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GERD LEONHARD

FUTURIST & HUMANIST | AUTHOR CEO THE FUTURES AGENCY

BOOK SPEAKER

Keynote Speaker Category: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, Futurist, Technological Disruption, Technology,

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Gerd speaks about things that really matter and that he feels passionately about, with a focus on what he calls ‘Practical Wisdom’. His talks often revolve around how we can ensure that collective human flourishing – socially, culturally, spiritually, economically and politically – will remain the focus and the main outcome of all scientific and technological progress.

Immersion, engagement and lasting impact is crucial to his engagements. For bigger venues, he uses screens and LED-walls to project custom-made animations and graphics, video-clips and audio to accompany his presentations. He is equally happy to speak at smaller and more intimate events with or without visuals – as sometimes a great live debate can be just as powerful as any presentation.

Keynotes:

The Great Transformation – A post-corona future: what to expect in the next 3-5 years’

This keynote (usually held remotely) addresses topics such as:

  • The economic and business impact: the future of jobs, work, commerce and trade
  • The geopolitical impact: Europe, the U.S. and China – new power structures?

De-Globalisation?

  • The future of capitalism: stakeholder value over shareholder value: finally, a sustainable capitalism?
  • The environmental impact: how will this crisis impact climate-change action? How real is the ‘end of oil‘?
  • The impact on medical & healthcare: entering warp-drive
  • The societal impact: is technological domination and permanent surveillance next?
  • The personal impact: fears and hopes, solidarity vs. opportunism, resilience vs desperation • The impact on investing: where will the money go?
  • The impact on education, learning and universities (and leadership)

As you may have guessed, this keynote is usually held virtually i.e. as a digital keynote, but in some instances can also be in-person i.e. in ‘real-lif.

As part of this talk, Gerd often present these 4 steps of coping with this crisis:
– focus on survival  – pursue radical collaboration  – become masters of adaptation – pivot and transform

BIOGRAPHY

Over the past two decades, Gerd Leonhard has risen to one of the top 10 futurist keynote speakers worldwide. With over 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 future of humanity and technology, digital ethics, artificial intelligence,

future-leadership and foresights. His keynotes are renowned for their hard-hitting and provocative style – inspiring, humorous, motivational, and always personal. Using cutting-edge creative motion design, Gerd’s performances have become a unique immersive experience on the big screen, reinventing the visual side of the conference industry.

His most popular talk at the moment is ‘The Great Transformation – A post-corona future: what to expect in the next 3-5 years’.  Gerd believes our world is being painfully but irreversibly rebooted by the Covid19 crisis – and we are not ‘going back to normal’.  To many of us, this crisis may feel quite devastating but Gerd believe this also creates a very unique opportunity called ‘The Great Transformation‘.

Gerd is highly regarded as a global influencer and has advised many business leaders and government officials around the globe. His diverse list of clients include governments, NGOs and Fortune 500 companies such as SAP, Microsoft, Google, Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, Sony, UBS, Tetrapak, Mastercard, BBC, Unilever, Lloyds Bank, WWF, Sony, The Guardian, Telkom Indonesia, Siemens, RTL, France Telecom, The Financial Times, Ogilvy, Omnicom, The EU Commission, VISA, Audi, NetAPP 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. His credo is simple: People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity.

Gerd uses his keynotes, presentations, workshops and advisory sessions to deep-dive on complex topics. Recurring themes include the coming redefinition of human-machine relationships, exploring what it means to be human in a world of machines and algorithms, the future of work and jobs, and the ethics of technology. As Gerd likes to say, humanity will change more in the next 20 years than in the previous 300 years – so let’s maintain and protect what makes us human!

Working with Gerd was an excellent experience, and he definitely pushed our executives’ thinking forward. Not only did he outline major technological and societal trends affecting our business, he did so in a way that was engaging and personal.

Adam CarrollInter Public Group

Gerd Leonhard distinguishes from other futurists through his emphasis on the human factor in the story between man and machine. While some focus on predicting what technology will bring soon, he actively searches a positive story for humanity and he clearly sets limits on technology.

Kristoff VandermeerschHR Expo

Eye-opening, thought-provoking, brilliant….. Gerd’s visionary speech challenges the very core of our beliefs, he can link seemingly unrelated trends and deliver a presentation in engaging and entertaining fashion.

Dana Kršaková, Michal IvantyšynITAPA, Slovakia

When you rewind his presentations after a few years, and see it happening in front of your eyes. I had the pleasure to hire Gerd when I was at Pestana Hotel Group, and this specific event reached the highest score ever in 4 decades. Gerd is a pleasure to work.

Nuno Ferreira PiresSPORT.TV

Your presentation was a huge success. You managed to scare delegates to death and give them hope at the same time – quite a feat and exactly what they needed! Thank you also for crafting your ideas so that it tied very directly into our business, rather than being just a rehash.

Clive Viegas BennettMGI Worldwide

Gerd really made a big difference to our event because when he speaks about the future changes, technology, behaviours, he worries about connecting all of these changes with the audience reality, showing that it is possible to succeed, as humans, in this new world. He connects to the audience in a way that we feel that there is space for both humans and technology to live together.

Patricia BastosTetra Pak

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