Gary A. Bolles is a globally recognized thought leader and consultant focused on the rapidly evolving landscape of work, education, and organizational transformation in the post-pandemic era driven by exponential technologies. He provides invaluable guidance to individuals, companies, communities and nations looking to navigate uncertainty and flourish in the years ahead.

– Chair for the Future of Work for SU
– Partner at the consulting firm Charrette LLC
– Co-founder of eParachute.com
– Currently focus on strategies for the future of work, learning, and the organization. Deeply committed to helping catalyze inclusive capitalism.
– Formerly, co-founder, SoCap:SocialCapitalMarkets and a dozen other impact initiatives.
– Former editorial director of six technology publications
– Former VP Marketing and COO.

Source: Singularity webpage

Vinton G. Cerf has served as vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google since October 2005. In this role, he contributes to global policy development and continued standardization and spread of the Internet. He is also an active public face for Google in the Internet world.

From 1994 to 2005, Cerf served as the senior vice president of Technology Strategy for MCI. In this role, Cerf was responsible for helping to guide corporate strategy development from the technical perspective. Previously, Cerf served as MCI’s senior vice president of Architecture and Technology, leading a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking frameworks including Internet-based solutions for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Noshir Contractor is the Jane S. & William J. White Professor of Behavioral Sciences in the McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science, the School of Communication and the Kellogg School of Management and Director of the Science of Networks in Communities (SONIC) Research Group at Northwestern University. He is also the former President of the International Communication Association (ICA).

Additionally, he is the host of a podcast series titled “Untangling the Web,” where he engages in conversations with thought leaders to explore how the Web is shaping society, and how society in turns is shaping the Web.

Source: Kellogg School of Management webpage

Esther Dyson (born 14 July 1951) is a Swiss-born American investor, journalist, author, commentator and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing.

Dyson is also an angel investor focused on health care, open government, digital technology, biotechnology, and outer space. Dyson’s career now focuses on health and she continues to invest in health and technology startups.

Source: Wikipedia

Dave Edwards is a Co-Founder of the Artificiality Institute.

He previously co-founded Intelligentsia.ai, an artificial intelligence market research firm that was acquired by Atlantic Media. Following the acquisition, he continued his work at Quartz, a subsidiary of Atlantic Media.

Before co-founding Intelligentsia.ai, Dave Edwards worked at companies such as Apple, CRV, Macromedia, Morgan Stanley, and ThinkEquity.

The Artificiality Institute, which Dave Edwards co-founded, is described as a non-profit research organization focused on shaping the human experience in a world increasingly influenced by synthetic intelligence. The institute aims to explore the co-evolution of humans and AI through research, design, and public storytelling.

Charles Ess is a distinguished Professor in Media Studies at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo.

He is known for his extensive work at the intersection of philosophy, computational technologies, applied ethics, comparative philosophy and religion, and media studies.

Tracey Follows is a professional futurist and works with clients on long-term strategies, including Telefonica, Google, Sky, Farfetch, Conde Nast, and Virgin. She writes and speaks on Futures, appearing in a global list of 50 female futurists in Forbes.

She has spoken at UN HQ, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and at events such as Think With Google. She has appeared on BBC Business Matters, is a go-to futurist for many national press titles, and is a contributor columnist in Forbes.

She was an Adage ‘Woman to Watch’ 2017, Women in Marketing Award Winner for Outstanding Contribution to Marketing 2016, and Inaugural Creative Strategy Jury President at Cannes Lions 2019. In 2018, she was listed by Business Cloud as a Trailblazing Woman in Tech. She is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists, World Futures Studies Federation, and a Fellow of the RSA.

Source: Google Books

Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and journalist known for her prescient writings on social trends, particularly technology’s impact on humanity. Her new book Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure has been lauded as “remarkable and persuasive” (Library Journal); “deeply compelling” (Kate Bowler); “incisive and timely-triumphant” (Dan Pink); and “both surprising and practical” (Gretchen Rubin).

Nominated for a National Book Award, Uncertain was chosen as the 2024 “Nonfiction Book of the Year” by the Independent Publishers of New England and a Top 25 Nonfiction Book of 2024 by the Next Big Idea Club led by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant and Dan Pink. Uncertain also was named a Top 10 book of the year by Greater Good magazine, the Artificiality Institute, and Library Journal, and a Top 10 Summer Read by Nautilus magazine. The book has been featured in media worldwide. Jackson’s recent lead New York Times opinion piece on uncertainty and well-being drew a quarter-million views.

