For close to 25 years, Jim has been motivating and inspiring audiences worldwide.
Some of his most recent events are covered below. This is but a sample of his work! Topics covered include keynotes on the future of self driving cars & trucks, agriculture & farming, banking and financial servics, food & retail, architecture and construction, and smart homes and the Internet of Things.
First off, can you tell you that Jim Carroll loves his job? Here’s a picture from when when was on stage for an event in London, England, for Godiva Chocolates worldwide. Never mind that with jet lag, it was the equivalent of 3:30AM in the morning!
He’s on, he’s wired, he’s inspired – that’s what he does!
The following includes commentary from Jim on the events.
The Future of Government, World Government Summit, Dubai, UAE
I was invited to speak at this massive global conference, with 3,400 attendees from 60+ countries worldwide. It’s sponsored and opened by the Prime Minster of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and tasked with the issue of examining the future role of government in solving some of the challenges of our time.
It was an absolutely fascinating event; I shared the agenda with other speakers such as Goldie Hawn, Robert deNiro and Forest Whittaker, the head of the International Monetary Fund, the Prime Ministers of France and India, and more!
My session description? “Futurist Jim Carroll takes a look at the key trends which will impact our future in an era that has change happening faster than ever before. Even today, we have a new vocabulary that didn’t exist just a few years ago: 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.”
Take a look at the brief highlight clip of my talk – it even comes with ‘epic music!’
Nikon 100th Anniversary Celebration, Tokyo, Japan
This was certainly a treat – they invited me in to headline a dinner with my observations on the future! I opened with a story on when NASA invited me in (twice!) for a talk on the disruption of the space industry, transformative leadership and fast paced trends. My audience consisted of people from 37 countries, with simultaneous translation into Japanese and Chinese. You don’t get to be a company with a 100 year history without constant, relentless innovation and reinvention, and so it was an honour to be invited in to headline this prestigious event.
Disruption: Self-Driving Cars and the Sharing Economy, Mercedes Benz, Detroit, Michigan
Obviously, this is a HOT topic, and being invited in by one of the pre-eminent automative companies in the world to share my thoughts on these trends is certainly a career highlight! 2017 was characterized by an increased number of organizations looking for in depth insight to the massive disruption occurring in the industry – I spoke at automotive, trucking, hi-tech, finance and insurance conferences about the impact of self-driving, autonomous vehicles. Simply check out some of the posts in the automotive trends section of my blog – it’s over there on the right — for some insight into why companies like this are choosing to bring me in.
The Acceleration of Risk in the Era of Disruption, Baker McKenzie client conferences, Dallas and Chicago
It’s pretty cool when the top-ranked global legal firm — operating in 38 countries with 13,000+ legal staff — picks you to come in and speak to their most important clients about the future — and the unique legal issues that the future brings. That’s what Baker McKenzie did! The audience was pretty spectacular – key corporate legal counsel for a vast number of global Fortune 500 companies, individuals responsible for managing the accelerating complex legal issues of our time. My keynote took a look at fast new risks involving intellectual property, the Internet of Things, new careers, accelerated product innovation and so much more. I’m busy working on a blog post on my thoughts – stay tuned!
Manufacturing Trends and Disruption, Legrand, Connecticut
It was a busy year for keynotes in the manufacturing space! This talk was for Legrands North American leadership meeting, where the CEO and his team fine tune strategies and plans for the coming year. They’re big in the global tech industry, manufacturing a wide variety of component parts and cabling. My talk took a look at key trends providing opportunity in the manufacturing process, including the factory of the future, the Internet of Things, digitization, 3D printing, accelerated supply chains and much more.
Future of food, agriculture, retail and consumer behaviour, Simplot, Phoenix, Arizona
This agricultural company is the largest global supplier of French fries to McDonalds and other food companies, as well as being very active in other aspects of the industry. This was a team leadership meeting as well, with individuals from throughout the organization – marketing, product development, legal, finance and accounting, supply chain and more. They invited me in to speak to over 400 executives about key trends that will impact them in the future, including the accelerated pace of agricultural science, changing consumer behaviour, faster marketing and brand challenges, and other similar topics.
Future of energy – renewables, batteries and more, SAP Utilities conference, California
You have to love it when a client invites you back – and in this case, SAP was bringing me back in for about the 20th time since they first booked me in 2003! This conference had about 500 executives from the energy utility industry in the room, with a focus on future energy, water and wastewater trends. I delivered a barnburner of a speech in the morning for a small group of senior executives, and a repeat performance later in the afternoon for the entire group, with a focus on the massive, disruptive change occurring in the energy space, including issues around grid party, micro-grids and intelligent grids, the acceleration of renewable generation methodologies, battery storage technologies and more.
Future of customer interaction, SOMOS, Chicago, Illinois
This is a new group — 3 years old — that represents the 1-800 toll free service industry, and the invited me in for a keynote on trends and issues impacting consumer behaviour. I spoke to issues around mobile, increased and accelerated expectations for customer support, and how the Amazon effect is coming to affect the latter, to name just a few issues!
Retail and consumer behaviour, XCelerate 2017, Las Vegas
This event draws the CIO’s and strategy executives for a vast number of the largest grocery and consumer product retailers from across North America. There was one big word in the room – Amazon! My keynote examined the types of retail trends that the national media (such as Time Magazine) turns to me for, including faster supply chains, collapsing product lifecycles, the new consumer and brand influencers, intelligent and active packaging and more. This was one of many retail events this year — the highlight being when Godiva Chocolates brought me in (twice!) earlier this year for a similar talk.
Disruption and innovation, McKay CEO Forum, Vancouver, Canada
Imagine a room full of 300 CEO’s and senior executives, and you get the McKay CEO Forum, one of the pre-eminent senior level events in Western Canada. I did a wide ranging talk on the theme of disruption and industry transformation, putting into perspective the stark trends that are impacting and reshaping every industry at a furious pace.
Quintiq World Tour 2017, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This is a company that builds a software platform that helps companies to manage complex supply chains and workforces, and my keynote focused on why the need for ‘managing complexity’ is becoming critical in the context of faster trends. If the world gets faster, it gets more complex. The winners will be those who can manage that complexity!
CPAmerica, Washington, DC
An accounting and professional services firm! My keynote took a look at the disruptive trends which are and will continue to change their client base, and the unique financial, legal, risk and partnership issues that this might present them going forward. It was a talk that took a look at the future of professional services in the era of fast paced change!
