Sam Rad

Futurist, Anthropologist & Entrepreneur

Sam Rad

Futurist, Anthropologist & Entrepreneur

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Biography

Sam Rad (Samantha Radocchia) is a lifelong student of humanity – futurist, anthropologist, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Radical Next, a meta-media studio creating transformative stories, experiences, and media productions that shape a positive future. Her upcoming book by the same name, Radical Next: Thriving in Times of Radical Change explores how “radical next ideas” and technologies will transform societies in the decades to come.

A charismatic speaker and performer, Sam has shared stories of radical change with global audiences on stages across 5 continents – empowering individuals, leaders, and organizations not only to survive, but to thrive through radical and accelerating change. She’s advised the United Nations, WEF, Federal Reserve Bank, to name a few.

Sam was trained in anthropology, engineering, and symbolic systems, studying simulated and immersive realities – pushing the bounds of human consciousness and connection through her work. She was amongst the first anthropologists to conduct ethnographic research living in the virtual world “Second Life” in 2009.

Her work as a futurist has led Sam on a journey of working with a range of frontier technologies, indigenous and emerging social structures, people, places, and practices. She refers to herself as an archaeologist of the future, as Fredric Jameson coined -- applying a traditional anthropological ethnographic approach to envisioning and illustrating future possibilities.

Just as a small shard of pottery unlocks insight into past civilizations, a seemingly unremarkable detail in the present offers a window into infinite future possibilities and realities. Sam carefully reconstructs fragmented visions of what was, what is, and what can be.

A four-time entrepreneur, Sam has served across multiple founding executive roles across the C-Suite. She was previously co-founder of LOVE, a London-based Generative AI communication platform, and Chronicled, a San Francisco-based blockchain company bringing trust to global commerce and supply chains. Prior to Chronicled, Sam founded two companies leveraging AI to map personal taste. Sam holds several patents linking the physical and digital worlds and is considered a pioneer in Applied Cryptography, Blockchain systems, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Immersive Realities, and Simulations. She is noted as inventing the protocols which would lead to ERC-721 or Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Sam is the author of the #1 Best Seller, Bitcoin Pizza: The No Bullshit Guide to Blockchain, writes as a contributor to Forbes, and was named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Sam is passionate about empowering humanity to thrive in times of radical change. It is her mission to restore trust and connections between people and themselves, their source, each other, all beings, and our planet. True to her “Rad” name, Sam is no stranger to risk and has accumulated over 700 jumps as a competitive skydiver.

Speaker Videos

Radical Next · Keynote Speaker · Future of Society · Stansberry 2022

Radical Next · Keynote Speaker · Bank of You - ExFinance Brazil 2019

Decentralized Industry 4.0 - SingularityU Italy Summit 2019

Blockchain is the Operating System for the Future

Blockchain: A Decentralized Future

Welcome to the Bank of You

Samantha Radocchia Describes What Abundance Means to Her

See Fewer Videos

Speech Topics

RADICAL NEXT™: THRIVING IN TIMES OF RADICAL CHANGE

What’s coming next is radically different.

The talk takes the audience on a journey of radical and accelerating change across all areas of society. Through a process combining immersive stories, business, historical, and scientific anecdotes, guided visualizations, and immersive experiences, Sam Rad guides you into the great unknown of the future. By illustrating future possibilities, she equips you and your organization not only to survive, but rather to thrive through radical change.

Explore how you, your organization, and your industry can think outside of existing innovation frameworks, embrace new paradigms, and thrive in the face of exponential change by embodying a mindset that I call “Radical Evolution.”

We explore Radical Next ideas about:

Thinking beyond the incremental innovation frameworks such as digital transformation
How to “edit” your organization’s “DNA” to trigger radical organizational evolution
Thriving in the face of exponential change
Learn a proprietary framework for implementing Radical Evolution

RADICAL NEXT: THE OPERATING SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE

We are living during a unique moment in human history – and what’s coming next is radically different.

Socio-cultural paradigm shifts, technological advancements, and evolving geopolitics are fundamentally reshaping our societal backbones – or “operating systems.” The convergence of exponential technologies such as artificial intelligence, immersive realities, and quantum computing are accelerating towards “the singularity” and we find ourselves on the cusp of a new era: The Age of Acceleration.

This history-defining moment of radical evolution will restructure our societies for the decades to come. So what does this mean for you? Your organization? Your industry? Your entire reality? Embark on a revelatory odyssey with Sam Rad, as she navigates the tides of time, illuminating the legacies of the past, realities of the present, and potentials of the future. Harness the promise of tomorrow with Sam Rad's compelling narratives, actionable strategies, and infectious enthusiasm.

With her signature candid delivery, Sam Rad will:

Guide you on a journey of radical and accelerating technological change across society, diving deeply into your industry
Illustrate future possibilities and inspire you to envision and embrace the radical next future with optimism and curiosity
Equip you with actionable insights to enact radical evolution in your organization

Thriving in Times of Radical Change

From 787 skydiving jumps that funded her first tech venture at 20 to an inspiring journey spanning 50+ countries, Sam Rad is not just a radical futurist—she's an adventurer, anthropologist, entrepreneur, technology pioneer, inventor, and author. Drawing from her life’s journey of groundbreaking achievements, Sam masterfully combines personal anecdotes, case studies, interactive experiences, and scientific research to present an immersive storytelling blueprint on navigating our radical next future.

