The Futurist Who Shows Up After the Hype
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam helps leadership teams exercise better judgment about exponential technologies, when certainty is unavailable and the consequences are real.
Intelligence is no longer scarce
When Intelligence is Everywhere, Judgment is Everything
Every organization has access to the same AI models, the same data, the same automation tools. What’s scarce, and what separates the organizations that lead from those that scramble, is judgment: the ability to decide what matters, what to ignore, and what to stake your strategy on when the playbook has expired.
That’s the problem Mark works on.
As a strategic futurist, keynote speaker,
and six-time author, he doesn’t predict the future. He equips leaders
with a decision architecture — the WAVE framework — that turns exponential change into something they can
evaluate, act on, and defend to their board. Not abstract trends. Not hype cycles. Decisions.
Mark helps leaders build the future responsibly, by forcing imagination to meet reality, trade-offs, and
accountability.
His work sits at the intersection of emerging technologies such as AI, robotics or tokenization, and the
leadership capacity required to deploy them responsibly. He has delivered keynotes and workshops in 32 countries
across every continent, for organizations ranging from Dell and Nestlé to EY and the Commonwealth Bank. He
publishes Synthetic Minds, a daily newsletter built as a judgment rhythm, prioritizing what matters in
technology each week and explicitly stating what doesn’t. And he founded Futurwise, a platform that surfaces
verified human intelligence from the noise of the internet.
But the credential that matters most is simpler than any of those: when leaders face a technology decision that
will outlast the next quarter, they call Mark. Not for predictions, for a framework and a perspective they can
trust.
How a Bicycle Ride Through the Outback Shaped a Futurist
In 2011, Mark cycled 14,122 kilometres around Australia in 100 days to raise €25,000 for a children’s cancer foundation. The outback taught him something that no PhD could: that the only way to cross a distance that seems impossible is to stop thinking about the horizon and focus on the next pedal stroke.
That insight became the foundation of how he approaches foresight. While most futurists paint grand visions of
what’s coming, Mark works at the level of the next decision, the one your team can take tomorrow that compounds
into advantage over the next decade.
He holds a PhD, the Certified Speaking Professional and Global Speaking Fellow designations (held by fewer than
50 speakers globally), and was ranked the #1 Futurist by Global Gurus (2025). Salesforce named him one of just
16 human voices shaping the future of AI. He has written six books, including Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami
of Change, which introduces the WAVE framework.
But ask Mark what defines him and he’ll point to the bicycle, not the rankings. The resilience, the discipline,
the willingness to sit with discomfort for a purpose that matters, that’s what he brings to every stage and
every boardroom.
The Framework
Behind the Keynote
Every keynote and workshop Mark delivers is built on WAVE — a four-phase decision architecture developed over 15 years of advising leadership teams on emerging technology.
Watch — See what others miss
Continuous horizon scanning across technology, regulation, and culture. Not trend-watching — pattern recognition. Knowing which signals deserve attention and which are noise.
Adapt — Turn insight into action
Scenario planning and strategic pivots with a long-term purpose. Identifying where to experiment, where to partner, and where to wait, before the market forces your hand.
Verify — Trust, but stress-test
Every AI output, every strategic assumption, every opportunity — tested against reality, ethics, and your organization’s actual constraints. Responsible innovation isn’t a slide; it’s a discipline.
Empower — Build capability, not dependency
Equipping leaders and teams with foresight literacy so the organization can navigate change without creating fragility. The goal is your autonomy, not a retainer.
WAVE isn’t a theory. It’s a rhythm, designed to plug into real workflows, real board meetings, and real customer processes. Leaders who’ve worked with Mark don’t just remember the keynote. They use the framework.
Where does your leadership team stand?
The Intelligence Age Scorecard maps your organization against all four WAVE pillars in 15 minutes
Take the Scorecard
What It Looks Like in the Room
Mark’s keynotes are built for senior audiences who’ve seen too many speakers and not enough substance. He combines strategic depth with genuine stage energy, and a willingness to say the uncomfortable thing that the room needs to hear.
NPS 9.2 average · 4.83 /5 from 500+ attendees · 32 countries · 100,000+ leaders
He delivers in-person, virtually, or via holographic projection. Whether it’s a 45-minute keynote for 2,000 or a 3-hour interactive workshop for 50, every session is customized to the audience’s industry, challenges, and the outcomes the organizer needs.
See ReferencesBeyond the Keynote
Mark operates across three scales, and each one feeds the others.
Keynotes & Workshops
For organizations
ready to think differently
High-impact sessions built on the WAVE framework. From 45-minute keynotes to half-day strategic offsites, every engagement ends with a decision, not just a discussion.
Formats: In-person · Virtual · Holographic
Executive Thought Leadership Publication
For leaders who want to stay sharp between events
For selected engagements, the keynote can be extended into an Executive Thought Leadership Publication — a co-created white paper, produced with a senior ex–Wall Street Journal journalist, that captures how your leadership team interprets and responds to the session's core themes.
X
Futurwise x Synthetic Minds
Stay up-to-date on how your world is changing.
Futurwise is a platform that surfaces verified human intelligence from the world’s best thinkers. Synthetic Minds is the daily newsletter: a judgment rhythm across the five forces reshaping business and society. Together, they keep your team sharp between events.
The Playbook
Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change is the operating manual for the Intelligence Age. It introduces the WAVE framework, maps the ten technologies reshaping every industry, and provides the decision architecture leaders need when playbooks expire faster than committees can update them.
Available in hardcover, paperback, digital, and audio book.
Let's Start a
Conversation
Whether it’s a keynote, a workshop, a series, or something we haven’t designed yet, the process starts with understanding what your audience needs to walk away with. Tell us what a win looks like three months after your event, and Mark will design the session that gets you there.
Typically responds within 24 hours
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