Fin-tech and disruption, Finastra annual user group meeting, Orlando, Florida
This company is a software vendor to the community bank and credit union industry – and naturally, that’s what I zoned in on. With a little bit of the Jetsons to boot! (While all of my talks are highly customize to the audience and issues at hand, I also have 25 years of stage craft experience, and know how to have fun with a crowd!. In these days of mobile device obsessions, you need to know how to work an audience and engage them.)
Manufacturing Trends and Disruption, AssaBloy, Connecticut
Another CEO led leadership meeting, in this case for this company which is one of the world’s leading manufactures and suppliers of door and window locks — everything from simple deadbolt assembly to complex chip based hotel door locking devices. Globally, a wide variety of manufacturing organizations are finding that I’m THE guy to inspire them to think about Manufacturing 2.0, the Factory of the Future, and how to get there.
Future of food and consumer behaviour, Dallas, Texas
The National Automatic Merchandising Association CEO saw me at an event, and told me she immediately determined that I should come in and headline one of their events — in this case, their annual Coffee, Tea & Water conference. Fast changing consumer behaviour, the rapid evolution of taste trends and brands, the impact of social media, intelligent packaging, the Internet of Things and more!
Future of the global economy, Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma, OK
Over 700 local executives from throughout the city attended the event that I headlined, with a keynote that took a look at over 20 trends which are providing opportunity in the global economy. While much of the US is on the ropes with the never-ending political soap opera, senior executives are also eager to understand where the global economy is really head. OKC picked me to do this job, and the reports coming in are that they are thrilled with the job that I did!
Economic development trends and the future of manufacturing, International Asset Management Council, Richmond, Virginia
The International Asset Management Council is an organization relentlessly focused on economic trends, and represent two distinct groups – economic development representatives from government organizations, including states, provinces and cities, as well as individuals in many Fortune 1000 organizations responsible for future site locations for manufacturing plants, R&D facilities or other corporate locations.My talk took a look at the disruptive trends of today, and what that will mean for future economic development opportunities tomorrow.
Canadian Manufacturing and Technology Show, Toronto, Canada
This is the biggest manufacturing conference in Canada, organized by SME (previously, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers). This is the 4th time SME has had me headline an event – two other notable ones were the massive IMX show in Las Vegas, and the Big-M manufacturing conference in Detroit.
Henry Schein, Long Island, New York
This company is one of the major players in the dental, medical and veterinary products industry, serving well over 100,000 medial professionals around the world. The senior leadership brought me in for a look at the rapid evolution of medical science, consumer and patient trends, healthcare issues — and the potential disruption that might come from Amazon and other organizations. Companies everywhere need to stay apprised of the accelerating rends which will shape and impact their industry, and this is a good example of the many internal leadership events I do for organizations. It doesn’t hurt that I’d previously done keynotes in each of these industry verticals.
Global Economic Growth Trends, Nevada Economic Development Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sadly, one week before the horrific Las Vegas shootings, I spoke at the University of Nevada Las Vegas for economic development officials from across the state, on key economic opportunist beyond the tourism and gaming sector. It covered issues related to renewables and energy, self driving cars and accelerating industries, workforce and skills issues and much more
That’s a few of the events from the fall! Stay tuned for 2018 – it begins with some excitement, when I headline the World Government Summit in Dubai, this February. Previous speakers have included Barack Obama, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, Elon Musk and others. It should be fun! And I am thrilled to have the opportunity to make an impact.
Purina, San Antonio, Texas
I do a LOT of talks in agriculture; so much so, that some folks have asked me how long I’ve been a farmer! That’s because, like very other industry, I get deep into the trends impacting the industry and folks in the room.
This event featured two talks over dinner over 2 nights, for over 500 local agricultural dealers from throughout the US, primarily the midwestern states. My keynote took a look at the global trends sweeping the world of agriculture – precision ag, genomics, drone technology, the acceleration of data insight, generational turnover of the family farm and more.
In addition, I took a hard look at what local dealers in co-ops and more should be focusing on as this industry, like many others, comes to embrace and be disrupted by e-commerce. It’s only a matter of time before Amazon starts having a big impact in this sector, and the path forward for the folks in the room is a focus on providing their base of customers with effect service, support, knowledge and insight.
Omnitracs Outlook 2017, Phoenix, Arizona – Trucking Keynote
This is a software and logistics company in the fast moving trucking industry – my keynote was all about the future of autonomous trucks, bio-connected driver monitoring, the fast change occurring in the logistics/supply chain industry and more. There’s a blog post about it here. I’ll have another! I’m doing more and more in the automative/trucking, and general transportation space – to such a degree, I’ve rolled out a separate keynote description: Accelerating the Auto and Trucking Industry in the Era of Self-Driving Vehicles.
United Suppliers Technology Exchange – New Orleans, Louisiana, Agricultural keynote
For this event I had about 300 farmers in the room — and truth be told, I love working with these folks. Farmers are some of the most innovative people I know — they are open to new ideas, the exploration of new technologies; they are constantly in search of new methodologies and so much more. It’s a theme I capture in the agriculture section of my Web site; in particular, read the post Two Types of Farmers. I’ve got a separate keynote description for my agricultural talks : Big Trends in Agriculture: What Will the World’s Oldest Profession Look Like in 2025?
Commscope, Dallas, Texas – The Future of Technology
This company is a long time pioneer in the world of telecom and hi-tech. They know everything is changing with hyperconnectivty, the Internet of Things, massive acceleration in product innovation and product lifecyles, constant growth as every company becomes a software company, and as Moore’s law rules everything from healthcare to agriculture, cars and trucks to every other industry! (That’s a long sentence — and while it might be breathtaking, so is the speed of change). Who better to help them make sense of a future in which the future belongs to those who are fast? (Hint: Me!)
American Financial Services Association – New Orleans – Automotive keynote
Again, in New Orleans — in this case, the finance/leasing end of the automotive industry, including financing companies and the dealer network. So much change in terms of business models in this sector: what’s the future of the financing of car purchasing, in an era in when people might not even buy cars anymore as the sharing economy takes hold? Not to mention the fact that the very essence of the vehicle is changing as innovation speeds up, the dashboard goes out of date faster, and the resale value changes quicker! Don’t forget – the very nature of what we consider a car is changing as companies like Tesla come to redefine the industry!
Pladis – Godiva Chocolates, McVities Biscuits Ulker – Keynote on the Future of Food & Retail, London, England
This was a huge amount of fun! I love overseas trips! And what an organization — Pladis is new, with three separate, distinct brands coming together with a focus on future opportunities. My keynote covered trends in fast-changing retail, consumer behaviour, store infrastructure, brand promotion and more. It must have gone well — since Godiva is having me back for a separate supply chain event in Ghent, Belgium in May!
