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Michael Rogers
Practical Futurist
Michael Rogers
Practical Futurist
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
What Comes After COVID?
The “virtualization” of our world has greatly accelerated. Work from home, telemedicine, virtual shopping, distance learning, socializing, exercise: this trend alone will impact every sector of the economy. But of course there is much more. Consumers will emerge with a new desire for security and control, yet lagging incomes will change what they can afford. The public will continue to seek authoritative information sources, with a new focus on wellness. Management will face questions about localization, automation, staffing and real estate. And this are just a start: the prognosis seems to change daily. What Comes After COVID? is a highly customized presentation. Michael will work with you and your team in advance to pull out the specific topics relevant to your sector. He offers either a virtual keynote with a Q&A, or else a full small-group interactive session.
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.
Your Business in 2029: 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!
The Post-COVID Consumer
Sometimes it seems as if society has fast-forwarded five years in the last five months: far more of our shopping, work and schooling now happens online, and post-COVID, not everything will go back. In addition, after so much uncertainty, consumers will seek security, safety, trusted relationships and reliable information. At the same time many families and businesses will struggle with limited financial resources. Big challenges--but also an opportunity for bold thinking and new initiatives around services, communication and community.
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.
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