Jamie Metzl Featured Technology and Healthcare Futurist, Global Affairs Specialist, Science Fiction Novelist, and Genetic Engineering Expert

The rapid growth of new AI systems like ChatGPT have made most people realize significant change is on the horizon. But while most people still think of these AI capabilities as improved internet search tools, the implications are far more profound. Just like the industrial and computer revolutions, the AI revolution will transform most every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Along with our new capabilities in genetics and biotechnology, it will change how we live and work, our economies, our healthcare, the foods we eat, and our interactions with the world around us. In this both far-reaching and highly practical talk, leading futurist Jamie Metzl explores the big picture implications of this transformative moment in human history and how individuals, companies, and societies can best ride the wave of this change rather than be subsumed by it. 

The transition from today’s system of generalized medicine based on population averages to the new model of precision healthcare based on each person’s individual biology is already well underway. But the use of the precision medicine tools of genome sequencing, big data analytics, and targeted gene therapies to treat cancer and other diseases are paving the way for a system of predictive and preventive healthcare where the goal of healthcare will increasingly shift from symptoms-based and reactive toward new models of prediction and prevention. The overlapping genetics, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology revolutions will fundamentally transform our healthcare, but health professionals, the business community, and society at large are not ready. In this provocative and mind-expanding talk, Jamie Metzl explores where the exciting future of healthcare and lays out key principles for how patients, doctors, health industry professionals, and the business community can prepare for a revolution that is coming far sooner than most people recognize.

The synthetic mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are just small, early examples of how the genetics and bioengineering revolutions will transform our world. Faster than most people understand or appreciate, our growing, superhuman capabilities to restructure the building blocks of life will fundamentally alter the way we prevent and treat disease, grow food, generate energy and industrial materials, store data, and much more. But while this process had already begun before COVID-19, the pandemic has catapulted the biology revolution to a new phase. Just like World War II supercharged electronics and space travel generations ago, the intersecting artificial intelligence, genetics, and biotechnology revolutions are now transforming our healthcare, the ways we live and work, and much of the world around us. Visionary futurist Jamie Metzl describes how the biology revolution will play out over the coming years and decades and what we can do on a personal, professional, national, and global level to prepare and thrive in this new era.

Most everybody knows we should exercise, eat well, build meaningful communities, and reduce stress to live healthy longer. But the revolutionary new science of human life extension is creating enticing new possibilities for using technology to extend our lives far beyond what nature intended. While the quest for immortality has been the stuff of fairy tales, the new science of life extension will soon be pushing the limits of aging and unlocking human potential in ways our ancestors never could have imagined. Technology futurist Jamie Metzl explores the latest breakthroughs in the science of human life extension that promise to gain is more of life‘s most precious commodity: time. Jamie explains what individuals, companies, and governments must do now to prepare for this revolutionary future that will fundamentally reorganize our societies and global economics.

Converging political, geopolitical, and technological revolutions are making now the greatest moment of global change at least since 1945 and possibly ever. With nationalism rising around the world, the post-war international order in rapid decline, China significantly expanding its global influence, and the AI, genetics, blockchain, and other revolutions shaking the foundations of the world we’ve known, the pressure is mounting for individuals, companies, and countries to either understand and quickly adapt to these converging super-trends or pay a massive competitive price. In this talk spanning the wide range of factors transforming our world at lightning speed, geopolitical expert and technology futurist Jamie paints a vivid picture of where we are heading and outlines key principles for how individuals, companies, and countries can best position themselves to ride the rising tidal wave of revolutionary change.

The future is coming at us faster than ever before. As the pace of technological change in fields like artificial intelligence, genomics, and robotics increases exponentially, the sands of national and international politics are shifting under our feet more than at any time since the end of WWII. But while this moment of radical change creates great peril for organizations that stick too rigidly to traditional ways of thinking and operating, it provides unparalleled opportunities for those who challenge themselves to think differently, creatively imagine future scenarios, and set out on a journey to succeed in a radically new environment. Organizations must, in other words, begin thinking like science fiction writers. In this wide-ranging and highly focused talk, Jamie clearly explains the converging mega-trends reshaping our world, describes how science fiction writers draw on evidence from the present to build a world of tomorrow, and outlines a specific road map for how organizations can use the powerful tool of thinking more like science fiction writers to better prepare for the future and unlock hidden organizational potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic is permanently transforming the healthcare industry. Trends that might otherwise have emerged over years and decades are now arriving in weeks and months. The future is crashing into the present. The shift to telemedicine we are seeing now, for example, will not go away once the pandemic recedes. AI will also play a more central role in every aspect of care. The use of the precision medicine tools of genome sequencing, big data analytics, and targeted gene therapies to treat cancer and other diseases are paving the way for a system of predictive healthcare where parents will know and begin responding to their children’s future risks before their children have even been born. These revolutions will fundamentally transform our healthcare, but health professionals, the business community, and society at large are not ready. In this provocative and mind-expanding talk, Jamie Metzl explains the trends and technologies transforming healthcare, explores where things are headed and what is at stake, and lays out key principles for how health industry professionals and the business community can prepare for a revolution that is coming at us far faster than most people recognize. At its best, technology can help us become more human healthcare providers — but only if we start building that future now.

Shoes off, sitting on floor cushions arranged in a circle, participants listened to the history of cacao prior to enjoying specially-sourced chocolate. The cacao ceremony was a metaphor for the interconnectedness of humanity. Complete with mind-expanding instrumental music, and ending in full-on freestyle somatic movement (a.k.a. dancing), full participation in the cacao ceremony favored the mindful, curious, and bold. Cacao shaman is a rather unexpected title from someone who competes in extreme endurance athletic events such as Ironman triathlons, marathons, and ultramarathons, and holds multiple degrees from prestigious, buttoned-up institutions. Metzl earned his Ph.D. in Asian history from Oxford and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University. Metzl is a true polymath — the technology futurist, geopolitical expert, prolific author, syndicated columnist, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, media commentator, and endurance athlete, is one of the most fascinating, and accomplished persons you will ever encounter.

Converging political, geopolitical, and technological revolutions are making now the greatest moment of global change since 1945. With nationalism rising around the world, the post-war international order in rapid decline, China significantly expanding its global influence, and the AI, genetics, blockchain, and other revolutions shaking the foundations of the world we’ve known, individuals, companies, and countries will either understand and quickly adapt to these converging super-trends or pay a massive competitive price. In this talk spanning the wide range of factors transforming our world at lightning speed, geopolitical expert and technology futurist Jamie Metzl paints a vivid picture of where we are heading and outlines key principles for how individuals, companies, and countries can best position themselves to ride the rising tidal wave of revolutionary change.