Jim Carroll

The future is arriving faster than ever, creating what Futurist Jim Carroll calls the “Acceleration Paradox”: a world of unprecedented opportunity that also fuels significant risk and instability. For leaders, this has created a critical blind spot—the  Acceleration Paradox.

A recent survey uncovered that 85% of employers are prioritizing upskilling for a complex new future – and yet,  their own managers are sounding the alarm, with 64% believing their employees cannot keep pace with future skill needs. This has created a workforce where a staggering 76% of workers feel unprepared for the future of their roles—a crisis compounded by the fact that 39% of core skills are expected to be disrupted by 2030.

The key to the future of work? Solving this paradox by developing a workforce that is ready for tomorrow!

For over 30 years, Jim Carroll has guided the world’s most iconic organizations—including NASA, Pfizer, and The Walt Disney Company—through eras of intense change by providing a unique, trends-oriented view into the future of work. This is not another talk about HR theory; it is a CEO and senior leadership team briefing that provides an actionable playbook to solve the Acceleration Paradox by building a team that understands and aligns with the future skills required for tomorrow.

In this powerful, zero-fluff keynote, Jim provides the essential operating manual for aligning your organization to the speed of modern innovation. You will walk away with a clear framework to:

• Go Beyond HR Theory with an Industry-Specific Roadmap: The future of work is not one-size-fits-all. This keynote is built on deep, customized research into your sector—the same level of insight Jim has provided to clients across manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, and more. Discover the specific operational and technological trends redefining your reality, and learn how to build a skills strategy that addresses the unique work of your industry.
• Build an AI-Augmented Talent Architecture: The old model of “reskilling” is broken, and the “lack of time” is the biggest barrier to growth. The future belongs to organizations that deploy “just-in-time knowledge”. Jim reveals a new talent architecture for the AI era, showing you how to leverage AI as a “tireless technical partner” to integrate learning into the flow of work, creating an augmented workforce that adapts at the pace of change.
• Close the Advanced Skills Gap Before It’s Too Late: The future of work isn’t just about AI; the “Factory 4.0 Revolution” demands a new breed of professional with tangible, world-changing skills. You must architect a workforce that can manage collaborative robots on the factory floor, operate autonomous tractors on the connected farm, build 4D digital twins for intelligent infrastructure, and turn breakthroughs in accelerated materials science into market-ready products. Jim provides a concrete plan to future-proof your team’s capabilities for the fast-moving physical world of tomorrow.
• Ignite Your Innovation Spark to Win the War for Talent: Your best people aren’t just employees; they are your primary engine for innovation. Learn how to build a culture filled with “innovation oxygen” that attracts and retains the highly-skilled “nomadic workers” who define tomorrow. Discover the leadership strategies to ignite their creative spark and ensure your organization becomes an employer of choice, building the future from within.

Actionable Takeaways for Your Leadership Team:

• A research-backed framework to diagnose and close the “Readiness Paradox” within your own organization.
• An industry-specific roadmap to the key trends and future skills that will define your success.
• Actionable strategies to cultivate a culture of “just-in-time knowledge” and build an AI-augmented workforce.
• A concrete plan to close the advanced skills gap in areas like robotics, digital twins, and accelerating science.

Stop strategizing for the future of HR and start building the future of your industry. It’s time to solve the Acceleration Paradox and build a workforce that doesn’t just survive the future—but drives it.

In a world of relentless change, the greatest risk isn’t disruption itself, but the failure to see it coming.

This high-impact keynote cuts through the noise to reveal the specific, critical megatrends—from economic volatility and supply chain reinvention to genomics and the future of work—that will define the next decade of your industry. It’s designed for organizations that need to move beyond reactive strategies and build a concrete, actionable plan to turn future trends into a sustainable competitive advantage.

Your team will leave with a clear framework to identify transformative opportunities, mitigate emerging risks, and align your strategic thinking to the definitive realities of tomorrow.

While the core message is universal, the content is always deeply customized to focus on the unique challenges and opportunities within your specific sector, including Manufacturing, Retail, Agriculture, Healthcare, and Education.

This is the same level of deep, customized foresight that Jim has provided to some of the world’s most demanding organizations.

From briefing NASA on the future of space exploration to guiding Mercedes-Benz on the next decade of automotive change, Jim is renowned for his meticulous research process. He invests significant time to understand your unique industry landscape, ensuring the trends he decodes are not just insightful but immediately relevant and actionable for your team.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just another technology trend—it’s the most profound business transformation of our time.

While many are paralyzed by the hype and complexity, this keynote delivers a clear, jargon-free, and actionable roadmap for leaders. It moves beyond the theoretical and the hype to reveal the practical applications of generative AI, machine intelligence, and automation for your specific industry.

This session is designed specifically for leadership teams who need to understand how to leverage AI to accelerate efficiency, innovate new products and services, and build a lasting competitive advantage.

Your team will leave with a strategic framework for harnessing AI as a powerful engine for growth, ensuring your organization is positioned not just to compete, but to win in the new era of intelligent systems.

For over 30 years, Jim has guided global innovators through massive technological shifts. His insight into AI is grounded in decades of experience advising organizations like Microsoft and Volvo on digital transformation.

He has a unique ability to make complex technological topics relevant to CEOs, senior executives, and association leaders, translating abstract concepts into a practical playbook for action and transforming organizations into high-velocity innovation heroes.

In today’s market, speed is the ultimate competitive advantage, yet many organizations are slowed by uncertainty and a fear of disruption.

This keynote is a practical, battle-tested playbook for leaders who need to build agile, resilient, and high-performing teams.

It provides concrete strategies to foster a culture that empowers bold thinking, executes with precision, and thrives on complexity. Rather than abstract theory, this session delivers a clear framework for making faster decisions, leading through ambiguity, and aligning your team for high-velocity results.

Your leaders will leave equipped with the tools and mindset necessary to move beyond simply managing change and start architecting the future.

This leadership framework has been shared with over 2 million people in audiences worldwide and is trusted by the world’s most influential organizations, from The World Bank to the PGA of America. Jim’s approach is to deliver actionable strategies that empower leaders to navigate volatility and inspire their teams to get moving.

The goal is to provide the insight needed to move forward with big ideas and bold action, creating a culture that is aligned with the disruptive, accelerating realities of tomorrow.

Volatility isn’t a threat; it’s the single greatest opportunity for innovation.

This keynote delivers a compelling strategic guide for leaders who want to build a world-class engine for creativity and transformation. It draws on powerful lessons from companies that thrived during past downturns, providing a clear path to accelerate your organization into its faster future.

This session challenges leaders to reject pessimism and double down on transformation to capture market share. It’s focused on the practical application of creativity to achieve tangible growth, providing your team with a new mindset that sees opportunity in uncertainty. Your audience will leave with the tools to unlock your team’s creative potential and drive relentless innovation.

This playbook is built on the same principles of creativity and strategic foresight that Jim has shared with iconic innovators like The Walt Disney Company. He understands that true innovation isn’t generic; it comes from unlocking the unique creative potential buried within your team.

The keynote is directly related to his new book on the topic, released in June 2025. Dancing in the Rain: How Bold Leaders Grow Stronger in Stormy Times provides concise insight into the pathways to innovate through uncertainty.

Through his deep customization process, Jim aligns this keynote to your specific challenges, ensuring your team leaves with a practical framework to turn disruptive offense into real, tangible growth opportunities.