Scotiabank, Toronto, Canada – Future of Banking/Financial Services Keynote
More disruption — business models, the rapid evolution of technology, new competitors with PayPal, Google and Apple. Just what is a bank anymore, and who is it? What do they do in terms of innovation with fast changing expectations, business model disruption, the relentless impact of mobile, the rapid acceleration of innovation from every perspective? Whatever the case may be, agility needs to be the core focus going forward — and that was the overall message within my keynote, which took a deep look at the trends sweeping this industry.
Alberici Group, St, Louis, Missouri – The Future of Architecture and Construction
This was a smaller conference than the others, but equally important! It was a leadership meeting for this major American construction company. My keynote kicked off the event, and covered issues around the rapid emergence of new construction methodologies, new materials and design concepts, fast paced architectural trends, the acceleration of skills and knowledge. This keynote came on the heels of a talk I did in the fall on the same type of issues for the American Concrete Institute – read more here. One of my key goals – get them aligned to the trends in their industry, rather than shying away from them.
Whirlpool, Chicago, Illinois – Future Impact of Internet of Things (#IoT)
This is a company that is making a transition from being a company that sells appliances, to being a computer company that happens to sell hi-tech within appliances. The industry is speeding up as Moore’s law comes to take hold; the value proposition changes with the service-ification (Yup, I made that word up) of business models, and as big device architecture issues come into play. I’m doing a LOT of talks around the Internet of Things — and its nice to see that a senior leadership team in the forefront of what is happening here chose me to come in and share key insight on what’s next.
Gore Mutual, Toronto
This was certainly a highlight – I shared the stage with Astronaut Chris Hadfield (best known for his rendition of David Bowie’s Space Odyssey from the International Space Station, with 36 million+ Youtube views) and Environmentalist David Suzuki.
The event was arranged for insurance brokers and distributors, encouraging them to align themselves to the future trends that are reshaping their industry. My role was to speak to issues of disruption and change in the insurance industry, a topic I’ve covered for many major insurance conferences and companies worldwide.
I used a brand new slide deck at this event — it’s two weeks old! — and I must say: it rocks. The material flows at a fascinating pace, the audience reaction was tremendous, and it does a great job of conveying our world of fast change. I’m adopting this deck for all keynotes going forward — and I will have some video from this presentation soon.
Genentech, San Francisco
This event was for 550 executives from this pharma-tech company — it’s owned by French pharmaceutical giant Roche. It’s also one of the global leaders in the business of pharmacogenetics : that is, the development of highly targeted drug therapies based on particular genetic profiles.
My keynote took a look at the future of healthcare and the big transformative opportunities that exist in a world of accelerated science. The topic strikes close to home for me : I’ve had my own genetic profile done (the news is all good!)
Godiva Chocolates, Ghent, Belgium
This was a repeat engagement — the company, along with its parent Ulker from Turkey, had me headline a global leadership meeting in London, UK in January. The Godiva team found the message to be powerful, and so they invited me back for a deeper dive into global retail trends. My keynote took a look at consumer behaviour, fast new retail store technology, the impact of Amazon, the role of the mobile device in collapsing attention spans, the new product influencers and so much more….
In this case, the small meeting room (with 50 executives from 18 countries, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Germany and more…) didn’t offer a great photo, but the view outside of my hotel room sure did! I love doing events in Europe! Invite me in!
The world of retail is changing at a furious pace – witness the recent purchase of Whole Foods by Amazon — and I’m doing quite a few talks on trends in this area, including for a major retail conference in Las Vegas this fall.
4C Summit, Tucson, Arizona
I love it when I get repeat gigs! Back in 2010, I was invited into this annual event, to speak to 250 cattle ranchers on future trends with ranching, food, consumer behaviour and more. I had several billions of dollars worth of cattle in the room and reported on it at length in a few blog posts.
They invited me back again this year for a keynote that took a look at the new world of consumer influence, issue messaging and more. In the era of fake news and rapid myth-information, cattle ranchers need to do a better job in telling their story to the world, and that was the entire focus of the event this year.
In my opening keynote, I put these trends into perspective. And, to be honest, I was blunt with them that if they recognize that some misinformation exists, they should their emotions to drive their passion for purpose.
Hence, a rather undiplomatic slide. But it did get a lot of retweets!
Drive 17, CUDirect, Las Vegas
This event took a look at the future of automotive lending with a particular emphasis on the credit union sector, which is the line of business that CUDirect is focused on.
I had a bit of fun at the sound check the day before, with Vegas being Vegas after all – you’re always guaranteed a great stage! Here’s an infinite me!
Of course, the next morning I was on duty, outlining the many ways in which the era of self-driving cars, intelligent highways, the sharing economy and many more trends would come to challenge the very idea of automative lending in the future. The auto industry is accelerating fast — and I’m doing numerous talks for industries and companies affected by this trend.
Nasscom C-Summit, New York
Now this was cool! I was invited in by Nasscom, which represents the global software and business process outsourcing industry for India. Essentially the national trade association for one of the largest software and services industries in the world.
My closing keynote, “Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Innovating in the Era of Disruption”, provided context on how quickly our world is changing. This was the debut of my new slide deck (mentioned above), and walking on stage, I realized it more than rocked!
This was a great audience: I had global CIO’s from Johnson and Johnson, Schneider Electric, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Phillips Health, NBC Universal, Estee Lauder, GE and Anheuser Busch Inbev, and over 200 more.
As an aside, these folks know that, despite a world of fantasy in Washington, access to global skills is a key factor for future success.
Highmark Health, Pittsburgh
This is one of the leading players in the healthcare insurance and group benefits market in Ohio, and they invited me in for a talk on the future of healthcare. In attendance were senior executives, HR and benefits managers for major employers throughout the region.
While political volatile rages, the science and technology of healthcare isn’t slow down, and I put some context on the transformative trends that can redefine our approach to some of the more complex issues of our time. Highmark is part of the Blue Cross group, and I’ve keynoted at least 15 other Blue Cross events over the last 15 years.
I didn’t have a picture of the stage, but did get this great photo during my morning walk in the City of Bridges. That’s their HQ in the background!
Western Manufacturing Technology Show, Edmonton, Alberta
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers has had me keynote some major events in the past — 2,000 manufacturing executives in Las Vegas at the IMX show , and 1,500 more at the BigM conference in Detroit. Each of these also involved a small, intimate dinner presentation for CEO’s and others the evening before.
