Jim Carroll

  • Futurist, Trends and Innovation Expert
  • Author
  • Columnist
  • Media Commentator



Jim is one of the world’s leading global futurists, trends and innovation experts, with a massive global blue chip client list. Over the last 25 years, more than 2 million people have shared his insight at his events.

Jim’s global client list gives him a front row seat to the high velocity change that is occurring as disruption comes to take hold of every industry and every organization.

With that insight, and the customized research that he undertakes for every engagement, he helps to transform growth-oriented organizations into high-velocity innovation heroes!

Organizations worldwide are working hard to determine what to do in the era of acceleration and disruption – and in large numbers, turn to Jim for the high level strategic guidance into the trends they must align to and the
strategies they need to adopt.  BusinessWeek named him one of the world's four leading sources for innovation insight, and he has been featured as an innovation expert on the global CNBC series, The Business of Innovation.

Jim shares this insight at the top tier of global events, with events that have included Leonard Nimoy (“Spock” of Star Trek), President George W. Bush, the late Carrie Fisher (“Princess Leia” of Star Wars), Terry Bradshaw of the NFL, Biz Stone (Founder of Twitter), Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia, Astronauts Scott Kelly (last pilot of the Space Shuttle), Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 and ISS Commander Chris Hadfield, business leaders Jack Welch of GE and Roger Goodall, the Commissioner of the NFL, actors Robert deNiro, Goldie Hawn & Forest Whittaker, and Lee Trevino and Bubba Watson of golf, among others.

 

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Rave Reviews About Jim Carroll
We were extremely pleased with Jim’s presentation..... the content was great and would hopefully prompt people to think about the rapidity of change going on in our world!

A Sample of the Groups That Have Hosted Jim Carroll
  • Scotiabank
  • Eli Lilly
  • Godiva Chocolates
  • Mercedes Benz
  • Nikon
  • PGA of America
  • Wall Street Journal
  • DuPont
  • NASA
  • The GAP
Virt. Keynote - The Future of Insurance Post-Pandemic - What's Your Plan? [16:20] - Get Sharable Link
Explore Talks By Jim Carroll
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What's Next? Your Industry, Your Trends, Your Opportunity in our Post-Pandemic World

We've all just been through the most tumultuous era in decades - the global pandemic shifted the universe for the global economy, industries, companies, people, careers, and nations! What's your plan for moving forward into recovery and opportunity? Futurist Jim Carroll provides a concise outline of ...

We've all just been through the most tumultuous era in decades - the global pandemic shifted the universe for the global economy, industries, companies, people, careers, and nations! What's your plan for moving forward into recovery and opportunity? Futurist Jim Carroll provides a concise outline of what comes next - and what you should do about it!

The simple fact is that every industry continues to be redefined at blinding speed by new technology, collaborative global R&D, virtualized workforces, and accelerated science. Organizations learned something new about agility, speed, and flexibility during the pandemic, and this simple fact redefines the staggering speed of change to come next.

In this industry-specific, highly customized keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll covers the key scientific, technological, knowledge, and skills trends that existed Pre-Covid, and then outlines the new challenges and opportunities that exist as we go forward into a vastly new, more complex future.

How to cope with a new complex era of accelerating change? Futurist Jim Carroll outlines his simple but transformative structure: Think big, start small, scale fast! Aligning to the big opportunities through bold, transformative thinking; small steps to help you prepare; and aligning with speed to get there at the right time!

Our World in 2030: The Post-Pandemic Trends That Redefine Your Future

Years from now, we will look back and realize that many industries, technologies, concepts and disruptive ideas accelerated throughout the crisis of 2020 - because they played a major role in the rebuilding of our dramatically different future. We will also know that by carefully analyzing the trend ...

Years from now, we will look back and realize that many industries, technologies, concepts and disruptive ideas accelerated throughout the crisis of 2020 - because they played a major role in the rebuilding of our dramatically different future. We will also know that by carefully analyzing the trends of yesterday in the context of fast moving events that we were best able to understand these new trends of tomorrow.

Futurist Jim Carroll examines your world and industry in the microscope of a new lens, providing critical insight to the trends that matter - and that redefine our future. The acceleration of trends like 3D printing and biomaterial science, robots & cobots, genetic medicine and virtualized community care, resiliency-oriented supply chains and last mile logistics technology, delivery drones and personal space heat tracking - all of which are playing a role in our eventual post-pandemic, recovery oriented world. In this new future, business models continue to evolve but at a faster pace; new revenue opportunities are emerging at hyper-speed as entirely new products are invented and new industries are born to deal with the crisis; entire industries are forever changed as the new era of "personal space" and "economic distancing" came to define all forms of human interaction going forward.

It's in this context that the big ideas are being explored, the bold are defining their future, and the fast are aligning to acceleration. Covid-19 and the economic downturn of 2020 have redefined our future - but it's by understanding this new future and aligning to the opportunities that it presents that breakthrough performers discover their opportunities!

