Jamie Metzl

  • Expert on Biotechnology Policy; Founding Member WHO Expert Advisory Committee for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing
  • Expert on Asia, Geopolitics; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
  • Former Exec V.P., Asia Society; Deputy Staff Director, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Director for Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council
  • Regular commentator for CNN & Bloomberg

More than an electrifying speaker, Jamie Metzl is a trusted and sought-after expert on the ever-evolving global geopolitical and biotechnology landscapes. Having spoken around the world and at major companies from Walmart to Google on the geopolitical outlook, how a rising China is transforming the world as we know it, and the latest advances in biotechnology, Metzl is praised as “a fantastic authority” (HSBC) and “an absolute tour de force” (Network 20/20), guaranteed to leave your audience engaged and more deeply informed.  A current Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, and an founding member of the WHO Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing, Metzl is frequently in-demand by major outlets such as CNN and Bloomberg for his sharp, dynamic analysis on the most pressing foreign policy issues and expertise on Asia’s economy and politics.

Having served in high level positions in the White House, State Department, and Senate, as well as run a major international affairs organization, Metzl draws from his cutting edge experience in both the public and private sector to provide transformative insights and actionable takeaways for every audience. Whether shedding light on what Asia’s economic growth means for the global geopolitical outlook and how businesses can best prepare, or diving into the future of the genetics revolution and the impacts that should be on company’s radars, Metzl’s researched-based, thought-provoking talks leave individuals and organizations equipped to keep up with changing times.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • Kansas City Jewish Federation
  • Rancho la Puerta
  • Contemporary Jewish Museum
  • 92Y
  • Crystal Cruises
  • Vail Symposium
  • IVY
  • SXSW
  • Network 20/20
  • Atlantic Council
Rave Reviews About Jamie Metzl
Jamie was the closing keynote at our global CEO conference. He had an uncanny way tying together all of the themes from the previous sessions, into a masterful and thought provoking closing. No canned script, no death by PowerPoint, but an engaging, entertaining and intelligent talk worthy of our audience. Jamie's keynote had the energy and enthusiasm of a rock star, and left our audience wanting more. I would most certainly book Jamie again for another YPO event!

The great biohack: How the AI, genetics, and biotechnology revolutions will transform | World Summit AI - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Jamie Metzl
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The Biology Revolution Will Change Everything. Are You Ready?

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 fundamen ...

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.

Coronavirus Broke the World: Are you Pivoting Towards What's Next?

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 ...

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. 

Hacking Darwin: Genetic Enhancement and the Future of Humanity

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 w ...

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.

From Precision to Predictive: Genetic Revolution to Healthcare and Beyond

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 ...

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.

Competition and Innovation at the Technological Frontier

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, blo ...

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.

Hacking immortality: The science and science fiction of extreme human life extension

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 ...

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.

Human Resource Management in a Genetic Age

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 organ ...

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?

Beyond the Blue Zones: What the Revolutionary Science of Human Life Extension Means for You

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 ...

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.

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Speaker News

One Shared World

JAMIE METZL is starting a movement. OneShared.World is a broad and inclusive movement of stakeholders working collaboratively across diverse cultures, communities, ethnicities, organizations, entities, interests, generations, and nations to ensure a better future for humankind and the sustainability of our collective home. Find out more here > >

In a recent report declaring our world in “deep and fundamental crisis,” OneShared.World calls for massive expansion of efforts to meet the emergency needs of vulnerable populations as an act of global self-preservation.  Read the report Rise or Fall Together here > >

Hacking Darwin gaining media momentum

 

The release of Hacking Darwin drew great media attention from Amanpour & Co., The Economist, The New York Times, and more.  Recently, JAMIE METZL's call for a society-wide conversation on the future of human genetic engineering is gaining increasing momentum.

Houston Fox 26 aired an unprecedented 5-day series with the last segment hosting a clear discussion of the ethical considerations. Further media attention ranged from a book review in the prestigious journal of science, Nature, to a discussion in the Vanity Fair/Hive podcast, to Fareed Zakaria, GPS, CNN , to an extensive list of live interviews now reaching over ten million hits. Some of the many programs include The Rubin Report, Curious with Josh Peck , The James Altucher Show ,FOMO Sapiens , Inspired Money, Chris Stout: Living a Life in Full, Joe Rogan Experience, Fox LA, BBC, and Blue Zones.

In addition to all this attention, Jamie Metzl is in development for both a TV and feature documentaries, and a podcast of his own, Future U. with Jamie Metzl.

Hacking Darwin, Jamie Metzl's latest book, is out to great acclaim!

After serving in the National Security Council in the Clinton administration, leading geopolitical expert and technology futurist JAMIE METZL locked on and dove deep into the then budding genetic engineering industry, and has kept reporting on it ever since. 

