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Ben excels at explaining complex technological and sociological topics to lay audiences, and both governments and blue chip businesses value him as a high-level advisor on these matters.
He is an author, futurist and technologist, specialising in the effects of the internet on the world’s political, cultural and social spheres.
One of the world's leading Futurists, Ben Hammersley is the founder and principal of Hammersley Futures, an international strategic forecasting consultancy.
Their main work is in guiding corporations and governmental agencies to think clearly about the future. They, and he, specialize in how society reacts to technological innovation: including the future of crime and conflict, the changing nature of the workplace and the market, and the new cognitive tools needed to flourish in the coming decades.
Previously Ben was executive editor of WIRED, the writer and presenter of the BBC’s “Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley” (now on Netflix or Amazon Prime internationally), a war correspondent in Afghanistan, an advisor to the European Commission, a pilot and wilderness medic in the USA, the author of 5 books, and the inventor of the word "Podcast".
He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughter.
In this topic, we teach audiences about the skills, techniques, and cognitive tools that leaders need to both understand those changes, and shape their own future. Ideal for executive learning and development programs, or thought-leader positioning customer events, these keynotes are consistently rated as life-changing, with plenty of actionable take-aways for the audience. This topic also extends well into subsequent break-outs and workshop sessions, which can be provided.
In this topic, we show the workings and the shape of the interconnected, interdependent, networked, co-arisen modern world, and how it affects the audience’s business and lives. From youth culture in Brazil, to high-speed rail in China, Russian postmodern foreign policy to non-human corporations, weaponized memetic infections to European nationalism, solarpunks to 山寨, climate mitigation to shadow economies, we provide a true grounding in today, without which you cannot possibly plan for tomorrow. This is especially appreciated by c-suite audiences, and has been a repeated hit at evening events with partners and spouses.
The post-modern asymmetric reaction to the extreme commercial and military hegemony of the West, or the quasi-Monopoly power of the large corporation is no longer one of physical violence, but of memetic infection, and purposeful, weaponised, confusion. For these audiences, leadership, and strategy, is the art of making the best decisions with the knowledge available. But making those decisions requires accurate data, clear analysis, accurate thinking, without interference. In this talk we detail the ways that the final line of risk is the individual executive’s ability to think clearly, how this is under specific targeted attack, and how to defend against that. This topic is of deep interest to multinational top tier executives, or those being shaped into becoming so. It can also include follow-up reading, and online sessions.
"Just wanted to say a BIG thank you for your Keynote at Google@SMG on Tuesday! The feedback has been extremely positive, your session went down a treat and left our guests motivated and inspired. It's been a pleasure working with you." - Sade Salami, Google
"We were delighted with his speech and people's feedback was excellent. I would highly recommend Ben and would rate him 10/10." - Ronan Murphy, CEO, Smarttech
"Ben was fantastic, everyone loved him. Some feedback on him in our evaluation form:
- Ben H was incredibly inspiring and insightful
- Surprising speakers, especially Ben Hammersley, very inspiring and unexpected. In general inspiring and mind opening.
- I particularly loved the outside perspective of Ben Hammersley. He was great, and just being about to step out of our industry was very beneficial.
- Good variety of speakers, Inspiration with Ben!
- The humble ‘characters’ (Alison, John, Troy, Ben, Craig and Andrew) of these giants are really engaging and overwhelming.
- Ben Hammersley was stimulating curiosity about all things from our business and I can apply them."
- Jo Salmon, BBDO Europe Mifddle East and Africa
"Thank you very much for the fantastic presentation you did yesterday! Everybody loved it!" - Anna Sbotinova, Saxo Bank, Copenhagen
"Just a quick note to say thank you so much for Chairing Warc's Online Research event last week. Feedback has been very positive and over all the event was really well received. Thanks again for your great questions and for keeping the whole day on track. It was great to meet you" - Claire Farrow for WARC, London