Bridging the Acceleration Gap: Achieving Growth By Aligning to The Trends of Our Post-Pandemic Future

Are you structured for slow in a fast world? The global pandemic has changed the axis of our universe. What was disruptive before is now massively transformative. Do you have a strategy to keep up? History tells us that every global crisis shifts the axis of the future of our universe, and every cri ...

Are you structured for slow in a fast world?

The global pandemic has changed the axis of our universe. What was disruptive before is now massively transformative. Do you have a strategy to keep up?

History tells us that every global crisis shifts the axis of the future of our universe, and every crisis offers an opportunity to improve. In the harsh reality of our post-pandemic world, leadership strategies that worked yesterday are exposed as being irrelevant tomorrow even while they are being actively considered today.

Pre-pandemic, CEOs and organizations were dealing with a world of business model disruption, the acceleration of technology, the faster evolution of key skills, and other critical issues. Now, in the harsh light of our new world, one thing is clear - the future is even more complex than it was before. And a simple fact has emerged - there is a massive and growing gap between the speed of change and the ability of organizations to keep up. Bridging this gap is critical to future success - and the significance of your inability to bridge the gap is even bigger than it was before.

The challenges exist in stark terms. Medical knowledge is now doubling every 78 days, compared to 8 years a decade ago, rendering irrelevant previous healthcare industry strategies. We've gone from a world of just-in-time to just-in-case supply chain concepts because of a world of broken globalization and sudden volatility. 68% percent of organizations have said that global pandemic has forced them to adapt and change their business models - what was disruptive before is even more so today. Old methods of public relations fail faster in an era in which a Tik-Tok teenager with an effective message can change the entire course of human history. Regulatory bodies can barely keep up with the pace of fast science, as seen with the disconnect between the fast arrival of Covid-19 vaccines. An electrical grid infrastructure designed for the era of carbon vehicles is clearly unable to support today's rush to battery-focused electric vehicles. SThese are but a few examples of how the ‘acceleration gap' is affecting every aspect of our world today.

Bridge the gap! What worked yesterday will not work tomorrow! You are on a guaranteed path to failure if you don't align with our new reality - by mastering the disconnect between speed and structure. The acceleration gap is very real, and it’s growing larger all the time. Successful organizations will be those who can shrink the gap, minimize its impact, and turn it into an opportunity rather than a threat.

In this keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll provides you detailed, customized insight on the trends that matter as we go forward into a world driven by uncertainty, impacted by potential relentless volatility, and unrelenting waves of massive opportunity - and a stagey for mastering the acceleration disconnect. For over 25 years, Jim Carroll has provided senior-level leadership insight on how to become a future-ready organization. With clients such as NASA, Disney, Pfizer, Microsoft, Chrysler, the World Government Summit, Godiva, and Nestle, he has a proven track record of aligning organizations to a fast-moving future.

Now What? Reinvention and the Role of Optimism in Our Post-Covid World

Reinvention surrounds us. It is inherent to our future, fundamental to our success, and a pathway to our action. In this fast-moving, inspirational, and powerful keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll takes a look at the concept of 'reinvention' from a personal, business, and societal perspective. What is th ...

Reinvention surrounds us.

It is inherent to our future, fundamental to our success, and a pathway to our action. In this fast-moving, inspirational, and powerful keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll takes a look at the concept of 'reinvention' from a personal, business, and societal perspective.

What is the essence of the mindset of those who have successfully reinvented? What are the key concepts that leaders need to think about to align their organizations to the reality of a vastly different future - and act upon it? How have nations aligned to the idea of 'doing what's next' rather than 'doing what has already been done' in order to enhance their opportunity in the next economy?

Reinvention comes in different attitudes, strategies, disruptive thinking, and actions. In this powerful keynote, Jim outlines the opportunities of reinvention; lessons from world leaders, both personal and corporate who have achieved it, the lessons we can learn from them - and specific strategies to redefine and reinvent your own future.

Based upon the ongoing research for his forthcoming book of the same name, Jim Carroll provides a powerful pathway into the future, the mindset necessary to get there, and the bold actions that must be pursued!

The Next 5 Years: Understanding the Trends In our Post-Covid World

The ultimate impact of Covid-19 on your future? Beyond the fact that we will be living in a somewhat surreal and unusual future, another fact remains – every organization is entering a new future in which a new era of massive acceleration defines everything you will do. Here are some facts about you ...

The ultimate impact of Covid-19 on your future? Beyond the fact that we will be living in a somewhat surreal and unusual future, another fact remains – every organization is entering a new future in which a new era of massive acceleration defines everything you will do.

