Jim Carroll

Speaker Jim Carroll is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading global futurists and is recognized worldwide as a “thought leader” and authority on: global trends; rapid business model change and industry transformation; business model disruption and the acceleration of market change; global economic trends; and the necessity for fast paced innovation. He is an authority recognized for his deep insight into the cutting edge trends of our time including autonomous vehicle technology, 3D printing, virtual reality, alternative energy generation and storage technologies, the transition to electric battery vehicle technology, genomic medicine, CRISPR and healthcare virtualization, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual cash, machine learning and robotics, crowd-thinking and next generation R&D.

With a massive global Blue Chip client list, over the last 25 years, Jim has shared his insights with more than 2 million people in attendance at his events. He is recognized within the global speaking industry for his highly customized, heavily researched, industry specific keynotes, leadership presentations and small, intimate senior leadership meetings. +

Jim’s global client list is extensive and covers virtually every industry sector, including the World Bank, Volvo, NASA, the PGA of America, the Walt Disney Organization, the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Swiss Innovation Forum, the Wall Street Journal, National Australia Bank, WorldSkills, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, DuPont, The GAP, the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Godiva, SAP, Pfizer, Mercedes Benz, & hundreds more.

This client list gives him a front row seat to the high velocity change that is occurring as disruption comes to take hold of every industry and every organization. With that insight, and the customized research that he undertakes for every engagement, he helps to transform growth-oriented organizations into high-velocity innovation heroes!

Jim provides high energy keynotes for audiences of 5,000, or intimate, detailed customized strategic planning sessions for CEO / board / senior management meetings. He has researched key innovation success factors for dozens of associations, professions, companies, individuals, and industries including life sciences, health care, insurance, automotive, manufacturing, agriculture, technology, education, government, consumer products, retail, banking and countless others.

Jim’s insight has been covered in countless global publications, including the UK Telegraph, Dubai’s Capital Magazine, South Africa’s The Star, the BBC, Reuters and AP News, among hundreds more. BusinessWeek named Jim Carroll as one of four leading sources for insight on innovation and creativity. He was also a featured expert on the prime time CNBC series, The Business of Innovation.

Jim Carroll is an author, with numerous books including: Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast; Surviving the Information Age;The Future Belongs To Those Who Are Fast; Ready, Set, Done; and What I Learned From Frogs in Texas: Saving Your Skin with Forward Thinking Innovation. --

Jim Carroll's Speaking Presentations - Virtual / Live (partial listing)

Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Bitcoin and the End of Money: Understanding The Ultimate Disruption  +

In as little as ten years, the very concept of money will have been forever changed. And the fact is, its happening now in real time.

Yet making sense of the reality is a challenge. Headlines scream of an ongoing rise but heightened volatility with the grandfather of all crypto-currencies, Bitcoin. At the same time, a new vocabulary has emerged that involve radical new concepts, the decentralization of authority, and rapid hyperinnovation : blockchain, Ethereum, ASIC and currency miners, hard forks and smart contracts!

What does it mean when Jamie Dymon, the head of  JPMorgan Chase calls Bitcoin a fraud and the people who buy it "stupid," and yet at the same time, the head of the IMF says that Bitcoin could give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money? When a cryptocurrency goes from a valuation of a few hundred dollars to over $10,000 in a matter of months? When 2019 will be defined by an acceleration of the acceptance of distributed ledger concepts at the same time that a horde of fraud artists invade this fascinating new world.

And most important of all, what does it mean to your business and your business model? Is it a fraud, or is it a bubble? What's real, and what's not? Are we in the midst of the latest Tulip and dot.com phrase, or is there substantial change underway?

In this keynote, Futurist and technology expert Jim Carroll peels away the layers of the world of cryptocurrency, outlining the challenges and opportnities that come with the end of the concept of money as we know it. These are truly transformative times - for the realty of blockchain goes far beyond the current hype surrounding Bitcoin. The concept of distributed ledgers will change entire industries, challenge the very nature of the legal concept of offer and acceptance, and unleash a torrent of hyper innovation around business models.

