Michael Bhaskar Keynote Speaker

Strategy and Communications at Microsoft AI, leads their Advanced Planning Unit.
Co-author of the New York Times and Sunday Times 'The Coming Wave: AI, Power and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma'.
Former Writer in Residence at DeepMind, the world’s leading AI lab, and Co-Founder of Canelo, Europe’s fastest growing publishing house.

Michael Bhaskar's Biography

Michael Bhaskar works on strategy and communications at Microsoft AI where he leads the Advanced Planning Unit, an AI research team devoted to scenario planning, horizon scanning and thought leadership. Previously, he was Staff Writer at Inflection AI and is a co-founder of fast-growing publishing company Canelo – he also was Writer in Residence at Google DeepMind.

Michael is the co-author of a major book about AI and the future, the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller The Coming Wave: AI, Power and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma with entrepreneur Mustafa Suleyman. It explores the world-changing impact of a new generation of technologies, the most powerful in history.

He has also written a landmark exploration of the state of our most radical ideas, Human Frontiers: The Future of Big Ideas in an Age of Small Thinking, a prize-winning monograph, The Content Machine, an argument about why the word curation became such a buzzword, Curation: The Power of Selection in a World of Excess. His books have been translated into thirty two languages.

He has written and talked extensively about AI, technology, publishing and the future of media in many lead publications. He has worked as a digital publisher, an economics researcher, a book reviewer, a technology writer and founded several web initiatives. He is the publisher of hundreds of books, and produced a number of digital firsts including the first ebooks on the iPhone and the first choose your own adventure app. He has worked with organisations including Alphabet, Arts Council England, The Economist, New Scientist, the National Trust and the Wellcome Trust.

The most important technology of our time; maybe of all time. As co-author of one of the most significant books in the area, and someone working at leading technology organisations, I can explain how this change is coming about and what it means.

The impact of AI on business, society and politics:

Everyone can see the hype here, but what does it all really mean? AI will unlock a huge amount of economic value, yes, but it is also about a radical proliferation of power itself. We are not prepared, yet this is what is coming. It’s never been more important than now to understand the nature of this revolution.

Synthetic biology, quantum computing, robotics:

Beyond AI are a host of extraordinary technologies that could be just as transformative. The key is to understand how their interplay makes them part of a world changing wave.

Where big ideas come from and how we can have more:

Big ideas are what really push the needle, what build and change the world. Where do they come from? How can we have more of them? And what is stopping us? From science to art, technology to business, understand these ideas and we understand the future itself.

Curation:

In our lifetimes, we have gone from a time of scarcity to abundance. Our problems are about having too much. In this context it’s no wonder that “curation” has become such a buzzword. Where did it come from, what does it really mean and how can we use it to redefine business, culture and the economy?

The future of publishing and media:

The past fifteen years have been the most turbulent time in the world of books and media in living memory. Giants have risen and fallen; the ground has shifted utterly. I tell the story of what has happened - and what will happen next.

He leads the Advanced Planning Unit at Microsoft AI, using scenario planning and horizon scanning to help leaders anticipate how AI will reshape markets, media and society.
He co-authored The Coming Wave with Mustafa Suleyman, a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller that equips audiences to understand the power, risks and governance dilemmas of frontier technologies.
He brings rare cross-sector credibility from roles spanning Microsoft AI, Inflection AI and a Writer in Residence position at Google DeepMind, connecting research realities to executive decision-making.
He translates deep expertise in publishing and media economics into actionable insight as a co-founder of Canelo, helping organisations navigate attention, distribution and value creation in a world of algorithmic abundance.
He sharpens strategic thinking on ideas, innovation and cultural change through books including Human Frontiers, The Content Machine and Curation, giving leaders language and frameworks to act with clarity amid complexity.