Jim Carroll

Here’s what you need to know – it’s pretty certain you won’t find your job being replaced by AI, but it might be replaced by someone using AI, particularly with ChatGPT and other similar LLM (Large language model) technologies!

In this fast-moving keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll takes a look at the short-term trends sweeping the world today as ChatGPT and other technologies come to change the nature of the way we search, learn, interact, and think. It’s a new era of human-knowledge augmentation through the emergence of personalized knowledge butlers; an acceleration in just-in-time knowledge through on-demand knowledge robots; the arrival of the always-available knowledge servant. The fact is, we are in the midst of the biggest knowledge revolution in the history of mankind since the arrival of the Internet – and it is occurring at a speed that is staggering. You need to cut through the hype, filter the noise, and get a clear – and up-to-the-moment – strategic overview of what is happening in real-time

You don’t need to understand how ChatGPT and other LLM (“large language model”) systems work – you need to understand the impact they will have. Making sense of what’s real and cutting through the hype to discover real opportunities within the trends is one of the most important things you can do! This is not a time to get caught up in ‘fast FOMO’ – ‘fear of missing out’ – nor is it a time to ignore the speed of what is occurring. There are significant implications to the sudden arrival of artificial intelligence and other trends, from very real business model disruption to unique legal and copyright issues, education, knowledge, and workforce skills challenges, as well as the emergence of disruptive new industry competitors and accelerated new product development and innovation opportunities. The scope of what these technologies represent is increasing because the pace of their evolution is now moving faster than fast.

What does this mean to you and what do you need to do? Jim will provide you with actionable strategies on how to stay ahead in the AI knowledge race; insight into some of the most powerful tools emerging in this new AI knowledge universe; actionable strategies to continually enhance your just-in-time knowledge skills through AI; and how you can align your skills, attitude and personal motivation factory to align with this new era of high-velocity change.

In this highly customized keynote, prepared specifically for your company, industry, or association based on up-to-the-minute research, Jim will help you understand:

• the challenges and opportunities behind these trends within your industry and organization
• the disruptive impact on your business and operations or upon your industry or association members
• the strategies you should be thinking about to align with the new realities they present
• the key strategic action plans designed to get your team moving forward, balanced with a realistic assessment of the timing of specific trends and how they will unfold.

Futurist Jim Carroll will help you cut through the noise and the hype to understand what is really happening, and the critical nature of the important trends that you must pay attention to!

New ideas, transformative innovations, and bold thinking don’t die in periods of economic volatility – in fact, a downturn is often the starting point for big ideas and a big upturn! Companies such as Burger King, Microsoft, CNN, and FedEx all started up during economic downturns because they remained firmly focused on growth opportunities, the future and trends.

Conventional wisdom would suggest we’d better hunker down, scale back, slow down, take it easy, be cautious, reduce spending, defer our actions, wait it out, take things slow, and put things on pause. But history tells us that doesn’t work – because those who choose to relentlessly focus on growth are those who win.

How do you do this? It’s by understanding that the winners that emerge are those who battle aggressive indecision, challenge organizational sclerosis, and recommit to growth despite volatility. History teaches us that those who win are those who doubled down on innovation and transformation, and refocused on the long-term view! During the 2008-09 global economic meltdown, ‘winners’ grew at a 17% compound annual growth rate during the downturn compared to 0% among the ‘losers.’ And those ‘winners’ locked in gains of 13% CAGR in the years after the downturn compared to the ‘losers’ stalling at 1%. That’s a powerful growth lesson right there!

These winners chose to opt out of the common narrative – it’s a recession, cut back, hunker down and make sure you ride it out – and by choosing instead to go into the future full throttle, they emerged much better positioned for that future.

Futurist and innovation expert Jim Carroll shares these and other critical lessons, along with specific strategic guidance on how to double down on growth during times of volatility. It’s battle-tested, stage-proven insight developed through previous periods of economic volatility. You will come away with clear leadership insight on the growth oriented insight you need to pursue.

We live in a time of massive challenge, and yet one of massive opportunity. We’re faced with deep and complex issues involving the environment, health care, water and food. At the same time, every industry is faced with upheaval and disruption.

In this context, every industry is being redefined at blinding speed by technology, globalization, the rapid emergence of new competitors, new forms of collaborative global R&D, and countless other challenges! The speed with which these changes occur are now running up against the traditional culture, organizational structure and leadership methodologies that once worked well in the past – but don’t align to today’s fast moving realities.

Most organizations are bound up in tradition, process, certain defined ways of doing things — rules — that have helped them succeed in the past. Over time, they have developed a corporate culture which might have worked at the slower paced world of the past — but now has them on the sick-bed, suffering from an organizational sclerosis that clogs up their ability to try to do anything new. Those very things which worked for them in the past might be the anchors that could now hold them back as the future rushes at them with ever increasing speed. They are being challenged in a fundamental way by those who think big, and by some really big, transformative trends.

You need to align yourself to the big opportunities of today through bold, transformative thinking; take the small scale steps today to align yourself to this future, and focusing on a culture of speed and agility that can help you to get there at the right time! You need to think transformation, not just innovation!

In this keynote, Jim outlines his simple but transformative structure with deep insight on what it takes to master the new, complex volatile world, by embracing the chaos, thinking transformation not innovation, mastering the timing of trends, and accelerating forward oriented growth opportunities. The new model for going forward in the era of accelerating change: Think big, start small and scale fast!

The future demands that you think BIG, be bold, and pursue opportunities.

The only way to do this is to understand the “megatrends” that are defining our future, the disruptive opportunities they present, and the industry, skills, and business model opportunities they provide.

We are now seeing so much change that our new reality is this: companies that do not yet exist will build products not yet conceived, with materials not yet in existence, using methodologies not yet developed – and these will be sold to consumers who do not yet know that these new products and services will become a critical part of their life!

Are you ready to pursue a BIG future? Do you understand what comes next and what you need to do about it? Based on his BIG Trends series featured on his Web site, Jim takes you into a dramatic new future involving accelerating scientific discovery, rapid knowledge sharing, accelerated methodologies, and dramatic industry transformations.

You will come away with new strategic leadership insight that will help you see disruptive trends, focus on opportunities, unlock creativity, enhance your speed, accelerate innovation and deliver on growth opportunities!