Based on that track record, SME has booked me to headline 3 major Canadian manufacturing events; this was the first in the series. Like every other industry, manufacturing is being reimagined and reinvented at a furious pace.
My keynote took a look at fast trends involving 3D printing, the factory of the future (“Industry 4.0”), rapid digitization, the role of the Internet of Things in the factory, rapid prototyping and so much more. In the fall, I will headline the biggest Canadian manufacturing event in Toronto.
Exelon
My talks don’t just involve events on massive stages in Las Vegas : I also do an ever increasing number of small, hands on working sessions with small groups of executives.
In that context, I was approach by this major energy company to come in and spend a morning with their nuclear division, with a particular focus on the “future of energy.”
Given the audience background, I literally had a room with a whole bunch of nuclear engineers! A good example of the unique type of topics that I take on through my process of detailed customization.
Habitat For Humanity Annual Conference, Kelowna, British Columbia
Sometimes, you get a keynote that goes beyond the issues of disruption, business model change and other issues. In this case, the role for passion, purpose and caring in society.
My keynote for the annual conference of the Canadian component of this global initiative took a look at future trends impacting philanthropy and charitable organizations; the changing nature of the home and shelter; smart cities and more.
I launched a phrase in the room – given the current ugly political environment in the US, my belief that it is time that people “double down on dignity.” There seem to be so many in society who are driven by an agenda of hate, fear, distrust of immigrants and the poor, and in that context, its important that we examine our social and human values. And hence, double down on our philanthropic efforts.
The phrase and the context in which it was said certainly caught some attention!
Allegacy Credit Union, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The CEO saw me speak last year at an event in Chicago on the trends impacting and disrupting the financial services sector, and so she decided to invite me in for a working session with their regular Board of Directors meeting.
It sort of expanded from there, and I ended up speaking to a room of about 50, consisting of the Board, key leadership executives and a few community leaders.
I don’t have a stage shot, since it was held in the main meeting room at the Wake Forest University football stadium — but did get this shot before I began.
It’s been a busy time for me with talks in the credit union industry — just two days ago, I spent 3 hours with the Board of a major Canadian credit union on similar issues of disruption.
Ontario Municipal Systems Association, Windsor, Ontario
This event had several hundred CIO’s and IT executives for cities and towns from across the province. My keynote examined the future of smart cities, intelligent infrastructure, the role of the Internet of Things in a municipal setting and more.
The keynote certainly caught some attention, with an article appearing in a national trade publication – municipalities should not be left behind in an era of acceleration!
There is a very important theme here: an increasing number of economic development decisions are being made based upon the ‘smart infrastructure’ of a region. This will be a focus of a keynote I do in the fall for the Nevada Economic Development Association.
Independent Insurance Agents, Austin, Texas
It”s not just farmers who are faced with disruptive trends – everyone else is, particularly in the world of insurance.
This talk took a look at the key disruptive trends sweeping the world of property and casualty, as well as life insurance. The theme tied in to the same type of theme for the Purina dealers – when you business model is disrupted and some consumers are choosing to go ahead without you, you only survive by focusing on your role and the value of the unique services you provide to ensure that others don’t.
Amazon might one day get into the business of selling insurance – what happens then? That’s one of the challenging scenarios I presented from the stage.
Magellan Health
This organization provides health care services to a vast range of health insurers – organizations such as Blue Cross and others. And the day before my keynote on disruptive trends in the healthcare industry, Amazon announced a healthcare initiative with J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway.
What, Amazon again? Are you getting that there is a theme here? Definitely, which is why I now have a whole speaking topic dedicated to how to deal with Amazon. Do you?
Also, healthcare! Over the years, I’ve done a lot of keynotes on the future of healthcare. The Magellan folks saw me at an event, and decided I would be the idea person to kickoff the 2nd day of their event, with a talk that looked at the demographics, scientific, genomic, technological and other trends providing for massive disruption – and opportunity – in this sector.
For more, take a look at my keynote topic, Healthcare 2025: The Transformative Trends that Will Redefine Our Future.
Gemalto, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Security, security, security! Gemalto is one of the global leaders in providing complex solutions to the complex problems of a hyper-connected world, for a global client base of Fortune 1000 organizations, government and others. They found me, and figured I would be the best guy to put a spin onto that with a good hard look at the future of computer and security risk.
My keynote took a look at the future of security and computer risk – in the context of the disruptive trends of our times. This included a look at the core issues leading to a faster world and massive business model disruption and change – everything from the acceleration of science, to what happens when every company becomes a software company; the impact of an increase in the number of business partnerships due to skills fragmentation, and the issues that come from the acceleration of knowledge; not to forget the hyper-connectivity that comes from the Internet of Things and the new business models that emerges a result. From this, the new risk that emerges as a result!
In essence, my keynote took a look at how organizations are faced with new risk, unforeseen risk, faster risk, more complex risk, extended risk, and the acceleration of risk! This was somewhat similar to the talk I did for 2 client events for Baker McKenzie, one of the top 2 law firms in the world.
National Rural Electrical Cooperative (NRECA), Nashville, Tennessee
The future belongs to the fast – particularly in the world of the fast moving energy industry!
There’s a massive amount of change going in this sector – small, local, community energy producers. The electric grid, for example, is bound to become less centralized as residential ratepayers print three-dimensional solar cells from their home computers or run their heating and cooling systems from their cell phones. The acceleration of technology for backyard energy production and the ongoing reduction in costs of solar and wind and biomass. Quite simply, it’s an era in which private grids, and where small-scale generators sharing continues to take hold, will continue to upend the traditional utility-customer business model.
There was a great blog post, The GIS Of Trees: Location Intelligence and Maps are the Future of Just About Everything! to which I responded, from one attendee that captures the essence of my talk.
Ontario Dental Association, Toronto, Canada
You might think the world of dental care does not change much, or slowly, or not at all – but it does. The acceleration of 3D printing technologies for dental implants and more; the constant arrival of new materials and methodologies, ever more challenging patients, dentures and molars that connect via Internet-of-Things (#Iot) technology (yes, that’s a potential thing!) and more.
People and professions need insight into what comes next in order to align themselves to a faster future – without that, they become stuck, suffer from inertia, and fall behind or into irrelevance. That was the focus of my keynote for a few thousand dentists at this massive, sprawling conference. And all at 8AM in the morning!