Jims' clients include NASA, Disney, Johnson and Johnson, Mercedes Benz and many more. He has shared his insight on the future around the world, with events in Tokyo, London, Budapest, Dubai, Sydney, Brussels, Munich, and across North America. --

The Jetsons Have Arrived 50 Years Early: What Are YOU Going to Do About It?  +

We have a new vocabulary! Self-driving cars, 3d printing, crowdfunding, the sharing economy, blockchains, personal drones, swarmbots, smart dust, vertical farms, Internet of Things, cognitive computing, smart factories, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, quantum computing, intelligent farms, smart clothing! What seemed to be science fiction just a few short years ago has become a reality today, as time compresses and the future accelerates. George Jetson lived in the future, but the future is here now. Take a voyage with Futurist Jim Carroll into the world of tomorrow, today, as he outlines the key trends, technologies, ideas and initiatives that are transforming our world around us at hypersonic speed. A world in which the medical tri-corder of the 23rd century is available today, the idea of Rosie the Robot is no longer a figment of our imagination but an emerging reality, and the flying car of the future will quickly morph into reality from today’s fast moving drone industry. In just a few short years, it will the year 2025, and the world of tomorrow will be your reality of today. Are you ready for what comes next?  --

The Lessons of Powerful Optimism: Rethinking the Future Right Now  +

We have seen more change in the last 5 years than we have seen in the last 100 – and yet there is so much more to come. But with economic, political, career and business model volatility all around us, it’s all too easy to fall prey to a swirl of negative thinking — with the result that you lose sight of the fascinating opportunities from what comes next.

The best antidote? An uplifting, hopeful and motivational view into the future with futurist Jim Carroll. In this engaging, humorous and yet powerfully refreshing keynote, he takes you on a tour of the trends which are reshaping our world in a great way. A renaissance in thinking and imagination, enabled by 3D printing, advanced robotics and self-driving cars, space tourism, and concepts involving asteroid mining, vertical farming, and other fascinating trends. An era that provides opportunities for the transformation of entire industries such as healthcare, retail, agriculture, sports and transportation through big bold thinking.  The acceleration of ideas with scientific advancements that are allowing us to solve some of the biggest challenges of our time having to do with education,  the environment, energy and water. A generation of millennials who know that it is a great time to think big ideas and do great things with their boundless enthusiasm and global awareness!

It’s time to turn your mind to the future once again, restore a sense of hope and optimism, and link yourself to the fast paced trends which energize your outlook on opportunity! In this keynote, Jim takes you on a voyage to the future, and promises to leave you with a boundless sense of optimism and passion for what comes next!  --

What Do World Class Innovators Do That Others Don’t Do?  +

Business model disruption. The rapid emergence of new competitors. The challenging impact of social media. Rapid prototyping and the global idea machine. The digitization of everything and the impact of hyper connectivity. Rapid technological change. All of these trends — and more — require that organizations pick up the pace when it comes to their innovation efforts. They can do so by learning what the world’s leaders are doing with their innovations efforts. For over 20 years, Jim Carroll has had the opportunity to study what makes some organizations excel at the concept of innovation while others do not. He has carefully catalogued their approaches, attitudes, leadership styles and strategies into a concise overview that is the secret-sauce of innovative thinking.

World class innovators possess a relentless focus on growth, continually transitioning their revenue source, and solving customer problems before the customer knows it’s a problem. They focus on upside down innovation by sourcing innovation ideas through their customers. They concentrate on ingesting fast ideas; checking their speed and focusing on corporate agility; and focusing on long term wins through constant incremental improvements. They know that skills partnerships are a key success factor. Most importantly, world class innovators aren’t afraid to back away from big ideas. They know that right now is a great time to made bold decisions, and to take decisive advantage to forge aggressive new paths against their competitors.

While everyone else wallows in aggressive indecision and organizational sclerosis, world class innovators know that it is a great time to do great things!

In this keynote, Jim Carroll will provide you with unique insight into what these world-class organizations and high-caliber leaders are doing, to position themselves for a future in which the velocity of change is the new normal, acceleration is the reality, agility is the core, and adaptation is the necessity!   --

Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Innovating in the Age of Disruption +

We live in a time of massive challenge, and yet one of massive opportunity, with every industry and organization impacted by business model disruption, the emergence of new competitors, the impact of technology, the collapse of product lifecycle, political volatility and ever-more challenging customers. Those very things which might have worked for us in the past might be the very anchors that could now hold us back as the future rushes at us with ever increasing speed.

In the era of Uber, Tesla and Amazon, leaders must have the insight into unique opportunities for innovation and change. Small, quick upstarts like Square are challenging the global credit card industry, at the same that GPS based driver monitoring devices are rewriting the rules of the auto insurance industry. The NEST Learning Thermostat morphs from a quiet startup to a worthy challenger to industrial energy device powerhouses. Autonomous vehicle technology leads us to road trains and a more rapid emergence of intelligent highway infrastructure. We’re in the era of the end of incumbency, in which small dominates big, fast trumps ponderous, and indecision spawns failure. Everywhere we look, we can see acceleration, speed, and velocity: and in times like these, time isn’t a luxury.

