Michael Rogers

Practical Futurist

Michael Rogers

Practical Futurist

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Biography

"We're all practical futurists now. The future happens so quickly that we need to make plans here and now for what will happen next." These are the words of technology pioneer Michael Rogers, an author and futurist who recently completed two years as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. He is a columnist for MSNBC.com, and his consultancy, Practical Futurist, helps businesses and organizations worldwide think about the future.

He has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing and GE to Microsoft, Pfizer and American Express, as well as both NASA and the Department of Defense. He addresses groups ranging from venture capitalists and corporate executives to educators, students and the general public and is also a regular guest on radio and television, including Good Morning America, the Today Show, PBS, CNN and the History Channel.

Rogers began his career as a writer for Rolling Stone and went on to co-found Outside magazine. He then launched Newsweek’s technology column, winning numerous journalism awards, including a National Headliner Award for coverage of the Chernobyl meltdown.

For ten years, he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, guiding both the newspaper and its sister publication Newsweek into the new century, as well as serving as editor and general manager of Newsweek.com where he won the Distinguished Online Service award from the National Press Club for coverage of 9/11.

Rogers’ work in interactive media ranges from the first Lucasfilm computer game and interactive CD-ROMs to Prodigy, America Online and finally, the Internet. He has received several patents for multimedia storytelling techniques, and is listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. In 2007, he was named to the magazine industry Digital Hall of Fame, and in 2009, he received the World Technology Network Award for Lifetime Achievement in Media and Journalism.

Rogers studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University with additional training in finance and management at the Stanford Business School Executive Program. He is also the best-selling novelist of Business and the Environment and Finding Henrietta Lacks, fiction which explores the human impact of technology and science.

Speaker Videos

Virtualization of the Future

Management Challenges

Smart Everything

Speech Topics

Your Business in 2030: A Customized Prediction

For this popular speech, Michael—who is also a best-selling science fiction writer— does an interview to learn more about your business, practice or discipline. He then creates a realistic scenario of what your profession or business may be like in the late Twenties. He’ll identify potential new products, new customers, and new challenges. He’s done it for lawyers, health care professionals, transportation companies, retailers, educators, financial services companies and more—even a luxury goods manufacturer!

Management Meets the Future: The Innovation Challenge

Never before has management’s life been so...interesting. Business, government and society are all creating a vast new digital infrastructure, from smart sensors and cognitive computing to wearable computers, extended social networks and virtual workplaces. That puts leaders in the midst of not just technical challenges but broader social quandaries such as the nature of privacy, white collar automation, reskilling workers, the rule of law in cyberspace--not to mention the strategic direction of the enterprise itself. How can successful managers discover and implement innovation while still meeting the daily challenges of business?

Artificial Intelligence Will Change....Everything!

Cognitive computing is the latest and most potent expression of artificial intelligence. Software and robots can now learn from experience and then reason and act upon information--often coming up with insights that humans might not reach. Because they are “cloud-based”, these powerful thinking tools will be accessible even to small organizations and individuals. The result will be new efficiencies and surprising new intelligent services that will change the very nature of work and challenge us to identify what skills are uniquely human.

The Healthcare Revolution

The future is bright for medicine: telemedicine, wellness monitors, personal genomics, electronic health records, and more. Plus: “big data” and smart computers will choose the best and most efficient treatment options based on actual outcomes. All this progress will come with caveats, of course: how do we keep the human element in healthcare? What are the privacy implications of personal genomic data? How do we fund the latest technologies while still making sure that basic healthcare is affordable? Michael has presented this topic to pharmaceutical companies, hospital networks, health insurers, medical educators and more.

The “Virtualization” of America — & the World

Over the next decade, more and more of our work, what we care about and how we interact with others will involve the Internet, intelligent computers and the Internet of Things. If you think that’s already happened...just listen to what Michael predicts is next. Add to that the rise of a new generation of “digital natives” who are remarkably comfortable with virtual relationships. What will this mean for how our businesses and organizations must evolve in the years to come? How will products change to meet new needs and what will companies do to reach their customers?

The Radical New World of Education

We’re all educators--either as professional teachers, or as managers, team leaders, mentors, or parents. In the future, we will be permanent students as well. The online world represents a powerful opportunity for education to reach a wider, more diverse audience. But it’s also a challenge to the future of both teachers and campuses.

And there’s a second issue: what do we teach? Now that young people live with one foot in the virtual world, how does that impact education and employment? What skills will our students initially bring (or not bring) to campus, and what skills will they need to make their way in an increasingly automated world? Michael has spoken to educators worldwide ranging from K-12 to college, law and medicine.

Testimonials

"Some futurists are good storytellers with plenty of charisma, but no wisdom or experience; and others have loads of experience but no charisma. You demonstrated both!"

- Pitney Bowes

"Michael presents as though he is talking with you, versus at you. He’s someone you would love to be seated next to at any event!"

- General Electric

"You hit a home run with this group. Longtime bar association executives who can be somewhat jaded were particularly enthusiastic about your presentation."

- American Bar Association

"Thank you for the excellent talk you gave to our audience yesterday. The range of topics you addressed was thought-provoking and exactly on target with the theme of Building Bridges to the Future."

- Federal Reserve Bank of New York

"Many of the delegates mentioned that your session was the most informative of the program; they especially appreciated your warmth and wit. We were very pleased that your remarks were so carefully tailored for our audience, and that you delivered exactly the message we had planned."

- National Association of Federal Credit Unions

"We were absolutely delighted with your presentation and have received very positive feedback from management and customers alike"

- Boeing

"I’m very happy with our decision to have you back for an encore performance. I appreciated how you referenced your earlier presentation and weaved it in throughout this one. I was also impressed with the integration of our industry’s top issues into the presentation."

- National Association of Convenience Stores