His latest book, Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity is out with exceptional reviews and great media attention. Amanpour & Co. presented an extensive interviewThe Economist offered an excerpt and Q&A. Other appearances included a New York Times op-ed, CBS News, NPR Books, Forbes.com, Quartz with an excerpt, TechCrunch with an op-ed, a Psychology Today feature, Fareed Zakaria interview (CNN), BBC America interview, Bloomberg Radio interview, Joe Rogan Experience podcast interview, WJR-AM (Detroit), WLW-AM (Cincinnati), WBAL-AM (Baltimore), KOMO-AM (Seattle), WTAM-AM (Cleveland), WHAS-AM (Louisville), KOGO-AM (San Diego), KKOB-AM (Albuquerque), KEX-AM (Portland), KABC-AM (Los Angeles), Smithsonian online Q&A,  Intelligence Matters podcast interview, The Future of Sex podcast interview, Genetic Literacy Project podcast, Kirkus review, and Publishers Weekly review.

This much attention is no wonder when renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil praises Hacking Darwin with, “Jamie Metzl’s Hacking Darwin is an outstanding guide to the most important conversation of our lives — how we humans will hijack our evolutionary process and transcend the limits of our own biology.”

Hacking Darwin is a groundbreaking exploration of the many ways genetic-engineering is shaking the core foundations of our lives ― sex, war, love, and death...and it’s out now!

Futurist Jamie Metzl engages audiences on the disruptions shaping our world

Most people, companies, and governments don’t understand the revolutionary technological change transforming our world, making them far less competitive and vulnerable to disruption than they need to be. JAMIE METZL is one of the world’s leading futurists who specializes in making revolutionary science and its implications understandable to and actionable for individuals, companies, and governments.  A frequent CNN commentator, he speaks regularly at some of the world’s most prestigious venues including SXSW, Google Zeitgeist, and Singularity University. In addition to being an incredibly interesting and exciting speaker, Jamie will inspire your team to think differently about a future coming far faster than we think and provide specific ideas for how your company can ride the wave of technological change rather than be subsumed by it. Hailed as “extremely knowledgeable, flexible and a pleasure to work with on our event programming” (HSBC), Metzl’s talks are “substantive, compelling and artfully delivered” (The University of Texas at Dallas) and leave a lasting impression: “Many people commented after his presentation and the ensuing discussion that he is one of the best speakers they have heard in a very long while - and this is a group that is accustomed to hearing many high-level speakers” (Asia Pacific Institute). His syndicated columns and other writing on how technology, economics, and global politics intersect are featured in publications around the world including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Economist, and TechCrunch. His new book, Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity was released April 23, 2019.  

Visit Jamie Metzl's website 

Learn more about changemaker, geopolitics and biotechnology expert, and futurist novelist JAMIE METZL.

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Books by Jamie Metzl
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Biography

Jamie Metzl is a leading technology and healthcare futurist, geopolitical expert, novelist, entrepreneur, and media commentator, founder of the global social movement OneShared.World, and an Atlantic Council Senior Fellow and Singularity University faculty member. In 2019, he was appointed to the World Health Organization expert advisory committee on human genome editing. Jamie previously served in the U.S. National Security Council, State Department, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as a Human Rights Officer for the United Nations in Cambodia.  Described by some as “the original COVID-19 whistleblower,” he was among first to call for a full investigation into pandemic origins in early 2020.

Jamie appears regularly on national and international media, his work has been featured by 60 Minutes, the New York Times, and most major media outlets across the globe, and his syndicated columns and other writing on science, technology, health, politics, and international affairs are featured regularly in publications around the world. He is the author of a history of the Cambodian genocide, the historical novel The Depths of the Sea, the genetics thrillers Genesis Code and Eternal Sonata, and the non-fiction bestseller, Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity.

A leading global voice on the big picture implications of the genetics and biotechnology revolutions, Jamie is Special Strategist for the WisdomTree BioRevolution Exchange Traded Fund and serves on the advisory boards of Exponential MedicineGenomic PredictionHarvard Medical School Preventive Genomics, the Lake Nona Impact ForumTMRW Life Sciences, and Walmart’s Future of Retail Policy Lab.

Jamie is also a founder and Co-Chair of the national security organization Partnership for a Secure America, a board member of the International Center for Transitional Justice, the American University in Mongolia, and Parsons Dance, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life. He has been an election monitor in Afghanistan and the Philippines and advised the government of North Korea on the establishment of Special Economic Zones. Jamie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former White House Fellow and Aspen Institute Crown Fellow who holds a Ph.D. from Oxford, a JD from Harvard Law School, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University.

Jamie speaks frequently to corporate, nonprofit, and academic audiences around the world.