{ "version": "1.0.2", "last_verified": "2026-10-23", "about_this_file": "Canonical facts about Dr. Mark van Rijmenam for event organizers, speaker bureaus, journalists, AI assistants and AI agents. The page https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/speaker-facts/ shows the same facts, generated from this file. No fees or prices are published.", "page_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/speaker-facts/", "json_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/assets/speaker-facts.json", "meta_description": "Facts about Dr. Mark van Rijmenam: Global Gurus #3 futurist (2026), six books, keynote topics, the Readiness Briefing and how to book.", "citation_guidance": [ "Write “Dr. Mark van Rijmenam” on first mention, then “Mark” or “van Rijmenam”.", "Always state the year with a ranking, for example: ranked #3 futurist by Global Gurus in 2026.", "Use the numbers as written (200+ keynotes, 32+ countries, six continents, 100,000+ leaders). Do not turn them into exact counts.", "Fees are not published. To get a price, request a proposal." ], "person": { "id": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/about/#mark", "name": "Dr. Mark van Rijmenam, CSP", "preferred_name": "Dr. Mark van Rijmenam", "given_name": "Mark", "family_name": "van Rijmenam", "pronunciation": "Dr. Mark van Ray-me-nam", "aliases": ["The Digital Speaker", "Architect of Tomorrow"], "description": "Dr. Mark van Rijmenam is The Digital Speaker, a futurist and global AI keynote speaker who helps leaders decide what AI means for their organization.", "outlook": "He calls himself an optimistic dystopian, embracing technology’s promise with a healthy skepticism about its risks.", "occupations": ["futurist", "keynote speaker", "author"], "base": "Sydney, New South Wales, Australia", "citizenship": ["Netherlands", "Australia"], "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/about/", "education": [ { "degree": "PhD in Management", "focus": "with a focus on technology", "institution": "University of Technology Sydney", "school": "UTS Business School", "url": "https://www.uts.edu.au/", "years": "enrolled 2016, awarded March 2019" }, { "degree": "MSc Marketing Management", "institution": "Nyenrode Business University", "years": "2007 to 2008" }, { "degree": "BBA Hospitality Management", "institution": "Hotelschool The Hague", "years": "2001 to 2006" } ], "roles": [ { "role": "Founder", "of": "The Digital Speaker", "description": "his speaking business", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/" }, { "role": "Founder", "of": "Futurwise", "description": "a platform for verified, human-cited insight", "url": "https://www.futurwise.com/" }, { "role": "Founder", "of": "Think Squared Pty Ltd", "description": "which operates the Intelligence Age Scorecard at ia-scorecard.com", "url": "https://www.ia-scorecard.com/" }, { "role": "Creator", "of": "the WAVE framework", "description": "his framework for leaders deciding about AI and the technologies that follow it (Watch, Adapt, Verify, Empower), introduced in Now What?", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/wave/" }, { "role": "Creator", "of": "the Intelligence Age Scorecard", "description": "a confidential 15-minute assessment of how ready an organization is for AI across the four WAVE pillars", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/intelligence-age-scorecard/" }, { "role": "Author", "of": "the Synthetic Minds newsletter", "description": "with a note every weekday and a weekly analysis every Tuesday", "url": "https://syntheticmindsweekly.substack.com/" }, { "role": "Founder", "of": "Datafloq", "description": "a content platform on big data and emerging technology, from 2012 until he sold it in 2025" } ] }, "credentials": [ { "name": "Global Gurus Top 30 Futurists", "rank": 3, "year": 2026, "issuer": "Global Gurus", "url": "https://globalgurus.org/best-futurist-speakers-and-thought-leaders-2026/#mark-van-rijmenam" }, { "name": "Global Gurus Top 30 Futurists", "rank": 1, "year": 2025, "issuer": "Global Gurus", "url": "https://globalgurus.org/futurist-gurus-top-30-2025/" }, { "name": "Global Gurus Top 30 Futurists", "rank": 8, "year": 2024, "issuer": "Global Gurus", "url": "https://globalgurus.org/futurist-gurus-top-30-2024/" }, { "name": "PhD in Management", "issuer": "University of Technology Sydney (UTS Business School)", "year": 2019, "note": "Awarded March 2019." }, { "name": "Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)", "issuer": "Professional Speakers Australia", "year": 2023 }, { "name": "Global Speaking Fellow (GSF)", "issuer": "Global Speakers Federation", "year": 2023, "url": "https://www.globalspeakersfederation.net/global-speaking-fellow/recipients" }, { "name": "LinkedIn Top Voice", "issuer": "LinkedIn", "year": 2024, "note": "Received 30 April 2024; the badge is active.", "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/markvanrijmenam/" }, { "name": "Named