Source: Website

Manager of the Public Service Broadcasting and Media with 30 years’ experience in the news, sport and international relations sectors. Trained as a journalist, with a great deal of experience in international companies and organizations (RAI, Euronews, Eurosport, and since 2002, at EBU European Broadcasting Union member of the WBU World Broadcasting Union).

Has worked for all traditional media (press, radio, general interest TV) but also new media (all-news channels, Internet portals). Expert in European and multilateral negotiations.

Jerry Michalski is an American technology consultant, futurist, and thought leader known for his work on the impact of technology on society and business, particularly in the areas of trust and relationships.

In essence, Jerry Michalski is a visionary who explores the profound ways technology shapes human interactions and societal structures. He challenges conventional thinking about consumers and trust, advocating for a future where relationships and genuine connections are central to a thriving economy and society.

Source: Gemini

Danil Mikhailov, Ph.D. is a computer scientist and social scientist and a world-leading expert in the application of technology and data innovation for social impact. Danil’s main research interests are in Science and Technology Studies, including social media, AI, and misinformation; technology and AI ethics, particularly where informed by non-western cultural context; development of methodologies of responsible data science and AI programs, particularly in lower-and-middle-income countries and settings; and the anthropology of interdisciplinary science and technology teams. A second, unrelated area of research interest is the history, philosophy, and practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.

In parallel to his research Danil serves as the Executive Director of data.org, where Danil launched global data for social impact programs in climate, health, and financial inclusion to build digital public goods, train a new generation of purpose-driven data practitioners, and design sustainable data ecosystems in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the US.

Source: Data.org webpage

Alexandra Samuel is an authority on the digital workplace. A speaker and data journalist, she is the co-author of Remote, Inc: How To Thrive at Work….Wherever You Are (Harper Business, 2021) and the author of Work Smarter with Social Media (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015).

Alex’s keynotes and trainings help organizations navigate the transition to the new hybrid workplace, which combines remote + office, and humans + AI.  Her writing on the workplace, business and technology appears frequently in The Wall Street Journal and The Harvard Business Review, and she is the AI columnist for JSTOR Daily.

The co-founder of groundbreaking digital agency Social Signal, Samuel creates data-driven flagship reports and workshops for companies like Google, Discovery and Sprinklr. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and works remotely from Vancouver, Canada.

Source: Website

Paul is a forecaster with over three decades experience exploring the dynamics of large-scale, long-term change. He teaches forecasting at Stanford University and advises organizations worldwide. Paul is also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Paul serves on a variety of not-for-profit boards including the Long Now Foundation, and the Millennium Project.

Paul’s essays have appeared in a wide range of publications including The Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Foreign Policy, Wired, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. Paul holds degrees from Harvard College, Cambridge University and Stanford University.

Source: Website

Eric Saund is a researcher in Cognitive Science and a consultant in AI and Machine Learning.

Previously, Eric spent nearly 30 years working at Xerox PARC as a senior researcher and is an expert in natural language processing and cognitive architecture.

Eric has a degree from CalTech, and a PhD from the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at MIT.

My mission is to advance the science of consciousness, and to use its insights for the benefit of society, technology, and medicine.

I am Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where I am also Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. I am also Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness.

I  was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness (Oxford University Press), a role I served from 2014-2024. I currently serve on the Editorial Board of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and on the Advisory Committee for 1907 Research and for Chile’s Congreso Futuro. I was Conference Chair for the 16th Meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC16, 2012) and was an ASSC ‘member at large’ from 2014-2022.  I previously co-directed the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme: From Sensation and Perception to Awareness, and I was an Engagement Fellow with the Wellcome Trust (2016-2020).

My research has been supported by the EPSRC (Leadership Fellowship), the European Research Council (ERC, Advanced Investigator Grant), the Wellcome Trust, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).  Check out these profiles of me and my research in The Observer, The New Statesman, and Quanta.

Source: Website

Dr. Evelyne Tauchnitz’s expertise focuses on how digital technologies can be employed to build, support, and maintain peace through non-violent methods of conflict transformation. She is employed as a Senior Researcher Fellow (Post-Doc) at the Lucerne Graduate School in Ethics (LGSE), University of Lucerne, where she is writing her ‘Habilitation’ on PeaceTech – exploring the impact of the digital transformation on peace & war from an ethical and human rights point of view.

