Mike Walsh
Top Business Futurist and Authority on Innovation, Technology and Emerging Markets: “The Futurist for Leaders”
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $23,000–$38,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: New York
Mike Walsh is the CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing business for the 21st century. He advises leaders on how to thrive in this era of disruptive technological change. Rather than focusing on the distant future, Mike focuses on the next five years – scanning the near horizon for disruptive technologies and consumer innovations on the verge of hitting critical mass – then translating these into usable business strategies. As a global nomad, speaker and consumer trend scout, Walsh brings a truly global perspective to every event.
Mike Walsh is the CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing business for the 21st century. He advises leaders on how to thrive in this era of disruptive technological change. Mike’s clients include many of the global Fortune 500, and as a sought-after keynote speaker he regularly shares the stage with world leaders and business icons alike. MIke is currently a board member and strategic investor in the North Alliance, Scandinavia’s leading digital marketing group. Mike’s best-selling book FUTURETAINMENT, published by Phaidon, was the winner of the design award by the Art Director’s Club in New York.
Rather than focusing on the distant future, Mike takes an anthropological approach – scanning the near horizon for emerging technologies and disruptive shifts in human behavior, and then translating these into pragmatic plans for business transformation. A prolific writer and commentator, Mike’s views have appeared in a wide range of international publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
Constantly traveling the world for the best ideas, Mike spends more than 300 days a year on the road interviewing innovators, entrepreneurs and corporate revolutionaries to provide his clients and audiences with a fresh and compelling vision of tomorrow’s opportunities.
Mike has been a pioneer in the digital space since the 1990s, running both successful start-up ventures as well as holding senior leadership positions in established media organizations. With a background in corporate law and management consulting, he began his career at XT3, a spin out from McKinsey and one of the first digital consulting firms created to help major companies embrace the embryonic Web. During the first dotcom boom, Mike launched the technology publishing group internet.com in Australia, which went on to become the leading local technology news and events platform in the country.
He also founded and ran Jupiter Research in the Asia Pacific, one of the first research agencies to track the early adoption of e-commerce and digital business models by online consumers. During this period, he was recognized as one of Australia’s “Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30.”
After his experiences in the Web space, Mike spent five years in senior strategy roles at News Corporation where he helped shape the digital strategy for both their Australian newspaper and Asian TV divisions. Directly engaged by the CEO of Star TV to provide the company with a digital roadmap for their operations, he began his in-depth research into the fast growth markets of Asia.
While in Hong Kong and inspired by the dramatic changes taking place in China and India, Mike founded his latest venture, Tomorrow - an innovation research lab focused on emerging technology and disruptive consumer behavior. Always in demand for his fresh insights and practical future-focused strategies, Mike has advised the CEOs and senior management teams at multinational companies including: the BBC, Fujifilm, Richemont, MSN, Star TV, Televisa, Philips, and HSBC.
Mike Walsh’s book The Dictionary of Dangerous Ideas is a “definitive briefing on the 88 most important scientific breakthroughs, emerging technologies and disruptive business models - all with the potential to shake the foundations of the world we know”. Mike’s best-selling book FUTURETAINMENT, won the design award by Art Director’s Club in New York. As a global nomad and consumer trend scout, Mike is in the trenches, with big corporations and entrepreneurs all over the world bringing a global perspective to every event. His newest book, The Algorithmic Leader: How to be smart when machines are smarter than you, contains 10 principles for 21st century leaders on how to survive and thrive in a world changed by AI, automation and algorithms.
As a global nomad and consumer trend scout, Mike does live research, in the trenches, with big corporations and entrepreneurs all over the world bringing a truly global perspective to every event.
Rather than focusing on the distant future, Mike takes an anthropological approach – scanning the near horizon for emerging technologies and disruptive shifts in human behavior, and then translating these into pragmatic plans for business transformation. A prolific writer and commentator, Mike’s views have appeared in a wide range of international publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
Constantly traveling the world for the best ideas, Mike spends more than 300 days a year on the road interviewing innovators, entrepreneurs and corporate revolutionaries to provide his clients and audiences with a fresh and compelling vision of tomorrow’s opportunities.
Mike has been a pioneer in the digital space since the 1990s, running both successful start-up ventures as well as holding senior leadership positions in established media organizations. With a background in corporate law and management consulting, he began his career at XT3, a spin out from McKinsey and one of the first digital consulting firms created to help major companies embrace the embryonic Web. During the first dotcom boom, Mike launched the technology publishing group internet.com in Australia, which went on to become the leading local technology news and events platform in the country.
He also founded and ran Jupiter Research in the Asia Pacific, one of the first research agencies to track the early adoption of e-commerce and digital business models by online consumers. During this period, he was recognized as one of Australia’s “Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30.”
After his experiences in the Web space, Mike spent five years in senior strategy roles at News Corporation where he helped shape the digital strategy for both their Australian newspaper and Asian TV divisions. Directly engaged by the CEO of Star TV to provide the company with a digital roadmap for their operations, he began his in-depth research into the fast growth markets of Asia.
While in Hong Kong and inspired by the dramatic changes taking place in China and India, Mike founded his latest venture, Tomorrow - an innovation research lab focused on emerging technology and disruptive consumer behavior. Always in demand for his fresh insights and practical future-focused strategies, Mike has advised the CEOs and senior management teams at multinational companies including: the BBC, Fujifilm, Richemont, MSN, Star TV, Televisa, Philips, and HSBC.
Mike Walsh’s book The Dictionary of Dangerous Ideas is a “definitive briefing on the 88 most important scientific breakthroughs, emerging technologies and disruptive business models - all with the potential to shake the foundations of the world we know”. Mike’s best-selling book FUTURETAINMENT, won the design award by Art Director’s Club in New York. As a global nomad and consumer trend scout, Mike is in the trenches, with big corporations and entrepreneurs all over the world bringing a global perspective to every event. His newest book, The Algorithmic Leader: How to be smart when machines are smarter than you, contains 10 principles for 21st century leaders on how to survive and thrive in a world changed by AI, automation and algorithms.
