Gerd Leonhard Keynote Speaker

• 2026: Challenges - Opportunities

Why and how the future is better than we think

2026 is pivotal, marking a new world order and a new architecture of how the world works. As truth becomes negotiable and diplomatic norms are overturned, the question is how far democracy can fracture, what follows, and what positive outcomes might emerge, such as a United States of Europe. At the same time, the climate emergency is accelerating, and AI offers enormous prosperity alongside profound AGI risks.

This keynote doesn’t just diagnose the challenges – it shows the path forward. The future is better than we think but it won’t happen by accident – we have to show up!

• The Good Future – Really?

Yes, we can!

Our world is changing faster than ever, fuelled by deep geopolitical shifts, endless conflicts, the accelerating climate emergency and the meteoric rise of AI. The excitement about new tech is real, but worries about the future are also at an all-time high. So how could we reset or rebrand the future as ‘good’? I believe that The Good Future is real and attainable – and I'm ready to explore it with you!

• Beyond Knowledge: Why Being Human Is the New Competitive Advantage

From knowing to understanding: work in the age of ai

Artificial intelligence is rapidly commoditising simple, fact-based knowledge work. This is both a promise and a peril, what I call Hellven. As a result, explicit knowledge is no longer a competitive advantage. As I often say: if you work like a robot, a robot will take your job. This new keynote explores why we must move beyond knowledge, why HECI now matters more than STEM alone, where new jobs will emerge, and why within a decade work will no longer be our primary source of identity, meaning, or purpose.

• Intelligence vs Consciousness: Preserving Humanity in the coming era of AGI

Just because we could does not mean we should!

This talk contrasts intelligence (doing) with consciousness (being), and asks what we should build, not just what we can. It warns that the rush toward AGI could erode “the art of being human” and replace human agency with “digital humans”. It argues that wisdom is choosing what to automate, augment or virtualise, and what should remain sacred. AI intelligence might be a good thing, but conscious AIs would be a terrible mistake.

• Beyond AI: What really matters in technology & society

Think beyond the obvious. imagine. prepare.

AI is now a general purpose technology and a platform for everything, but it is not the panacea many have envisioned, so it’s time to look beyond AI. This talk outlines what to expect by 2030, connecting major technological breakthroughs with societal shifts including the accelerating climate emergency, regulation, global governance, Gen Y and Z, demographics, and geopolitical mega-trends.

• Digital labour: AI agents, automation and work

Why ‘smart’ machines still can't replace humans (while many tasks will be automated)

Digital Labor is all the rage, with AI agents sold as a future where routine work vanishes and “expensive” humans are replaced. But many real tasks still require embodied judgment, social nuance and context that no algorithm can reliably emulate. So we must ask who benefits if “full automation” becomes real, and insist that any post-labor prosperity is shared, not hoarded, because consciousness, not code, remains uniquely human.

• Examining Techno-Optimism

Too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing

Techno-Optimism, often coupled with accelerationism, claims exponential technology will solve most societal problems, so progress should be as fast as possible. I argue for a balanced, holistic view that confronts risks like disinformation, job displacement, privacy and surveillance, and dehumanisation, while staying optimistic about The Good Future. The Future is amazing humans on-top of awesome technology.

• Artificial intelligence (ai), agi and the future of humanity

AI is a general-purpose technology and a new platform. It could be heaven or hell, depending on whether the tools will dominate us, or whether human telos will prevail. This customized talk separates what is real from what is utopia or dangerous, and shows how to harness AI for human and planetary flourishing by pursuing People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity.

• Key foresights: the next 10 years

• Exponential technological change: heaven or hell. Regulation, policy, and why digital ethics is existential.
• IA versus AI versus HI: competence, not consciousness. Why AGI is a serious conundrum.
• Virtuality: AR, MR, VR, the Metaverse, Apple Vision Pro. Opportunity versus hype versus feasibility.
• A new capitalism? Beyond GDP and profit and growth toward the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, Prosperity.
• The Sustainability Revolution: Big Blue and Big Green. Green is the new Digital.
• The human renaissance: rebooting education, training, learning, HR. Life with and after automation.
• Why humans will still matter: uniquely human skills in an AI-heavy world.
• Don’t mistake a clear view for a short distance: reality check on GenAI, self-driving, NLP.
• From optimisation to agility, resilience, creativity: the future of work and skills.
• Biology meets technology: the next wave in healthcare, pharma, life sciences.

• How can we trust each other again?

Trust is the glue that hold societies together

Trust has been dissolving fast, and ‘too much technology’ may be fuelling mistrust, fear, and democratic decline through click-driven social media. As AI Agenting and AI Search scale, and virtual worlds go mainstream, this keynote asks whether we slide into dystopia or steer toward protopia. It offers five-year foresights and concrete actions to rebuild trust by rebooting social media, strengthening public media, and regulating AI to enhance humanity.

• How to create the good future?

Why and how People-Planet-Purpose and Prosperity is the key to the Good Future

Fueled by geopolitical conflict, the accelerating climate emergency, and technological hyper-transformation, the world is changing at a mind-boggling pace and confusion reigns. This keynote asks what kind of future we want, whether today’s economic logic is fit for it, and argues for moving beyond GDP growth toward the 4Ps: People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity, to help show the way forward.

• Synthetic Everything: An Algorithmic Society?

AI can generate content nearly indistinguishable from humans, and as algorithms shape media and decisions, the Internet will change forever. This talk asks how we retain what makes us human, protect democracy, and stay connected amid rising loneliness, and suggests ways to halt dehumanisation and use exponential technologies more wisely. “Algorithms know the value of everything but the feeling of nothing”.