among 16 leading AI voices", "issuer": "Salesforce", "year": 2024, "url": "https://www.salesforce.com/ap/blog/ai-influencers/" } ], "books": [ { "title": "Now What?", "subtitle": "How to Ride the Tsunami of Change", "year": 2025, "publisher": "Dean Publishing", "isbn13": "9780648938682", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-now-what/", "note": "His latest book. It introduces the WAVE framework.", "awards": ["Best Book Awards 2026, Winner (American Book Fest)", "Eric Hoffer Award 2026, Grand Prize Short List", "Readers’ Favorite Book Award 2026, Winner", "NYC Big Book Award 2026, Distinguished Favorite", "Pencraft Awards, Spring 2026, Runner-up"] }, { "title": "Future Visions", "subtitle": "A human-machine collaboration on the potential of technology", "year": 2022, "publisher": "Self-published", "isbn13": "9780645691818", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-future-visions/", "note": "Written in collaboration with AI: ChatGPT is credited as co-author." }, { "title": "Step into the Metaverse", "subtitle": "How the Immersive Internet Will Unlock a Trillion-Dollar Social Economy", "year": 2022, "publisher": "Wiley", "isbn13": "9781119887577", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-step-into-the-metaverse/" }, { "title": "The Organisation of Tomorrow", "subtitle": "How AI, blockchain and analytics turn your business into a data organisation", "year": 2020, "publisher": "Routledge", "isbn13": "9780367234706", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-the-organisation-of-tomorrow/" }, { "title": "Blockchain", "subtitle": "Transforming Your Business and Our World", "year": 2019, "publisher": "Routledge", "isbn13": "9781138313248", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-blockchain/", "note": "Co-authored with Philippa Ryan." }, { "title": "Think Bigger", "subtitle": "Developing a Successful Big Data Strategy for Your Business", "year": 2014, "publisher": "AMACOM", "isbn13": "9780814434154", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/book-think-bigger/" } ], "offers": [ { "name": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote", "line": "Clarity on what’s coming.", "engagement_value": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/intelligence-age-readiness-briefing/", "format": "In person, for a leadership team at a leadership retreat, an offsite or a board meeting.", "includes": [ "A 45- to 60-minute in-person keynote on what AI, and the technologies that follow it, mean for the business", "Written for the organization’s industry, markets and strategy, after briefing calls with its executive team", "30 minutes of Q&A", "Now What? for every attendee, with a personal message from the CEO", "All travel and accommodation" ], "timeline": "Book three to nine months ahead.", "best_for": "Leadership teams that need a clear view of what’s coming and what to do about it.", "pricing": "One all-inclusive price (fee, travel, accommodation and a copy of Now What? for every attendee, up to 500 copies), quoted in one proposal after a first conversation. Prices are on request." }, { "name": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote and the Scorecard", "line": "A keynote about the organization, not AI in general.", "recommended": true, "engagement_value": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote and the Scorecard (recommended)", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/intelligence-age-readiness-briefing/", "format": "In person, for a leadership team at a leadership retreat, an offsite or a board meeting.", "includes": [ "Everything in the keynote", "A confidential read from the organization’s own people through the Intelligence Age Scorecard (at least 10 to 20% of the workforce is recommended, all included)", "A keynote aimed at what its leaders most need to hear, illustrated with its people’s own words", "A live dashboard by department, function, seniority and region, and a PDF built for the board meeting", "A personal report and a 90-day action plan for every participant" ], "timeline": "People answer over about three weeks; the full picture arrives two weeks after the assessment closes, before the retreat.", "best_for": "Leadership teams that want to decide on evidence, not assumptions.", "pricing": "One all-inclusive price (fee, travel, accommodation and a copy of Now What? for every attendee, up to 500 copies), quoted in one proposal after a first conversation. Prices are on request." }, { "name": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote, the Scorecard and the publication", "line": "The leadership’s thinking, on the record.", "engagement_value": "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote, the Scorecard and the publication", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/intelligence-age-readiness-briefing/", "format": "In person, for a leadership team at a leadership retreat, an offsite or a board