Association of Manufacturing Techn0logy annual conference, Miami, Florida
Can you say ‘irony?’ That’s the case when I did a talk on the future of manufacturing, at the Trump Doral resort, shortly after global trade barriers were announced.
The future of manufacturing is bound up in relentlessly fast trends – 3D printing, the digitization of the factory, changes in product development, mass customization and so much more – and that’s what I covered in my talk.
I also got a little bit aggressive with the message that one can’t hope to wave a magic wand and bring the industry back to 1970, and magically return a bunch of jobs. Did the message resonate? One followup email said so: “Jim, thanks for your reality check on the future of our sector. It’s all about innovation, new ideas, new methodologies, and having the courage to align to the future rather than wishing for the past. It was SPOT ON! NEEDED!”
National Mining Association, Scottsdale, Arizona
Well, this was fun! A keynote for CEO’s and senior executives of many American and global mining on the future trends that will provide opportunity and challenge going forward.
Everything from the continued acceleration of autonomous vehicle technology, to remote diagnostics, virtual reality, the Internet of Things and so much more. Everything, that is, but the acceleration of renewable energy. I’ll leave that small note for another day!
American Fidelity, Dallas, Texas
A company in the group benefits, insurance, banking and other financial services – with a corporate leadership meeting aimed at focusing on what to do to deal with the disruptive trends in the industry.
The senior management team had seen me last November when I spoke to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, liked my message, and decided right away to invite me in.
We had a great discussion around the impact of mobile technology, accelerated expectations for interaction, disruptive competitors, empowered consumers and more. Key point – change in financial services continues to come quickly, and the fleet and the agile will survive.
CCI Wireless, Calgary, Alberta
Rural communities need broadband access, and this organization is working to provide it throughout this Canadian province.
In was brought in to speak to their annual general meeting, speaking to Board Members about the trends which are increasing the need for rural broadband access – such as the agricultural trends that I spoke about to Purina for months earlier. Agriculture is increasingly all about data and connectivity, and a region will fall behind if it does not have the infrastructure to support the rapid evolution of the industries upon which economic growth depends.
It was a bit like an economic development talk, and I have a detailed post on those ideas, 20 Big Rules for Economic Development in the Era of Acceleration.
Partners in Building, Houston, Texas
This company is one fo the most successful, established luxury home builders in the Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee markets. The CEO wanted to find someone to come in to speak to their team — 100 strong – with a focus on the future of homes, neighbourhoods, construction methodologies, materials and more. And, he found me!
Since I didn’t have a photo from this event, Ill take another approach: the photo above is from my daily quote, which I put together just before going to spend my time with them. I had shared with some of their team in advance some of the trends I would cover – in my combined keynote and workshop spanning 3 hours.- and the comment was made that it was pretty scary.
No, it’s not – unless you make it scary. Some people see the future and see a threat – innovators see the same future and see an opportunity!
Macola Software, Chicago, Illinois
They are a company in the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning software) space in the manufacturing, consumer products and other industries, and invited me in to speak at their annual user group meeting.
My keynote took a look at the disruptive trends impacting the world of manufacturing and products, as noted in my keynote description on the talk: “Collapsing product lifecycles. Mass customization. Digitization, robotics and the cloud. Design based on crowd thinking. Build to demand, as opposed to build to inventory, business models. The role of the Internet of Things in product innovation as well as manufacturing process innovation. Spatial-innovation with advanced manufacturing robotics. New materials and substances that allow for change in product development. Rapid prototyping, sketch to scale, and agility-based business models…. are you ready for the new world of manufacturing?”
Global Financial Firm (private), San Francisco, California
This one was fun – a dinner talk for CEO’s and senior executives from major financial, energy and infrastructure firms worldwide. The name of the organization is private; suffice it to say I had several hundred billions of dollars of equity represented in the room.
It was late – I didn’t start till 845pm San Francisco time, and the crowd was obviously tired (and ‘refreshed’), but I kicked up the energy a notch and kept them entertained with a keynote that took at look at the disruptive trends of our time – energy, automative, highways, building construction and more. Noted one attendee in a followup email: “It takes a special skill to capture the attention and imagination of a room full of Type-A’s after they’ve had a full day, and its already late in the day. You certainly did that with a talk that was inspiring, challenging, thought provoking and funny — all at the same time. You are on of the best speakers I’ve ever seen. Well done!”
Ontario Road Builders Association, Toronto, Canada
This event had a similar theme to the one above – with a more specific look at what is happening with the future of highways, vehicles and infrastructure.
The quote in the photo captures the essence of my keynote. Over the last 5 years, I’ve done numerous talks on just how quickly the concept of transportation is changing, as well as the methods involved. My goal with this group was to get them thinking on how the very concept of a ‘road’ and a ‘highway’ is changing in the era of acceleration.
If we are all sitting in electric vehicles that drive themselves, that’s a pretty big change. Innovators align themselves to these trends in order to turn them into opportunity! Want more insight? Read my post, 54 Things About Self-Driving Cars You Didn’t Know!
Admiral Beverage, Albuquerque
What do you do when you have a room full of Pepsi and Coors distributors, and are asked to challenge them on the future? You put into perspective the changes occurring in the world of retail, consumer behaviour, product development, and more.
Such as, the collapse of attention spans! This sector is also be “Amazon’d” as an increasing number of consumers take to shopping online – Amazon has over 100 million Amazon Prime member. And so while we live in an era in which know-nothing politicians rail against the future, savvy organizations are working hard to align themselves to the trends. Read more in my specific Amazon keynote topic, and take a look at the customized pre-event video (“The Future of Retail? It’s Fast“) I filmed for Admiral Beverage.
Town of Blue Mountains Chamber of Commerce, Ontario
Last but not least – this one was a huge amount of fun – it’s the community where my ski chalet is located, 2 hours north of Toronto, Ontario!
They were having their AGM – I wasn’t booked that particular date – and agreed to come in and speak about the global trends that will somehow shape their future!
What a huge amount of fun, with a number of friends, ski buddies and neighbours in the room. They finally had a chance to see the truly odd job that their friend Jim has.
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All in all, it was a wonderful spring, with a continued emphasis on highly customized keynotes in a wide variety of different industries.
And stay tuned – the next few months feature an equal number of fascinating events!
Omnitracs Outlook 2017, Phoenix, Arizona – Trucking Keynote
This is a software and logistics company in the fast moving trucking industry – my keynote was all about the future of autonomous trucks, bio-connected driver monitoring, the fast change occurring in the logistics/supply chain industry and more. There’s a blog post about it here. I’ll have another! I’m doing more and more in the automative/trucking, and general transportation space – to such a degree, I’ve rolled out a separate keynote description: Accelerating the Auto and Trucking Industry in the Era of Self-Driving Vehicles.
