Jamie Metzl

The miraculous synthetic mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are just small, early examples of how the genetics and bioengineering revolutions will transform our world.  Faster than most people understand or appreciate, our growing, superhuman capabilities to restructure the building blocks of life will fundamentally alter the way we prevent and treat disease, make babies, generate energy, grow food, store data, and create materials. But while this process had already begun before COVID-19, the pandemic has catapulted the biology revolution to a new phase just like World War II supercharged electronics and space travel generations ago. And just like the information technology revolution started small then “ate the world,” the biology revolution is about to change much of everything. Most businesses and other organizations are not ready. In this mind-expanding talk, visionary futurist Jamie Metzl describes how the biology revolution will play out over the coming years and what we can all do on a personal, professional, and global level to prepare and thrive.

The COVID-19 pandemic will fundamentally transform every aspect our lives on the personal, professional, national, and global levels. The crisis has made processes that might otherwise have unfolded over decades arrive all at once. Our future has come crashing into our present. As much as many of us are hoping our previous world will snap back after this crisis abates, that will not be the case. But while it is appropriate to mourn what we have lost and the tragedy of this moment, the foundations for our new lives, companies, and world are today being laid. Those of us who don’t quickly come to terms with this massive shift will spend the rest of our lives waiting for the old world to snap back, mourning what’s been lost, and wandering around reminding people that coffee used to cost a nickel. Going into survival mode to get through this crisis, most people are focusing on their immediate needs, even if they recognize that something bigger is happening around us. In normal times, we can thrive racing forward on the various tracks we are on. But in revolutionary times like these, having a broad understanding of where we are, how we got here, and how we can get to a better place is the most important navigational tool any of us can have, the foundation of our ability to adapt, pivot, and ultimately thrive. Visionary futurist WHO expert adviser, bestselling author, and founder of the global social movement OneShared.World Jamie Metzl places our current crisis in its most essential context and helps communities understand how the world we’ve known is dying faster than we’d thought and imagine our new world emerging faster than we’d imagined.

Why Jamie Metzl

One of the leading visionaries of the post-COVID world, Jamie has been virtually everywhere since the coronavirus crisis began. He’s done hundreds of national interviews (CNN, NPR, Bloomberg, etc.), published many high-profile editorials, spoken in online events on the crisis to hundreds of thousands of people, and become a leading advocate for responding smartly to the current crisis and conjurer of hope in a better future.

Starting from a talk he gave and blog post two months ago, the organization he founded, OneShared.World, has now grown to a global movement of people from nearly 100 countries working to collectively solve the world’s most essential common problems. They together drafted and released the Declaration of Interdependence in multiple languages, which has been officially delivered to the UN and all governments (more in this editorial). 

Jamie’s knowledge base, experience, and history match perfectly with the demands of the current moment.

• An expert advisor to the World Health Organization and a faculty member of Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine, he deeply understands the science;
• A former national Security Council and State Department official, and Atlantic Council Senior Fellow, he knows the politics, geopolitics, and economics;
• A leading China specialist, he appreciates the critical role of China in this crisis, both has the source of the virus and a likely beneficiary of the global power shift;
• A former US congressional candidate, he knows the ins and out of US politics, particularly relevant in this presidential election year;
• A regular CNN commentator and darling of the global media and podcast worlds, he knows the difference between being smart and communicating smartly;
• The founder of OneShared.World, his empowering message of hope is inspiring people the world over.

In these sessions your audience will: 

1. Place the coronavirus crisis in its essential context: The coronavirus crisis is not just about science, even though our ability to understand and address the challenge we face rests on the new tools of the genetics and biotechnology revolutions. The crisis is not only about government, even though the reason we are in this mess stem from failures by China, the US, and the World Health Organization. It’s not merely about economics, even though this will be the biggest economic shock since the great depression. It’s also not  solely about geopolitics, even though the crisis is likely to result in a massive redistribution of global power This crisis is so difficult to fathom because it is playing out simultaneously on all of these levels, with changes in one area impacting the others like a cosmic Rubik’s cube.
2. Understand how the world will be fundamentally transformed by this crisis: Every aspect of our personal, professional, and political lives will be transformed by this crisis. Succeeding in the coming new normal will require developing a vision of the coming world. Even at this dark moment in the middle of the current crisis, new communities are forming and laying the foundations for a very different world that might, if we work hard and well enough, be better than what we have in many ways. These communities are setting a North Star toward which we can navigate our efforts.
3. Think practically about how to best pivot to position ourselves to thrive in the radically new environment: Our old normal was just the new normal of past generations and our new normal will become just the old normal of future ones. In revolutionary times like these, having a broad understanding of where we are, how we got here, and how we can get to a better place is the most important navigational tool any of us can have, the foundation of our ability to adapt, pivot, and ultimately thrive. The art of pivoting smartly, however, can always be perfected.
4. Recognize and embrace the opportunity we have, particularly in this difficult moment, to build back better. Our lives will change dramatically on every level as a result of this crisis. Although many aspects of our pre-COVID lives will never return, we now have a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for more meaningful personal lives, stronger companies and communities, and a better world for everyone. We each have an important role to play in that process. 