As a global nomad and consumer trend scout, Mike does live research, in the trenches, with big corporations and entrepreneurs all over the world bringing a truly global perspective to every event.
- The Future Favors the Bold
Now is the time for transformational leadership. Customers are changing, generational priorities are shifting, and industries are being reshaped by the collision of AI and data-driven business models. In this new world, only organizations willing to adapt, experiment and embrace learning at scale will succeed.
There is nothing inevitable about progress. The status quo is the path of least resistance. A better, brighter future is the direct result of radical reinvention not incremental improvement. Too often we fail to commit energy and resources to the real drivers of difference: projects that depart from the norm, products or services that never existed before, and technologies combined in new and unexpected ways.
Transformation is a path not a plan. It could be the courageous decision to back a provocative idea from an unexpected source or the recognition that a broken rule might be a smarter way of doing things. It could be as big as merging with a disruptive competitor or as simple as hiring someone whose thinking challenges what you know to be true. The future is not an upgrade on the familiar, it is a world built by the bold.
Based on Mike Walsh’s extensive research into the habits and mindsets of the world’s most dynamic organizations and leaders, this keynote will not only inspire your teams to embrace a new approach to change but will also empower them with a robust set of next actions personalized for their specific challenges, pain points and growth opportunities.
In this keynote, attendees will learn:
• The bold believe that 'more is different' not 'less is more'
• The bold believe that failure is free, and success is expensive
• The bold have a bias for action, even when the future is uncertain - New Rules for a New World
COVID-19 is not only changing our way of life, it will hasten the arrival of a radical new future of work. While for many of us working from home has been a new and unexpected challenge - that is just the start of a much bigger transformation set to reshape the nature of business itself. In order to survive, every organization will have to virtualize.
Whether it be serving customers through digital channels or leveraging AI, algorithms and automation to ensure business continuity - we are likely to experience in the next twelve months, a decade’s worth of change. Not every business will make it, but those that do will never be the same again. And for leaders, now more than ever, is a time to upgrade their capabilities, embrace new technologies, and reimagine what they do.
Mike Walsh’s inspiring new keynote presentation will offer audiences an insight into the organizations and leaders that are successfully navigating this period of change, and how to create a playbook for their own transformation. Becoming future-proof is more than just about getting through the current crisis - it is about being ready for the new world that awaits us on the other side.
In this keynote, attendees will learn:
• Why there is no such thing as digital disruption, just digital delivery
• Why there is no remote work, just work
• Why AI is not there to destroy your jobs, but it will change them - Designing Your Business for the 21st Century
Most companies are simply not designed to survive. They become successful on the basis of one big idea or breakthrough product - but then fail to evolve and change. One out of three public companies will cease to exist in their current form over the next five years.
The companies that will thrive in the near future are the ones not only embracing change but breaking the rules. Companies built to survive the future are no accident. They are a result of deliberate business design decisions smart leaders are making today.
In his ongoing research on the world’s most innovative companies, Mike has organized these decisions into strategic priorities - that he will explore with audiences as a roadmap for their own reinvention. Walsh will outline the forces shaping the future of business and consumer behaviour, and the lessons learned from successful Fortune 500 companies on leveraging disruptive innovation, adopting a data-driven mindset and leading change through digital transformation.
In this keynote, attendees will learn:
• How to leverage technology and data to rethink customer engagement
• How to make culture your operating system and redesign the way your teams work
• How to become a better data-driven decision-maker, and reimagine your role as a leader - The Algorithmic Leader
We live in an age of wonder - cars that drive themselves, platforms that anticipate our needs, and robots capable of everything from advanced manufacturing to complex surgery. Automation, algorithms and AI are transforming not only business but every facet of daily life. While many fear that robots will take their jobs, the rise of machine intelligence begs a more important question: what is the true potential of human intelligence in the 21st century?
In this dynamic keynote, Mike Walsh, futurist and author will present a vivid portrait of a brave new world orchestrated by machines that think, and how tomorrow's leaders can upgrade their capabilities to survive and thrive in an age of accelerating technology.
Audiences will walk away with an insight into the companies, technologies and global forces shaping the age of machine intelligence, as well as a set of tailored next actions on how to redesign their organizations, reimagine their roles and reinvent the way they make decisions.
In this keynote, attendees will learn:
• Why competing in an age of AI requires a radically new approach to delivering data-driven experiences and personalized services.
• What it takes to accelerate your journey to becoming an AI-powered organization, and how to lead a successful process of digital transformation.
• How to unlock the new skills, capabilities and mindsets that your leaders will need to survive and thrive in the future - The Future-Proof Organization - Beyond COVID-19
COVID-19 is not only changing our way of life, it will hasten the arrival of a radical new future of work. While for many of us working from home has been a new and unexpected challenge - that is just the start of a much bigger transformation set to reshape the nature of business itself. In order to survive, every organization will have to virtualize. Whether it be serving customers through digital channels or leveraging AI, algorithms and automation to ensure business continuity - we are likely to experience in the next twelve months, a decade's worth of change. Not every business will make it, but those that do will never be the same again. And for leaders, now more than ever, is a time to upgrade their capabilities, embrace new technologies, and reimagine what they do. Mike Walsh's inspiring new keynote presentation will offer audiences an insight into the organizations and leaders that are successfully navigating this period of change, and how to create a playbook for their own transformation. Becoming future-proof is more than just about getting through the current crisis - it is about being ready for the new world that awaits us on the other side.
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