Jonathan Brill
Jonathan Brill is an American business futurist, AI inventor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author, known for his work on strategic foresight, disruption preparedness, and innovation leadership. He is the author of Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change and advises Fortune 50 companies and U.S. government agencies.
Career
[edit]Brill is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Center for Radical Change, where he advises global business and government leaders on how to identify, manage, and transform change into innovation and opportunity. He is a board member at one of the world's largest private intelligence agencies, a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Business Review's China New Growth Institute, and Amazon's Futurist in Residence.
Brill is an active business futurist and AI keynote speaker. Forbes ranked him among the top futurists in their "5 Futurists To Watch In Uncertain Times",[1] and Harvard Business Review described him as "The world's leading transformation architect." His talks draw upon his experience as an AI inventor, technology, and intelligence executive, including:
- Global Futurist at HP – led long-range strategy, innovation, and global intelligence across 32 countries
- Adjunct Faculty, Singularity University
- Futurist in Residence, Territory Studio
- Board Advisor & Fellow, Frost & Sullivan
- Co-founder, Special Projects Agency
- CEO, CCD Innovation
- Creative Director, Frog Design
Has consulted on the development of over 350 products for major technology and consumer brands, as well as the United States government. Projects have ranged from AI and metaverse technologies to theme park rides and design of the US Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 to Taco Bell's Gordita.
Publications
[edit]Brill is the author of Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change (McGraw-Hill, 2021),[2] a business strategy book on navigating systemic disruption. The book draws on his years of experience as an executive, advisor, and inventor to deliver a practical action plan for managing change. It received positive reviews from The Economist and business author Adam Grant, who described it as "An actionable framework for driving change instead of being blindsided by it."
Other writing includes:
- Forbes Thinkers50: "Building Resilient Organizations"[3]
- Forbes: "Building Your Rogue Radar: How to Spot Unexpected Peril and Opportunity"[4]
- Harvard Business Review: "Identify — and Mitigate — Risks to Your Career",[5] co-authored with Dorie Clark
Speaking and media coverage
[edit]Brill has delivered keynote addresses to over 27,000 executives in 29 countries, including events such as TEDx, SXSW, the Global Peter Drucker Forum, and the Aspen Institute.
He has been featured in:
- ABC News – 2024 New Year's Special[6]
- CBS Green Bay – Interviews on AI and economic disruption[7]
- Bloomberg Radio – Interview on the book Rogue Waves[8]
- CNN Chile – Singularity Summit[9]
- Newsweek Podcast – How to Adapt to Exponential Change[10]
- San Francisco Business Times – Executive profile[11]
- Diario Financiero (Chile) – Feature on future strategy[12]
- Psychology Today – Career Strategy[13]
- Radio La Clava – AI Models for Organizations[14]
Other notable appearances include:
- TED Interview[15] – Future‑Proofing Your Business in Our Rogue Wave Era
- TKC Podcast – Building Your Ideal Future with AI [16]
- Autodesk – 8 Future‑Proofing Business Strategies from Jonathan Brill[17]
- Fireside Chat with Rita McGrath[18]
- How HP Turns Business Catastrophes to Their Advantage[19]
- Innovation Despite Rogue Waves[20]
- Balancing Risks and Rewards of Innovation in engineering and manufacturing[21]
- Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson: What AI Can Never Understand[22]
- Just Start – Interview by Adam Mendler[23]
- CNN Prime Chile – Singularity Summit Additional Coverage[24]
Education
[edit]Brill holds a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute, served as a research consultant to the MIT Media Lab, and completed executive education at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[25]
References
[edit]- ^ Stephen Wunker (2023-04-13). "5 Futurists To Watch In Uncertain Times". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ https://www.mhprofessional.com/9781264257808-usa-rogue-waves-group McGraw-Hill – Rogue Waves
- ^ "Building Resilient Organizations". Brightline Initiative.
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanbrill/2021/07/12/building-your-rogue-radar/ [bare URL]
- ^ "Identify — and Mitigate — Risks to Your Career". Harvard Business Review. January 5, 2021 – via hbr.org.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjoMArQtGbI ABC News Feature, Jan 2024
- ^ https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/envision-greater-green-bay-hosts-fourth-world-futures-day/ CBS Greenbay, Feb 2025
- ^ https://open.spotify.com/episode/4LMNh3Ce3ipwxCTah6Th9D?si=jECmuXmuQuqAhfBRF7hvjQ&nd=1&dlsi=4aa3935431294170 Bloomberg Radio
- ^ https://jonathanbrill.com/media/cnn-chile/ CNN Chile, May 2025
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54R0NWjA6Y&list=PLLJgFbRR18YvH4k9jbifTsuSC4AGjoo9Y&index=19 Newsweek Podcast
- ^ https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2020/04/28/global-futurist-peers-into-our-uncertain-future.html San Francisco Business Times
- ^ https://www.df.cl/df-lab/tech-negocios/jonathan-brill-escritor-me-preocupa-la-pereza-cognitiva-que-puede-generar Diario Financiero
- ^ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/platform-for-success/202107/when-this-rogue-waves-hits-will-you-survive Psychology Today
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6_Ilru_XMo Radio La Clava
- ^ Brill, jonathan (November 10, 2021). "Future-Proofing Your Business in Our Rogue Wave Era" – via www.ted.com.
- ^ "Building Your Ideal Future with AI with Jonathan Brill". January 30, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ https://www.autodesk.com/design-make/articles/future-proofing-business Autodesk Article
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX0H_s3tTpo Rita McGrath Podcast
- ^ https://hbr.org/2021/06/how-hp-turns-business-catastrophes-to-their-advantage HP HBR
- ^ https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/31-innovation-despite-rogue-waves-with-jonathan-brill/id1544347310?i=1000531566935 Strategic Financial Leadership Podcast
- ^ https://www.autodesk.com/design-make/articles/risks-of-innovation-in-engineering-and-manufacturing Autodesk Mfg Article
- ^ https://www.infotech.com/digital-disruption/what-ai-can-never-understand-futurist-jonathan-brill-explains Digital Disruption
- ^ https://adammendler.com/blog/jonathan-brill/ Adam Mendler Interview with Jonathan Brill
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-wBkoyDzZ8 CNN Prime Interview
- ^ https://jonathanbrill.com Jonathan Brill – Background