Far sooner than most of us think, the genetics revolution will transform the world within and around us. But while we today think about genetic technologies primarily in the context of healthcare, the tools we are developing will soon being changing the way we make babies, the nature of the babies we make, and ultimately our evolutionary trajectory as a species. The genetics revolution will be the greatest opportunity, and also the greatest challenge, of our era yet we aren’t ready for what’s fast heading our way. Leading technology futurist and geopolitical expert Jamie Metzl explores what the genetics revolution means for you, your company, the country, and the world -- and what we must all do now to prepare. The genetics revolution will be the greatest opportunity of our era, and also the greatest challenge – and it will have massive business implications that will increasingly define organizational success and failure in the 21st century.

The transition from today’s system of generalized medicine based on population averages to the new model of precision healthcare based on each person’s individual biology is already well underway. But the use of the precision medicine tools of genome sequencing, big data analytics, and targeted gene therapies to treat cancer and other diseases are paving the way for a system of predictive healthcare where parents will know and begin responding to their children’s future risk of developing hereditary disorders from before their children have even been born. In addition to predicting these types of health outcomes, genetic analysis will also enable us to predict and ultimately influence the genetic components of broader human traits like the IQ, athletic ability, and personality style of our future children. The genetics revolution will fundamentally transform our healthcare, the way we make babies, the nature of the babies we make, and trillions of dollars of commerce but health professionals, the business community, and society at large are not at all ready. Because this transformation is coming far sooner than most people think with massive personal and financial consequences, we must be.

Converging political, geopolitical, and technological revolutions are making now the greatest moment of global change since 1945. With nationalism rising around the world, the post-war international order in rapid decline, China significantly expanding its global influence, and the AI, genetics, blockchain, and other revolutions shaking the foundations of the world we’ve known, individuals, companies, and countries will either understand and quickly adapt to these converging super-trends or pay a massive competitive price. In this talk spanning the wide range of factors transforming our world at lightning speed, geopolitical expert and technology futurist Jamie Metzl paints a vivid picture of where we are heading and outlines key principles for how individuals, companies, and countries can best position themselves to ride the rising tidal wave of revolutionary change.

In this exciting talk, Jamie Metzl explores the latest technological breakthroughs in the science of human life extension and their implications on the personal and societal levels. While the quest for immortality has been the stuff of fairy tales, the new science of life extension is very real and will soon be pushing the limits of aging and unlocking human potential. Jamie, a rare combination of science expert and science fiction writer, brings the science to life and explains what individuals, companies, and governments must do now to prepare for this revolutionary future that will fundamentally reorganize modern societies and global economics.

The overlapping genetics and AI revolutions are transforming our healthcare, the way we make babies, and how long we live. This revolution will be the greatest opportunity of our era, and also the greatest challenge – and it will have massive business implications that will increasingly define organizational success and failure in the 21st century.

Corporations have struggled for decades to build open and inclusive workplaces comfortable to people of all races, nationalities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. In the fast-arriving genetic age, companies will need to figure out such issues as how to deal with predictive health information, whether to cover egg freezing, embryo selection, and embryonic gene editing for employees, and how to help employees prepare for longer than expected lives. While this may seem like science fiction, this future is already here. The genetics revolution will alter our perception of workforce capabilities and potentials and challenge even the most forward-thinking of corporations. It will upend traditional notions of equity, diversity, and inclusion. It will change much of everything.

But are you ready?

Most everybody knows we should exercise, eat well, build meaningful communities, and reduce stress to live healthy longer. But the revolutionary new science of human life extension is creating enticing new possibilities for using technology to extend our lives far beyond what nature intended. While the quest for immortality has been the stuff of fairy tales, the new science of life extension will soon be pushing the limits of aging and unlocking human potential in ways our ancestors never could have imagined. Technology futurist Jamie Metzl explores the latest breakthroughs in the science of human life extension that promise to gain is more of life‘s most precious commodity: time. Jamie explains what individuals, companies, and governments must do now to prepare for this revolutionary future that will fundamentally reorganize our societies and global economics.