These trends matter — because we are at the dawn of a time in which “software is poised to take over the world.” That’s not an understatement – it’s a reality.

In this keynote, Jim Carroll takes you on a voyage into how the new rules of business and technology are providing for a reality in which the spirit of agility isn’t just an option – it’s the new normal. He provides you with a highly customized overview of the key trends impacting your organization, and invaluable leadership lessons that provide a clear path for going forward.  --

The Masters in Business Imagination: Motivational Guidance for the Era of Fast +

In an era of dramatic and relentless change, people and organizations are scrambling to align themselves for a new, topsy-turvy world. Jim Carroll comes to the rescue with his keynote, The Masters in Business Imagination which will inspire your team to adopt relentless creativity and innovation as core virtues. Once you ‘graduate’ from his MBI class, you’ll possess the skills common to this critical degree of the 21st century economy, by linking your initiatives to a carefully calibrated curriculum of change-oriented thinking.

MBI’s see things differently – they don’t look at things like most people. MBI’s spur creativity in other people – they inspire others to develop similar levels of imaginative thinking. They focus on opportunity – not threat, and realize that action, not inaction, is the driving force for the future. They refuse to accept the status quo and are prepared to eliminate habit. MBI’s bring big ideas to life – and paint pictures of where the organization is going to go, rather than focusing on where it has been in the past. They learn and unlearn, forgoing the dangerous assumption that what they know today will carry them into tomorrow. Most important of all, they refuse to say the word CAN’T. They know that barriers, perceived or otherwise, are simply temporary roadblocks that they can get around with fresh insight, imaginative analysis, and creative thinking!

Fire up your enthusiasm, energy and innovation spirt with a unique motivational keynote by futurist Jim Carroll, as he inspires  your team to align themselves to the only degree they will need for the future – The Masters in Business Imagination!  --

The Internet of Things: Disruption and Opportunity in an Era of Pervasive Connectivity +

Every industry is set to be transformed as an era of hyper connectivity becomes the new norm. The result? Massive business model disruption; the rapid emergence of new competitors; industries in which customers empowered with mobile devices control a wide variety of devices that are a part of their daily lives; unique opportunities for deep analytical insight into trends and opportunities emerging in industries; a reinvention of manufacturing, logistics, retail, healthcare and other industries because of consumers that are empowered, connected, and enabled with a new form of lifestyle management that we’ve never witnessed before.

The Internet of Things is real, and it is unfolding at a blistering pace. We’re in the era of connected thermostats that link to an intelligent energy grid and autonomous vehicle technology that is self-aware and networked into sophisticated, intelligent highway flow control systems. A connected trucking fleet that is self-diagnostic and predictive. Intelligent home appliances that link to packaged food products that automatically upload carb, sodium and other dietary information as part of an overall health and wellness program.

Jim has been talking on stage about The Internet of Things since the late 1990’s, when he began using the phrase “hyper connectivity” to describe a world in which “every device that is a part of our daily lives is about to become plugged in.” Since then, he has delivered his insight on the topic to a wide variety of organizations: several global technology leaders with a keynote talk on the future of home automation; several of the world’s largest HVAC companies about what happens when a global, intelligent home and industrial energy infrastructure emerges through widespread connectivity; consumer, food and packaged goods conferences about the impact of intelligent packaging. He has been booked by many leading global health care organizations for keynotes that have focused on what happens when consumers start aligning their wellness strategies through their own personal healthcare infrastructure.

The Internet of Things is a substantive, transformative trend that will provide more change in every industry in the next ten years than they’ve seen in the last thirty. Jim Carroll already has over a dozen years of on-stage experience with the topic, and can help you understand the strategies, risks and opportunities that you need to be aware of as you move into a hyperconnected future.  --

Healthcare 2025: The Transformative Trends That Will REALLY Define Our Future +

Everyone in a leadership position in the health care system knows that the challenge are substantial and immense. A rapid increase in lifestyle disease, skills shortages, the acceleration of science and medical device technology, combined with cutbacks in funding and resources. That’s why innovation has quickly come to be one of the top issues that senior health care executives and medical professionals are focused on. There is a realization that there is an urgent need to challenge the very philosophies upon which the system is built. That’s why the insight of global futurist Jim Carroll is so timely. In this cutting edge keynote he will provide you with insight into the major scientific, technological, consumer and social trends that will, by the year 2025, allow for some very dramatic changes in the concept of health care delivery.