Evelyne is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs (CTGA), University of Oxford, where she is co-coordinating the Global PeaceTech project. She holds a PhD in International Relations with a specialization in Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and was a Visiting Fellow (Post-Doc) at the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS), European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy, where she conducted research on international norms and negotiation strategies.

Source: Lucerne Webpage

Eleanor ‘Nell’ Watson, a trailblazer in emerging technologies such as machine vision and A.I. ethics, dedicates her work to protecting human rights and infusing ethics, safety, and values that elevate the human spirit into technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

As IEEE Ethics Maestro, Chair IEEE’s ECPAIS Transparency Experts Focus Group, and Vice Chair of P7001 Transparency of Autonomous Systems committee on A.I. Ethics & Safety, Nell is engineering mechanisms into A.I. to help safeguard algorithmic trust.

She also leads several prominent organizations such as EthicsNet.org, teaching machines prosocial behaviors, CulturalPeace.org, crafting Geneva Conventions-style rules for cultural conflict, Endohazard.org, a hazard symbol project for informing consumers of endocrine disruptors, and Pacha.org, connecting a network of service providers to help enable the automated accounting of externalities (shifted costs) such as pollution.

Source: Website

David Weinberger (born 1950) is an American author, technologist, and speaker whose work explores how technology, particularly the internet and machine learning, shapes our ideas.

Trained as a philosopher with a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Weinberger’s career has spanned academia, technology consulting, and writing. He taught philosophy before transitioning to the tech industry, where he held marketing and executive roles.

He is perhaps best known as a co-author of the influential Cluetrain Manifesto (2000), which offered early insights into the social nature of the internet.

Weinberger has been affiliated with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society since 2004, holding positions as a Fellow, Senior Researcher, and member of the Fellows Advisory Board. He has also been involved with the Harvard Library Innovation Lab and the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy.

More recently, his work has focused on the philosophical and ethical implications of machine learning, resulting in his 2019 book, Everyday Chaos: Technology, Complexity, and How We’re Thriving in a New World of Possibility

Source: Gemini

Rabia is an expert on digital commerce and developing thought leadership relating to this dynamic and increasingly significant subject.

In addition to insights-based content, Rabia works as an internal expert on research design and innovation and has been global project lead for travel and digital consumer research, where she has crafted and managed various sector indices, ensured global data quality and driven thought leadership.

With experience in strategy, research, and insights, Rabia advises clients on digital commerce strategy across a wide range of industries, including retail, fmcg, travel and consumer finance. Her interest in digital technologies and innovation as a denominator to transform and accelerate wider industries enables her to offer cross-vertical strategic insight.

Source: Euromonitor

Amy Zalman is an internationally recognized futurist, author, and educator who advises government and business leaders on anticipating and navigating future change.

Current Roles:

• Advisory Specialist Leader, Defense, Security and Justice at Deloitte: She helps defense and civilian clients develop strategies to thrive in the evolving global information environment.
• Founder and CEO of Prescient LLC: A foresight consultancy that assists Fortune 500 companies, governments, and non-profit organizations in preparing for the future.
• Founder and Director of the Foresight Sandbox: An executive education program providing strategic foresight training.
• Part-time Professor of Strategic Foresight at Georgetown University.

Source: Gemini

Dr. Lior Zalmanson is a senior lecturer (assistant professor) at the Technology and Information Management Program, Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University.

His research interests include social media, user engagement, internet business models, human-AI interaction, and algorithmic management. His research has won awards and grants from Fulbright Foundation, GIF (German-Israeli Foundations), Grant for the Web, Dan David Prize, Google, Marketing Science Institute, Social Informatics SIG, among others. His works were published in top venues such as MIS Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Information Systems, and MIT Sloan Review.

His studies were covered in The Times, Independent, HBR, PBS, Fast Company, including numerous mentions in the Israeli media. In 2021, he received the Association of Information Systems Researchers’ Early Career Award, acknowledging a combination of research, teaching, and service to the community. He also received multiple teaching awards for his experiential courses in user engagement and online communities. Formerly he was an assistant professor at the University of Haifa, a postdoctoral Fulbright fellow at NYU, and a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum Media Lab. Lior is also the founder of the Print Screen Festival, Israel’s digital culture festival, which connects internet researchers, activists, and artists. Furthermore, he is a grant and award-winning digital artist, playwright, and screenwriter. His most recent VR work (about the bystander syndrome) debuted at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.

Source: Coller webpage