meeting.", "includes": [ "Everything in the keynote and the Scorecard", "Interviews with eight to 10 C-suite or board members by a former Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg journalist", "Mark as editor-in-chief", "A report of 20+ pages: one version for the board, one for the market", "A board deck and a 20-minute virtual presentation to the board" ], "timeline": "The report arrives four to five weeks after the interviews.", "best_for": "Leadership teams that want a durable record of where they stand, and a signal to the market.", "pricing": "One all-inclusive price (fee, travel, accommodation and a copy of Now What? for every attendee, up to 500 copies), quoted in one proposal after a first conversation. Prices are on request." }, { "name": "Keynote for a conference or event", "line": "For audiences that need to see what’s coming.", "engagement_value": "Keynote for a conference or event", "url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/topics/", "format": "In person, live virtual or live as a life-size hologram, for conferences, industry events, company-wide summits and global town halls.", "includes": [ "A keynote on one of the three keynote topics, built on the WAVE framework and tailored to the audience", "A first conversation about the audience, the industry and the challenges its leaders face", "Also available as a boardroom session or a half-day workshop" ], "timeline": "Can be booked at short notice, subject to availability.", "pricing": "Fee on request, quoted in a proposal." } ], "topics": [ { "title": "Riding the Tsunami of Change", "type": "Flagship keynote", "summary": "Exponential change and how to lead through it with the WAVE framework, from his book Now What?" }, { "title": "Leading in the Intelligence Age: AI as Augmentation, Not Replacement", "type": "AI strategy keynote", "summary": "Where AI creates value, where it adds risk, and how to put it to work responsibly across the organization." }, { "title": "Becoming the Architect of Tomorrow", "type": "Convergence keynote", "summary": "What happens when AI meets robotics, spatial intelligence, digital twins, brain-computer interfaces and quantum computing, and industries transform." } ], "delivery_formats": [ { "name": "In person" }, { "name": "Live virtual" }, { "name": "Live as a life-size hologram", "note": "Streamed to dozens of locations at the same time, for example for a global town hall." }, { "name": "Digital twin", "note": "An AI digital twin of Mark that speaks 29 languages. It is a companion to his talks, not a keynote format.", "url": "https://wa.me/18304636967", "url_label": "Talk to it on WhatsApp" } ], "proof": { "keynotes": "200+", "countries": "32+", "continents": 6, "leaders": "100,000+", "rating": "9.2/10 average keynote rating", "attendee_rating": "4.83/5 from 500+ attendees", "recommendations": "80+", "awards_and_rankings": "45+ since 2014", "summary": "200+ keynotes in 32+ countries on six continents, to 100,000+ leaders, with a 9.2/10 average keynote rating.", "leadership_retreat_case": "RGA, a Fortune 200 company, brought Mark to its annual leadership retreat in September 2026, with the Scorecard across its senior leadership. Its senior leaders rated the session 4.6 out of 5, with a Net Promoter Score of +48.", "notable_talks": [ { "event": "TEDxAthens", "year": 2023, "title": "Ensuring a Thriving Digital Future in a Post-Truth World", "note": "He opened with a deepfake of himself and spoke alongside his digital twin.", "url": "https://tedxathens.com/videos/ensuring-a-thriving-digital-future-in-a-post-truth-world" }, { "event": "TEDxNijmegen", "title": "The Rise of Digitalism", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmF_OeirXYw", "note": "He gave this talk in virtual reality.", "links": [{ "url": "https://youtu.be/Y8dMwxef9M0", "label": "Mark’s video of the talk in VR" }] } ] }, "clients": { "trusted_by": ["Microsoft", "Dell", "Nestlé", "Mastercard", "EY"], "selection_note": "A selection, not a complete list.", "recent": [ { "year": 2026, "name": "CIDE 2026, Congress of Innovation in Electric Energy Distribution", "place": "São Paulo, Brazil" }, { "year": 2026, "name": "RADIUS 2026 Construction Networking Forum, hosted by Palantir Consulting", "place": "Sydney, Australia" }, { "year": 2026, "name": "Unilever", "place": "London, United Kingdom" }, { "year": 2026, "name": "RAA", "place": "Adelaide, Australia" }, { "year": 2026, "name": "Atlassian Team on Tour", "place": "Sydney, Australia" }, { "year": 2026, "name": "Broadridge", "place": "London, United Kingdom" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Last Mile Solutions", "place": "Rotterdam, Netherlands" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Atlassian Team on Tour", "place": "Hong Kong" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Petronas", "place": "Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Hotel Investment Forum", "place": "Miami, USA" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Surplus