Where will we be the year 2025? We will have successfully transitioned the system from one which “fixes people after they’re sick” to one of preventative, diagnostic genomic-based medicine. Treating patients for the conditions we know they are likely to develop, and re-architecting the system around that reality. A system which will provide for virtual care through bio-connectivity, and extension of the hospital into a community-care oriented structure. A consumer driven, retail oriented health care environment for non-critical care treatment that provides significant opportunities for cost reduction. Real time analytics and location-intelligence capabilities which provide for community-wide monitoring of emerging health care challenges. “Just-in-time” knowledge concepts which will help to deal with a profession in which the volume of knowledge doubles every six years. That and much, much more.

The fact is, we are going to witness more change in the scientific and technological world of health care in the next ten years than we have seen in the last 25. In his Healthcare2025 keynote, Jim puts into perspective why innovation is no longer just a fashionable phrase — it’s the critical new leadership focus for executives in the health care sector.  --

The Future of Education: Rethinking Opportunity in the Era of Knowledge Velocity +

Sixty five percent of the children who are in pre-school today will work in a job or career that doesn’t yet exist. Half of what students learn in their first year at college is obsolete or revised—by the time they graduate. Fifty percent of the US gross domestic product will be taken up by training and knowledge activities within the decade. With all of these changes at hand, futurist, trends and innovation expert Jim Carroll helps some of the world’s leading educational organizations and institutions make sense of this rapidly evolving future.

Jim challenges audiences to think about innovation in the education sector that takes on bold goals to deal with a reality that has rapid knowledge obsolescence and emergence, the disappearance of existing careers and the emergence of new careers, an ongoing need for continuous knowledge replenishment and the migration of knowledge generation further away from academia. There’s a massively increased challenge from overseas knowledge generation, the fast emergence of new micro-careers, an economy that succeeds through knowledge deployment and a fundamental transformation in the role of educational institutions. In other words: much of the education structure that we have in place today doesn’t match the reality of what we really need to do, given the rapid change occurring in the fundamentals of knowledge—which is why innovative thinking in the field of education today is more important than ever before.

In this keynote presentation, Jim provides concise insight that links a wide variety of global, social, demographic, scientific, technological, business and other trends to the impact on education. He provides an understanding on the velocity of change impacting the industry, and why we need to rethink the context of “how we teach” in light of the realities that has knowledge growing exponentially, the foundation of knowledge generation forever changed and global social networks challenging traditional education delivery models. The reality is that the exponential growth of knowledge leads to massive career specialization—we are in the midst of a fundamental structural organizational and career change, and by 2025 or sooner, it will be all about “just-in-time knowledge.”  --

Big Trends in Agriculture: What Will the Worlds’ Oldest Profession Look Like In 2045? +

Jim Carroll, an agriculture futurist and innovation expert, will look into his crystal ball and predict what agriculture will be like in 2045.

Whether it’s driverless tractors, weed-zapping robots or data-transmitting crops, Jim will forecast what farms might be like 30 years from now, and encourage the industry to embrace high-velocity innovation. Growers that focus on innovation as a core value will find success;  their innovation will focus on the triple-feature need for growth, efficiency and ingestion of new science. It will be by adopting new methodologies, products, partnerships and ideas that they will learn to thrive.

Jim is recognized worldwide as a “thought leader” and authority on global trends, rapid business model change, business transformation in a period of economic uncertainty, and the necessity for fast-paced innovation. He is known for his focused talks in agriculture : he spent so much time customizing the presentation for one agricultural conference that at the conclusion, one fellow came up and asked him how long he had been a farmer!  --

7 Things You Need to Do Right Now: Aligning the Fast Future to Your Current Strategy +

While volatility rocks global markets, there continues to be fundamental truths: your industry, products, competition, skills requirements, organizational capabilities, and ability to respond to rapid change will define your future success. Innovative organizations succeed by mastering the pace of the new high velocity economy.

Product innovations occur today at such a pace that “time to market” is now measured in weeks rather than years. The furious pace of technological innovation continues unabated, with the rapid emergence of new technologies that change entire industries. Customer mindset has become increasingly difficult to capture as we become a society with massive attention deficits. Business models are subject to upheaval due to economic turmoil, commercialization of product, and the rapid emergence of new competitors.

It’s a fast paced world — and that’s why leading edge organizations are focused on key leadership strategies that provide for a fast paced future. In this inspirational keynote, Jim Carroll will challenge you to confront the “big trends” that you need to face head on and what you should be doing RIGHT NOW.  --

Jim Carroll is represented by K&M Productions. For more information, Jim Carroll's speaking schedule, fees & booking Jim Carroll, contact us.