Gerd Leonhard

Gerd Leonhard

Gerd Leonhard: Global Futurist, Humanist, and Leading Authority on Digital Ethics and the Future of Humanity

Core Intelligence Domain: Future Trends
Location: Zurich, Switzerland | Languages: English, German
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence

Gerd Leonhard is a globally renowned futurist, humanist, and the CEO of The Futures Agency. Listed by Wired magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in Europe, he has spent the last two decades advising global business leaders, governments, and C-suite executives on how to navigate the complex intersection of disruptive technology and human values. Through his proprietary frameworks on “Digital Ethics” and “The Good Future,” Leonhard shifts the strategic focus from purely technological capabilities to humanist paradigms, ensuring that artificial intelligence and rapid digitisation serve to elevate, rather than diminish, human potential.

Executive Leadership & Professional Trajectory

As a highly authoritative voice in global strategic foresight, Leonhard has cultivated a distinguished career rooted in anticipating systemic disruptions and guiding organisations through exponential change.

• CEO, The Futures Agency: Spearheading a global network of forward-thinking consultants, providing foresight strategy to Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, and governmental bodies.
• Founder, The Good Future Project: Developing proprietary narratives and global initiatives that prioritise an alignment of technological progress with human survival and flourishing.
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA): Recognised for his exceptional contributions to social progress, humanism, and ethical development.
• Bestselling Author: His seminal work, Technology vs. Humanity, has been published in over a dozen languages, cementing his status as a pioneer in the global dialogue surrounding digital ethics.
• Early Digital Pioneer: Leveraged his deep background as an entrepreneur in the digital music industry to anticipate the profound disintermediation and digitisation of the early 2000s, establishing his empirical methodology for forecasting paradigm shifts.

Proprietary Frameworks & Strategic Foresight

Leonhard’s intelligence goes beyond predictive trend analysis; he provides actionable, philosophical, and ethical frameworks designed to future-proof global organisations and leadership teams.

• The 10 Megashifts: A comprehensive categorisation of the structural changes redefining global business, including digitisation, automation, virtualisation, robotisation, and cognitive computing.
• The 4 Ps Paradigm: An executive framework shifting the corporate focus from pure profit-centric models to a balanced, sustainable ecosystem of People, Planet, Purpose, and Prosperity.
• Digital Ethics & The “Andel” Concept: Establishing governance and ethical boundaries in the deployment of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), exploring the tension between becoming “Androids” (machine-like) versus “Angels” (elevated humans).

Primary Speaking Themes & Masterclasses

A highly sought-after keynote speaker, Leonhard delivers immersive, cinematic presentations that challenge executive complacency and inspire visionary, long-term leadership.

• The Good Future: Designing sustainable, human-centric business models for the next decade and moving beyond the obsession with exponential growth.
• Artificial Intelligence & The Future of Work: Maximising human creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence in an era of ubiquitous automation and intelligent machines.
• Technology vs. Humanity: Navigating the moral dilemmas of exponential technological growth and the urgent need to establish global digital ethics councils.
• Sustainable Innovation: Merging ecological responsibility with cutting-edge technological advancement to achieve true corporate resilience.
• Navigating the Megashifts: Anticipating the societal, economic, and industrial transformations of the next ten years to drive proactive corporate strategy.

Key Takeaways

• Human-Centric Strategy: Leaders will learn to integrate human values, emotional intelligence, and ethical consideration deeply into their core digital transformation agendas.
• Ethical Governance: Actionable insights on establishing robust digital ethics frameworks to mitigate the reputational and societal risks of unregulated AI deployment.
• Proactive Future-Proofing: A profound understanding of the ‘Megashifts’ enabling C-suite executives to pivot from reactive management to proactive, visionary foresight.
• Sustainable Value Creation: Strategies for adopting the 4 Ps (People, Planet, Purpose, Prosperity) to ensure long-term corporate viability, attract top-tier talent, and deliver authentic societal impact.