United Suppliers Technology Exchange – New Orleans, Louisiana, Agricultural keynote
For this event I had about 300 farmers in the room — and truth be told, I love working with these folks. Farmers are some of the most innovative people I know — they are open to new ideas, the exploration of new technologies; they are constantly in search of new methodologies and so much more. It’s a theme I capture in the agriculture section of my Web site; in particular, read the post Two Types of Farmers. I’ve got a separate keynote description for my agricultural talks : Big Trends in Agriculture: What Will the World’s Oldest Profession Look Like in 2025?
Commscope, Dallas, Texas – The Future of Technology
This company is a long time pioneer in the world of telecom and hi-tech. They know everything is changing with hyperconnectivty, the Internet of Things, massive acceleration in product innovation and product lifecyles, constant growth as every company becomes a software company, and as Moore’s law rules everything from healthcare to agriculture, cars and trucks to every other industry! (That’s a long sentence — and while it might be breathtaking, so is the speed of change). Who better to help them make sense of a future in which the future belongs to those who are fast? (Hint: Me!)
American Financial Services Association – New Orleans – Automotive keynote
Again, in New Orleans — in this case, the finance/leasing end of the automotive industry, including financing companies and the dealer network. So much change in terms of business models in this sector: what’s the future of the financing of car purchasing, in an era in when people might not even buy cars anymore as the sharing economy takes hold? Not to mention the fact that the very essence of the vehicle is changing as innovation speeds up, the dashboard goes out of date faster, and the resale value changes quicker! Don’t forget – the very nature of what we consider a car is changing as companies like Tesla come to redefine the industry!
Pladis – Godiva Chocolates, McVities Biscuits Ulker – Keynote on the Future of Food & Retail, London, England
This was a huge amount of fun! I love overseas trips! And what an organization — Pladis is new, with three separate, distinct brands coming together with a focus on future opportunities. My keynote covered trends in fast-changing retail, consumer behaviour, store infrastructure, brand promotion and more. It must have gone well — since Godiva is having me back for a separate supply chain event in Ghent, Belgium in May!
Scotiabank, Toronto, Canada – Future of Banking/Financial Services Keynote
More disruption — business models, the rapid evolution of technology, new competitors with PayPal, Google and Apple. Just what is a bank anymore, and who is it? What do they do in terms of innovation with fast changing expectations, business model disruption, the relentless impact of mobile, the rapid acceleration of innovation from every perspective? Whatever the case may be, agility needs to be the core focus going forward — and that was the overall message within my keynote, which took a deep look at the trends sweeping this industry.
Alberici Group, St, Louis, Missouri – The Future of Architecture and Construction
This was a smaller conference than the others, but equally important! It was a leadership meeting for this major American construction company. My keynote kicked off the event, and covered issues around the rapid emergence of new construction methodologies, new materials and design concepts, fast paced architectural trends, the acceleration of skills and knowledge. This keynote came on the heels of a talk I did in the fall on the same type of issues for the American Concrete Institute – read more here. One of my key goals – get them aligned to the trends in their industry, rather than shying away from them.
Whirlpool, Chicago, Illinois – Future Impact of Internet of Things (#IoT)
This is a company that is making a transition from being a company that sells appliances, to being a computer company that happens to sell hi-tech within appliances. The industry is speeding up as Moore’s law comes to take hold; the value proposition changes with the service-ification (Yup, I made that word up) of business models, and as big device architecture issues come into play. I’m doing a LOT of talks around the Internet of Things — and its nice to see that a senior leadership team in the forefront of what is happening here chose me to come in and share key insight on what’s next.
Some people really don’t understand what a unique career a futurist like me has. Every once in a while, I pinch myself, and feel so lucky to have a remarkable opportunity to change the lives of so many people!
As so as 2016 draws to a close, it’s a fun time to have a look back at some of the events I was invited to participate in as an opening or closing keynote speaker. It was a big year — I’ve been on stage now for close to 25 years, and adding it up, I figure I’ve spoken to well over 2 million people, with the 50,000 from this year putting me over that magic number.
Below you’ll find my ‘top-10’ list of some of my favourite memories from the year!
1. PGA Merchandise Show, Orlando
It’s not often you get invited in to open one of the most prestigious events in the world of golf, let along the world of sports. But there I found myself in January, opening this event. I was on stage after Lee Trevino and David Leadbetter, and then Bubba Watson was on stage after me! I spoke about the new opportunities that fast moving technology trends were bringing to the world’s largest working sport. It was a repeat engagement for the PGA – they previously had me in a few years to open their AGM.
2. New York Life, New York
This was my final event of the year, just two days ago, and it was just plain fun! It was an end of year “town hall”, and the organization wanted an upbeat, optimistic view of the future. (Not surprising, given that so much went on during 2016!) . It was sort of a launch event for my newest keynote theme, The Jetsons’ Have Arrived 50 Years Early : What Are YOU Going to Do About It? Based on the vibes in the room, this is going to be a SMASH HIT topic into 2017!
3. QAD Explore, Chicago
A massive manufacturing oriented conference for this major software company operating in this space. There are two views of manufacturing in the US – the political wish, and the reality of what is occurring on the ground. This audience of 4,000 was eager to discover how the industry is busy reinventing and transforming itself for the 21st century, through digitization, robotics, 3D printing, and more. Based on what I heard and saw, that trend is well underway.
4. Philadelphia Manufacturing Summit
Another manufacturing themed event; this one with 500 manufacturing execs from throughout the region. There was a palpable buzz in the room — it was another event that affirmed to me that there is just so much innovation occurring in the industry, it can be staggering.
5. Amsted Rail, St. Louis
This wasn’t a big event, but it really hit me at an emotional level. This was an internal leadership meeting; this organization is a manufacturer in the rail industry. My wife and I had the opportunity for a factory tour before my keynote; with that, and the additional planning calls well in advance of the event, I encountered an organization that seems to be enthused with the idea of reinvention through innovation in the heartland. Eveyrone from the leadership on down seemed to have one overriding belief — if we think we can do it, we can. If there is hope for manufacturing in the US, it’s to be found in this remarkable organization!
6. Volvo/ Mac Trucks, Greensboro, NC
A repeat engagement for this organization — in this case, an internal leadership meeting, whereas the first one was for dealers. Self-driving vehicles, autonomous technologies, intelligent highway infrastructure, prognostic diagnostics — the talk covered the gamut of trends occurring in the automotive space. I’m doing many events around the self-driving car theme and the revolution occurring in transportation, with several gigs already confirmed well into 2017.
