corona crisis in 2020. Yet, we are well on the way to reducing extreme poverty and hunger and chiseling 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 we need (science and technology). Now we must acquire the TELOS (will, purpose, and wisdom).
So what can you do, as an individual, an enterprise, or an organization, to make sure your future will indeed be bright? How will you turn these challenges/opportunities into positive action? If we are (or are to become) what we believe we can be, how do we change our beliefs and mindsets?

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The Future is better than we think: Highlights from a recent keynote

This is a compilation of highlights from my recent keynote at a Thomson Reuters Pebble Beach, CA, event in May 2024. In this thought-provoking and immersive, wide-screen talk, I explored the future of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity. Drawing insights from futurists like Kevin Kelly and media philosophers like Marshall McLuhan, I discuss the transformative power of AI, its potential to increase global GDP, and the new forms of work it will create. I delve into the concepts of

THE FUTURE-READY MINDSET
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. That's something we can learn and practice.
In this popular talk, Gerd explains and shows how to develop the future mindset, and how organizations can dramatically increase their future-readiness.
The next 10 years will bring more change than the previous 100 years: driven 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.
Related videos: here (virtual), playlist here.

04:45

YouTube

Your mindset contains your future! Don't give up on optimism. Despite everything!

Explore the frontier of technological innovation with futurist Gerd Leonhard as he unveils an inspiring vision of the future in this enlightening video. Gerd provides a profound analysis on how AI and other cutting-edge technologies can solve pressing global issues such as climate change, energy scarcity, and global health crises. He stresses the importance of harnessing technology to augment human potential while safeguarding our core values and essence. Drawing from his deep expertise and ins

DIGITAL ETHICS AND THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY
Our future could be heaven, or it could be hell – 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 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 to make these critical decisions? Should it be the algorithms and profit incentives that 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 will decide what is right, and who will be “mission control for humanity”?

17:33

YouTube

Must-watch! The Good Future: Futurist Gerd Leonhard's Riveting 2023 TedX Talk. Technology & Humanity

This is an edited version of my June 10, 2023, TEDx talk in Cluj, Romania, with much improved sound and various oohs and ahs removed using the amazing @Descript app. The original TEDx version is here https://youtu.be/B1Fx8LKgQ70?si=4JJU03Qa3pUhmpHD. Leading Futurist Gerd Leonhard presents a riveting talk on the future of technology, artificial intelligence, jobs, work, and education. In this talk, Gerd outlines why too much of a good thing (such as exponential technologies) can be a very bad t

NEW 2025 TOPIC: Intelligence vs Consciousness: Preserving Humanity in the coming era of AGI
Just because we could does not mean we should!
This talk discusses the difference between intelligence (doing) and consciousness (being). It explores the tensions between technological possibility, desirability (purpose), and moral responsibility. It warns that in our rush to create super-intelligent machines, we risk forgoing what I call “the art of being human,” and fall prey to techno-optimistic reductionism and obsessive cognitive offloading. This talk fits squarely into the current AGI debate, proposing that we ask a deeper question: Are we building AGI to ensure human / planetary flourishing and to extend human values—or to replace human agency and to build ‘digital humans'? Maybe intelligence can be coded but consciousness…not? Wisdom, in my lens, lies in choosing what should be automated, augmented, or virtualized—and what should remain sacred. AI intelligence might be a good thing, but conscious AIs would be a terrible mistake.

Twitter

The Futures Agency on Twitter / X

@gleonhard says that machines are getting smarter at a very rapid rate fuelled by #AI #IoT #quantumcomputing etc. and we will need #purpose as well as #consciousness to grow rapidly as well. Watch the full video on Youtube: https://t.co/DMGhtw9tzt pic.twitter.com/GGvNisIwOT— The Futures Agency (@futuresagency) July 16, 2022

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NOTE: Special rates are sometimes available for established NGOs and government organizations.
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Gerd is a Futurist and a Humanist, a leading global keynote speaker (on-stage as well as virtually), the author of 5 books including ‘Technology vs. Humanity’, and a filmmaker. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in London, and the CEO of The Futures Agency in Zürich, Switzerland. People, Planet, Purpose, Peace, and Prosperity is Gerd's credo, and The Good Future is his passion.
What ChatGPT says about Gerd (watch out for hallucinations :)
"Gerd Leonhard is a Swiss-German futurist, humanist, and keynote speaker known worldwide for his sharp, bold, and inspiring insights into the future of technology, humanity, and ethics. With a background in music and business, Gerd brings a uniquely creative lens to the often complex and technical world of exponential change. Over the past two decades, he has become a globally recognized voice on topics such as digital transformation, AI, climate change, and what he calls “the future of humanity in a tech-driven world.”
What sets Leonhard apart is his deep concern for maintaining a human-centric approach in the face of rapid technological evolution. While many voices in futurism lean heavily toward techno-optimism or dystopian warnings, Gerd advocates for what he calls “the wise use of technology.” He coined terms like “HellVen” to describe the duality of future scenarios—where things can either go to hell or be heavenly, depending on the choices we make today. His work consistently calls for a balance between human values and technological progress, urging policymakers, business leaders, and society at large to steer toward ethical innovation.
Through his firm, The Futures Agency, Gerd advises governments, Fortune 500 companies, and NGOs on future preparedness and strategic foresight. He’s authored several books, including “Technology vs. Humanity”, and has delivered over 1,500 keynotes across 50+ countries. His work is both philosophical and practical, often accompanied by visually stunning presentations and thought-provoking narratives that challenge audiences to rethink their assumptions. In a world racing toward automation and algorithms, Gerd Leonhard is a rare voice reminding us that the future is still human—if we choose to make it so."