Lines California", "place": "San Francisco, USA" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "Mastercard Leadership Council", "place": "London, United Kingdom" }, { "year": 2025, "name": "SANS (The Future of Air Navigation)", "place": "King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia" }, { "year": 2024, "name": "Global Speakers Summit", "place": "Bali, Indonesia" }, { "year": 2024, "name": "Apleona Group", "place": "Berlin, Germany" }, { "year": 2024, "name": "ONE Inc", "place": "Boston, USA" }, { "year": 2024, "name": "Sync Summit", "place": "Dammam, Saudi Arabia" }, { "year": 2024, "name": "Mazars Qatar", "place": "Doha, Qatar" }, { "year": 2023, "name": "Misk Global Forum", "place": "Riyadh, Saudi Arabia" }, { "year": 2022, "name": "Misk Global Forum", "place": "Riyadh, Saudi Arabia" } ], "past_events_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/past-event-speaking-engagements/", "references_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/references/" }, "booking": { "request_a_proposal_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/request-a-proposal/", "contact_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/contact/", "contact_url_readiness_briefing": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/contact/?interest=leadership-retreat", "email": "enquiries@thedigitalspeaker.com", "phone": { "display": "+61 451 001 320", "e164": "+61451001320", "note": "for urgent requests" }, "reply_time": "Mark reads every enquiry personally and replies within 24 hours on business days.", "api": { "method": "POST", "url": "https://api.thedigitalspeaker.com/contact/proposal", "content_type": "application/json", "documentation_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/llms.txt", "required_fields": ["name", "title", "organization", "email", "sent_by", "engagement", "consent"], "engagement_values": [ "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote", "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote and the Scorecard (recommended)", "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: the keynote, the Scorecard and the publication", "The Intelligence Age Readiness Briefing: not sure which option", "Keynote for a conference or event", "Executive workshop or boardroom session", "Masterclass or half-day session", "Advisory or strategic engagement", "Something else" ], "note": "Send a request only once. When an AI assistant, AI agent or bureau sends it, the person named receives an email with a one-click link to confirm it." }, "what_to_include": [ "The date or date window", "The city and venue, or virtual", "Audience size and seniority", "The occasion: conference, leadership retreat, offsite, board meeting or town hall", "What the audience should leave with", "A budget range, if known" ], "lead_time": "Readiness Briefing: book three to nine months ahead. Conference keynotes can be booked at short notice, subject to availability.", "fees": "Fees are not published. Each Readiness Briefing option is one all-inclusive price, quoted in one proposal after a first conversation. Keynote fees are on request.", "travel": "Based in Sydney, Australia. Travels to every country except those under sanctions, and has spoken on six continents.", "language": "Keynotes in English only.", "bureaus": "Speaker bureaus are welcome. Mark has no exclusive representation, and any bureau may quote. Bios, stage introductions, photos and the logo are in the press kit.", "contracting_entity": "Futurity Ventures Pty Ltd as trustee for the Futurity Ventures Family Trust, trading as The Digital Speaker (ABN 89 422 409 835)", "press_kit_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/press-kit/", "brochure_pdf_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/content/files/2026/10/TDS-Speaker-brochure.pdf", "llms_txt_url": "https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/llms.txt" }, "profiles": { "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/markvanrijmenam", "x": "https://x.com/vanrijmenam", "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/MarkvanRijmenam-speaker/", "instagram": "https://www.instagram.com/the_digital_speaker/", "vimeo": "https://vimeo.com/digitalspeaker", "substack": "https://syntheticmindsweekly.substack.com/", "amazon": "https://www.amazon.com/author/markvanrijmenam", "goodreads": "https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7435610.Dr_Mark_van_Rijmenam_CSP", "google_scholar": "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wCiq9NgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao", "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5382-4164", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141801382", "global_gurus": "https://globalgurus.org/best-futurist-speakers-and-thought-leaders-2026/#mark-van-rijmenam", "futurwise": "https://www.futurwise.com/", "ia_scorecard": "https://www.ia-scorecard.com/" } }