7. American Concrete Institute, Philadelphia
I drove my family crazy with the lead-up to this keynote. It would take a lot of hard work. My keynote would require a solid foundation, and my message would take some time to settle. (They told me to stop it with the concrete jokes soon enough.) This was the first time this organization had a keynote speaker to open their conference, and it was obvious that there was some concern about bringing in an outsider to launch the event! That changed fast — feedback had me hitting a huge home run, with subsequent coverage in American Concrete Magazine and elsewhere. In this shot, I’m talking about how quickly the concept of 3D printing with concrete is becoming a reality.
8. Manufacturing in America Summt, Detroit
Wow, manufacturing was hot this year! This one was in the midst of the automotive sector in the US, and I brought my message of acceleration, velocity and Moore’s Law, combined with the self-driving juggernaut of change, to the heart of the industry.
9. Phillips Medical Devices, Pittsburgh
Bio-connected medical devices, the virtualization of healthcare, big data and analytics — two events for this group focused on the massive, transformative opportunities occurring in the industry. I didn’t have a photo from this one, other than this wonderful picture of my wife and I at the innovation awards dinner I hosted for the client the night before my main talk. I am truly blessed that she accompanies me on all of my travels! Road life can be a lonely life, and instead, this has turned it all into a marvellous adventure!
10. PowderMet 2016, Boston
Accelerating science, the rapid emergence of new advanced materials, the reinvention of business models, new chemical compounds. A science heavy keynote for a science heavy audience! One of several events in Boston through the year.
There were so many other events through the year that were equally great to participate in, and I’ll continue with another blog post.
2 million people. Lives changed. Opportunities to help to shape the world. I have a fascinating job!
An operation like this doesn’t happen by chance. There’s a loving family in the background — my wife, business and office partner of 25 years, Christa, who accompanies me on all my trips! My two sons, Willie and Thomas, 23 and 21, who’ve grown up with a dad who has the strangest job they’ve ever known. All of whom have continued to show me unconditional love and support through the years — and particularly this year. Ahh, the rigours of the road!
Stay tuned for 2017!
What are some of the issues his clients are focused upon, and what type of insight are they seeking from Jim? The list is vast!
- The Internet of Things: Jim Carroll 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.
- Bold, transformative thinking. People know that given a world of accelerating change, it is critical to “think big.” Jim was invited in by NASA (twice!) to help shape their thinking about the future in light of the significant transformative change that the organization is faced with – with an audience of launch directors, several astronauts and senior program managers of both manned and unmanned space flight. Jim has taken on similar assignments to encourage bold thinking — with another recent event involving the opening keynote for a meeting of the top 500 military commanders and senior researchers for the US Air Force Research Laboratory — the group that managers the entire R&D budget for the leading military organization in the world.
- Aligning strategy to innovation and dealing with fast rates of change: When the PGA – Professional Golfers Association of America – chose an external speaker to open their 94th Annual General Meeting, they went with Jim Carroll. They’d never hired an external speaker before in their history, and after the keynote, Allen Wronowski, the President of the PGA had this to say: “Futurist Jim Carroll helped stimulate the thought process with his keynote address about the incredible rate of change that we as a society find ourselves in, and I was delighted with the lively discussion in the hallways, the passionate positions taken at the microphones….” Jim Carroll can challenge the PGA to think passionately about linking future trends to innovation – he can do the same for you!
- Client and customer events. Jim has developed a global reputation for delivering concise, relevant content at customer/client events. He keynoted the prestigious CSC Executive Exchange in St. Andrews, Scotland where he spoke to a small, select group of CEO’s and senior executives of global organizations. He’s headlined similar events as Toshiba Australia‘s annual client conference, as well as multiple SAP Business Forums in the US and Sweden. He recently spoke at Bombardier’s Global Operators conference on the theme of innovation and trends within the global airline sector. He has earned a solid and powerful reputation for providing unique, customized insight that matches the unique needs and messaging of a client/conference event. There were three events for key customers of CDW, a major distributor and infrastructure company in the hi-tech space; the talk focused around the future of IT, particularly as a foundation for innovation for high velocity companies. There’s a good synopsis of the topic here — Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Aligning Yourself for the Era of Acceleration
- Disruption and Change in the Insurance Industry: a keynote for GAMA International, a global organization for leaders in the global insurance/financial services industry. There’s a tremendous amount of change happening, and much more yet to come. What did I cover in my keynote? You can read about it in my post, Insurance and Innovation: The Challenge of Change . This is one of many talks I’ve done in the insurance industry over the years; I’ve done talks for most major property and life insurance companies at one time or another, and have shared the stage with CEO’s of many of the organizations in the industry. This has included talks on The Future of Insurance Risk: continuing on the insurance theme, an opening keynote for the client conference of FMGlobal, a leading underwriter of insurance risk in the commercial real estate space. My talk took a look at a broad range of trends that will impact the future structure of buildings, architecture, manufacturing facilities and more. Over the years, I’ve done many talks that have looked at the trends impacting the world of commercial real estate.
- The Future of Medical Device Technology & Healthcare: a talk for an innovation recognition dinner, and then a talk for key R&D staff, for Philips Respironics, a division of Philips Medical Devices, on how the industry will be transformed through hyper-connectivity, changing consumer behaviour, the acceleration of science and much more. He has keynoted several major medical device conferences, including the largest for UBM Canon.
- The Future of Education. I was the opening keynote speaker for the EdNet 2016 conference in Dallas, with several hundred senior executives from the “education knowledge industry” (aka textbooks) in the room. Read at overview of my talk, Forge Ahead and Move Fast, in an article from an industry publication. Other keynotes in education include audiences of 2,000+ for the American Society of Private Colleges and Universities, the Institute for Credntialling Excellence, and the Society of Testing Professionals. Most of the major educational publishers — Pearson, Thompson, Cengage and others – have had Jim in for leadership or customer vents.
- Wealth Management and Industry Change: a private event for CEO’s of 40 companies, each with $1 billion+ in revenue, for a private equity company. It’s one of many talks that I do to help senior executives think about the trends that might impact their lines of business and investments – read more in a blog post, Global Wealth Managers Turn to Jim Carroll for Insight on Trends . It’s kind of cool to think that family wealth managers for such groups as the Wrigley family foundation, the Rothschild’s, the Bill & Melinda Gates family office, and the Google and many, many others, have turned to me for insight over the years.