Sam Rad offers not just sage advice, but also candidly gripping, and unapologetically relatable anecdotes that ignite a fire of 'Radical Resilience' within. Discover how to harness the chaos, break free from societal constraints, and craft an organization (and life) that's not only reactive to change but revels in it.

Sam Rad shares key methodologies to enable you to:

Harness intuitive intelligence and unlock the secrets of future forecasting.
Initiate transformational shifts by editing your organization's "DNA."
Embrace the "Radical Next" mindset, essential for thriving in an era of rapid technological and socio-cultural revolutions.

FUTURE ORGANIZATIONS: SHAPING THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE

This talk takes the audience on a journey of the UnOrganization, exploring the radical transformation of organizational structures, models, and the nature of work as we know it.

Emerging decentralized and civic organizational models -- models beyond multinational corporations and nation-states, models which will carry us into the future of urban niche organizations, space colonies, and virtual worlds.

We explore Radical Next ideas about:

Collaborating with our Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Colleagues
Organizational Structures: : The shift from Hierarchy to Ecosystem and Beyond
Employment Status: Employee/Contract to Gig Economy to Multi-Earner and Beyond
Technology, Systems, and Careers of the Future
Beyond “Reskilling” · Designing the organization of the future
The UnOrganization: Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, Machine Economies
Mental Health

FUTURE FINANCES: MONEY IN THE MACHINE AGE · WELCOME TO THE BANK OF YOU

This talk dives into the radical future of finances, covering open banking, cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance, and financial inclusion. It highlights the changing landscape in the banking sector, discusses how finances are becoming digitized, decentralized, and democratized leading to greater transparency and opportunities. Imagine beyond traditional financial systems into the machine world -- envisioning the future of automation, AI, machine-to-machine economies, and interstellar economic systems.

We explore Radical Next ideas about:

Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Day Trading, Gambling, Gaming
The significance of an open information society on traditional financial markets
Radical Next Asset Classes: Game Worlds, Play-to-Earn Gaming, Fractionalized Ownership

FUTURE OF THINGS: FROM SUPPLY CHAINS TO DEMAND CHAINS

Over the past few decades, the globalization of supply chains has gone from being a radical outlier to a commonplace. The simplified version of the story states that, as communications technologies connected us globally, and transport technologies enabled the shipping of parts, local supply chains morphed into global ones. Now, we think nothing of purchasing electronics from Japan, avocados from Mexico, and toys from China in a single visit to the supermarket. Supply chains as we know them, however, are changing due to geopolitical tensions and tariffs, pandemics like COVID, fragmentation of people and communities, and emerging technologies. We are seeing something new. The demand chain.

We explore Radical Next ideas about:

The death of supply chains
The rise of something new: the demand chain
What does the future of localized, just in time, on demand production look like?
What technologies, tools, and mindset shifts can you use to radically evolve your supply chains?

Opener · Closer · MC · Facilitator

As an eloquent, energizing, and entertaining expert in the art of convergence, Sam Rad delivers compelling opening and closing keynote addresses that not only tie together your event’s core themes but also encourage your audience to dig deeper. Work with Sam directly to shape a transformative bookend experience, or work with her to guide your audience through the journey of the entire event as MC or facilitator.

Testimonials

"Sam joined us to deliver a keynote address for Cisco Supply Chain’s 2018 Development Day, where she took the audience on a mesmerizing journey through the paradigms that have shaped distributed and decentralized computing. Her unique and engaging take on blockchain as a backbone technology for the future was a great addition to our programming and we look forward to welcoming her back again!”

- Supply Chain, Cisco

“Samantha joined us for our annual CRN Trade Association Conference for Keynote address on how blockchain and other emerging technologies will impact the Supplements and Functional Foods Industry. She also facilitated an interactive, audience engaging panel covering the specifics of how blockchain directly impact and enhance the industry. Sam is an energetic, engaging, and astute speaking and I would recommend her for any event where complex technologies need to be broken down into digestible, and often fun, communications.”

- President and CEO, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)

"Sam is one of those rare individuals who has the ability to catalyze — whether it be an audience, her team, or her company’s customers. As a keynote speaker and panelist, she has the unique ability not only to distill complex topics surrounding emerging technologies, but also to make sense of why technologies like blockchain will impact the lives of individuals and businesses alike. She had a tough job, speaking to a room of 500+ accounting professionals on blockchain, and she didn’t cease to impress and inspire.”

- Partner, CohnReznickLLP

“I’ve heard dozens of blockchain talks and yours was the best! It was so applicable, which is hard. Will you join our next event?"

- Director International Summits, Singularity University

"Thank you for bringing your thoughtful and highly customized talk to Whirlpool. It’s clear that you listened to our objectives and direction and I know it was no small effort to incorporate it all into your talk. All in all, it was the most coordinated effort between the speaker and our Company that I’ve seen. And it showed during the workshop process and resulting ideas."

- CTO, Whirlpool Corporation