Gerd Leonhard

“Civilizations are driven by their technology but defined by their humanity”

“People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity.” – That is Gerd Leonhard’s motto. Over the past two decades, he has risen to one of the top 10 futurist keynote speakers worldwide, and has recently become the # 1 virtual speaker in the age of Corona.With nearly 2,000 engagements in 60+ countries since 2004, and a combined audience of over 2.5 million people, Gerd has been listed by Wired magazine as one of the Top 100 Most-Influential People in Europe, and as’ one of the leading media futurists in the World ‘by The Wall Street Journal.

Gerd focuses on the intersections of humanity, science /technology, business, and culture. He promotes sustainable,human-centric values, and emphasizes the importance of foresight, future-ready leadership, and resilience in the face of uncertainty. He is also known for speaking out against the pitfalls of unbridled extractionist capitalism. His of him acclaimed keynotes (both live and virtual) are renowned for their hard-hitting and provocative style – inspiring, humorous, motivational, and always personal. Using cutting-edge creative motion design and immersive backdrops, Gerd’s performances (both in-person and for online events) have reinvented the very definition of ‘presentation.’

Gerd is highly regarded as a global influencer and has advisedbusiness leaders and government officials around the globe.

His diverse list of clients include countless governments, NGOs and Fortune 500 companies such as SAP, Microsoft, Google, VISA, Accenture, Deloitte, Motorola, KPMG, Sony, UBS, Tetrapak, Mastercard, BBC, Unilever, Lloyds Bank, WWF, Sony, The Guardian, PwC, Siemens, RTL,The Financial Times, Ogilvy, Omnicom, The EU Commission, Audi and many others. A true thought leader in the futurist space, Gerd is above all a dedicated humanist who believes that all technological progress should further collective human flourishing.

Gerd uses his keynotes, presentations, workshops and advisory sessions to deep-dive on complex topics. Recurring themes include business in the post-Covid-19 world, the need for a sustainable, equitable reform to conventional capitalism, addressing existential risks like climate change and uncontrolled technological proliferation, the future of work and of the human-machine relationship, exploring what it means to be human in a world of machines and algorithms, and the ethics of technology and tech regulation in an interconnected world. As Gerd likes to say, humanity will change more in the next 10 years than in the previous 100 years – so let’s embrace technology but also maintain, protect and nurture what makes us human!

As a professional artist, internet entrepreneur, film producer, bestselling author, and visionary thinker and speaker, Gerd Leonhard has spent his lifetime engaging with change. Gerd’s background is in the music business; in 1985 he won Berklee College’s  “Quincy Jones Award” and subsequently spent 12 years working as a professional guitarist, composer, and producer. But in 1995 he caught the internet-bug, seeing the future of music as being in the cloud, and became a digital music & media entrepreneur.

From 1995 to 2002 he raised Millions as Founder/CEO of several San Francisco-based internet startups. In 2002, following the dotcom meltdown and the 9/11 crisis, Gerd returned to Europe, wrote his first book (The Future of Music) and became increasingly in demand as keynote speaker as he discovered his new calling as a futurist and as the CEO of The Futures Agency, a global network of over 50 leading futurists, speakers, and personalities. As he likes to say: The future is already here – we just haven’t paid enough attention!

As we rush headlong into a machine-led world where the very essence of what it means to be human is being increasingly challenged, Gerd reminds us to consider what moral values we are prepared to stand up for before “being human” loses its meaning forever.

Between traveling around the globe and teleporting-in virtually to speak at leading conferences, events and seminars, Gerd helps individuals, enterprises and government organizations to deal with “future shock” and embrace change. When he is not speaking or consulting clients, Gerd is also an influential, bestselling author. He co-authored the visionary book “The Future of Music” and has written five others, including his last bestseller, “Technology vs. Humanity”, which is now available in tenlanguages.

Gerd’s films on the future of technology and humanity, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and work, jobs and education have reached millions of viewers and as a highly sought after futurist, he is no stranger to media, frequently sharing his often controversial but always prescient views with pieces in The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Wired UK, and interviews with the likes of BBC, CNN, Arirang TV, Swiss SRF, ZDF, ARD, ARTE. He has also been included as a special guest in over a dozen documentaries, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA, London), and an advisory board member of the Indian and Canadian Research Institutes. Today, Gerd resides in Zurich, Switzerland and presents both in English and Germann.

“The future is no longer a time-frame; it’s a MINDSET”