- The Future of Manufacturing: keynotes for the Association of High Tech Distributors in Napa Valley; for Alignex in Minneapolis; and then a rip-roaring motivational keynote full of the latest manufacturing trends for the the Greater Philadelphia Manufacturing conference. The tweets coming out of these events have been astonishing — people in the manufacturing sector are looking for hope and inspiration, and I seem to be giving it to them in spades. Read more at my post, The Disruption and Reinvention of Manufacturing. There was also a keynote for the 2016 Manufacturing in America Summit in Detroit, with a good, hard look at what is a real renaissance in the sector in North America. There were several other manufacturing keynotes along the way, including for QAD (ERP software for manufacturing companies) and the PowderMetal Manufacturing Association. Everyone knows there is a lot of political rhetoric around manufacturing right now (most of it dishonest) and so I am getting a significant number of bookings in this space from people looking for real insight into the challenges and opportunities in the sector. What’s really going on? Read my blog post, Trends: Why Manufacturing Needs to Reinvent Itself – Fast for more, or hit the Manufacturing Trends section for extensive blog posts, video clips from the stage and more on the reality of manufacturing today.
- The Future of Seniors Care: two talks in Nashville for senior executives from the North American assisted living and seniors care industry. I was booked by the American Healthcare Organization and the Centre for Assisted Living, and took a look at the opportunities that come from innovative thinking in dealing with one of the most significant challenges of our time.
- The Future of Construction, Architecture and Infrastructure: a keynote to open the annual conference of the American Concrete Institute. They admitted to me that they’ve never engaged a keynote speaker to open their event — they’ve been rather ‘stuck’ in their ways, if you pardon the pun. Will they do it again! You bet — my talk took a look at what happens when the world of concrete is influenced by fast trends — 3D printing is coming to concrete, and its coming fast! Similarly, I did a talk a talk for the senior leadership and legal team for Kiewit. Who are they? One of the largest organizations involved in massive infrastructure and constructions projects, including energy, highways and more. Check the Energy & Infrastructure section for a bit of insight into the topic areas I covered for these folks.
- The Future of Recreation, Golf and Interactive Sports: an opening keynote for the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, with a focus on the role of technology in helping to grow the game, attract younger players, and improve the player experience. I was on stage after Lee Trevino, and followed later by Bubba Watson. It was a real thrill, and the 2nd time the PGA has brought me in for a major event! You can read more simply by hitting the PGA tag in my Web site. I opened the Sporting and Fitness Industry Association with a talk on trends impacting the future of sports and fitness. It was kind of fascinating to be followed on stage by Roger Goodall, Commissioner of the NFL! There’s on extensive post I wrote post-event – Avoiding the BIG MISS – Will Your Company Be the Same in 10 Years? as well as Trend: The Future of Sports? All Interaction All the Time. And there’s lots more on the future of sports and fitness in that section of my Web site.
- Business model disruption. Johnson and Johnson, Whirlpool/AON Hewitt and other Fortune 1000 organizations had me in to speak at major leadership events on specific industry trends and broad trends involving business model disruption and other issues, built around the theme, What Do World Class Innovators Do That Others Don’t Do? The comments back? “We received great feedback about your session. Attendees found it valuable, insightful, interesting and somewhat terrifying J. Thank you for being such a great contributor to the event’s success!”
- The future of agriculture with Reinke Manufacturing and many more ; this is the company that manufactures those giant irrigation wheels you see on farms across North America. In the room were approximately 500 representatives of their dealer network, who were seeking insight on where agriculture goes next. For more, check the agriculture trends section of my Web site, as well as the 10 Trends for Agriculture post, which is undeniably the most popular page on my Web site, as well, it seems, one of the most popular pages on the Internet with respect to the future of agriculture!
- The future of veterinary care: an invitation-only keynote for leaders of major national and regional veterinary associations, held at the massive National Association of Veterinary Medicine conference in Orlando. My talk took at look at the issues of business model disruption, the impact of social networking on pet care, the rapid evolution of veterinary science and more. I still have to blog about this one — it was fascinating!
- The future of future of automotive, trucking and transportation for the North American leadership team of Volvo/Mac Trucks. This was a repeat performance for the group – it’s always great when they invite you back again! This was a talk around the future of the sector — autonomous vehicles, intelligent highway infrastructure, the end of car ownership and more. I’ve been doing quite a few talks around these topic areas — it’s a hot topic. For more, read my post , Accelerating the Auto Industry — and the Challenge of Change, as well as the Automotive and Transportation section of my Web site — lots of video.
- The global economy and an agenda for growth: People want to know what’s really going on with the global economy. Jim provides concise insight into these trends, with recent keynotes for such global powerhouses as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, and the National Australia Bank. Jim takes on unique audiences as well: in a recent keynote for the Utah League of Cities. Jim entertained and inspired an audience of mayors and senior leadership staff of cities and towns from all across the state into the national and global trends that are providing for economic opportunity now : thinking about the opportunities of the future, rather than the challenges of the last several years.
- What’s Next in Healthcare? Healthcare 2020! People are tired of talking about health care reform, and want to know what really comes next! Jim Carroll has been extremely busy in the health care sector. He headlined a private corporate event with senior management of a leading global European healthcare company in Munich, Germany in order to provide some concrete trends on which to build their future strategic plans. He was the opening keynote speaker for the World Pharma Innovation Congress in London, England and opened a conference for 2,000 pharmacists at McKesson IdeaShare. All of these talks focus on the key trends that will transform health through the next decade, far beyond the impact of US and other national efforts at health care reform.
- How do we innovate faster? What do world class innovators do that others don’t do? Quite a few global organizations in the industrial, commercial products and manufacturing sector have brought me in for CEO or executive level meeting which have concentrated on innovation ; how do we do it, and how do we do it faster? This has include an extensive focus on open innovation and customer oriented innovation.
- How do we seize transformative opportunities? Many CEO’s and senior executives who arrange for a presentation and interaction with Jim for their senior management team know that we live in a period of significant transformative change, and that opportunities abound, particularly as society works to solve the big problems related to health care, the environment and energy. They also know that there are big opportunities related to business model disruption, the impact of technology, wireless and location intelligence; in seizing upon the changing nature of consumer interaction; and countless other areas where BIG change is happening.
You’ve got issues to address; an agenda that needs to be set; a tone that needs to put out there to start up your event or leadership meeting. Take a look at a few of the potential topic areas Jim can cover and then give him a call to see how he can help you out.
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