Here are some facts about your future:

68% percent of organizations have said that global pandemic has forced them to adapt and change their business model
77% recognize the need for systemic change in their operations
82% believe a more challenging economy is in their future
and yet 47% of CFO’s are not very comfortable committing to new investments in the next 6 to 12 months
The pandemic has changed everything, and future-oriented leadership is more important than ever before. History tells us that every global crisis shifts the axis of the future of our universe and every crisis offers an opportunity to improve.

In this keynote, Futurist Jim Carroll provides you detailed, customized insight on the trends that matter as we go forward into a world driven by uncertainty, impacted by potential relentless volatility, and unrelenting waves of massive opportunity. For over 25 years, Jim Carroll has provided senior-level leadership insight on how to become a future-ready organization. With clients such as NASA, Disney, Pfizer, Microsoft, Chrysler, the World Government Summit, Godiva, and Nestle, he has a proven track record of aligning organizations to a fast-moving future.

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity: Leadership Strategies and Insight for the Post Pandemic World

History has taught us that only 10% of organizations become breakthrough performers during a period of economic challenge. Futurist Jim Carroll has carefully studied the strategies they pursue, the concepts that drive them, and the actions they take to become a success in this complex new world. It' ...

History has taught us that only 10% of organizations become breakthrough performers during a period of economic challenge. Futurist Jim Carroll has carefully studied the strategies they pursue, the concepts that drive them, and the actions they take to become a success in this complex new world.

It's timely and critical insight! Recovery oriented CEO's and senior executives understand that in addition to managing existing challenges, right now is the time to focus on strategies that align to our complex new reality in order to achieve growth and pursue opportunity. They know that they need to act quickly to establish an innovative mindset with their team in oder to get there quickly.

In this interactive online virtual keynote, Jim provides his unique insight on staying ahead in volatile times. A culture that has everyone thinking about what can be done going forward rather than looking back. A solutions oriented mindset in which people are thinking less about the problems that have occurred, and more about the innovative strategies that could be pursued. A leadership style and mindset that takes on volatility as a form of innovation oxygen, complexity as a foundation for action, uncertainty as the platform for disruption and ambiguity as the clarity for stifling aggressive indecision.

9 Things You Need To Do Right Now: Rediscovering Growth, Opportunity and the Future When Volatility is the New Normal!

Innovating at high velocity is vital to turning challenge into opportunity. Jim Carroll believes that organizations that focus on staying ahead of fast paced economic trends in an era of volatility are best positioned for long term success. How? Innovative organizations succeed by mastering the pace ...

Innovating at high velocity is vital to turning challenge into opportunity. Jim Carroll believes that organizations that focus on staying ahead of fast paced economic trends in an era of volatility are best positioned for long term success.

How? Innovative organizations succeed by mastering the pace of the new high velocity economy. In an era of economic challenge, they focus on discovering opportunity while moving through uncertainty!

In this keynote, Jim Carroll builds on insight captured during periods of economic uncertainty to provide a concrete foundation in which to move forward despite relentless economic volatility.

Is there a future out there? Definitely yes, but a constant drumbeat of negative news can cause people to lose sight of what will happen as we return to a period of economic growth. That’s where Jim Carroll comes in — this noted international futurist, trends & innovation expert spends his time with globally innovative leaders. He’s gained keen insight into some of the key trends which will impact industries, organizations and careers in the next few years to come, in a wide variety of industries from health care, to technology and manufacturing, to the skilled trades. Jim is a passionate believer that we live in transformative times — and in five or ten years, will look back at this time with awe at the new industries, products, careers, and opportunities that were developed.

Jim Carroll delivered an extensive number of global leadership keynotes to major organizations after 9/11, and again after the economic meltdown of 2008-09. He has a proven, battle-tested track record in providing compelling insight and time-tested strategies on aligning to the future despite uncertainty. In this leadership oriented talk, Jim covers the trends that will provide for major growth markets through the next five to ten years; where we will see the emergence of new careers, industries, business models and opportunities; and how a relentless focus on opportunity and growth is directly linked to future success. He will help you to make sense of what happened, where we are now, and what do we do next!

Jim Carroll will challenge you to focus on the opportunities of tomorrow, rather than the challenges of today.

Accelerating Creativity: How to Rethink, Redo, ReAlign and Rethink Your Future

We will see more change in every industries in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 100 as transformation and disruption sweeps the world, Every company is faced with the rapid emergence of new competitors, significant new business models, more challenging consumers, the acceleration of s ...

We will see more change in every industries in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 100 as transformation and disruption sweeps the world, Every company is faced with the rapid emergence of new competitors, significant new business models, more challenging consumers, the acceleration of science a race to the pricing bottom, and a transition to the speed of innovation that will define their future. 

How do you get ahead? By turning on your innovation engine, firing your creativity thrusters, and strapping in for a rocket ride into your faster future. In this keynote, futurist and innovation expert Jim Carroll shares the insight that he has gained by spending the last 25 years with a relentless focus on what turns organizations into high-velocity innovation heroes. None other than NASA has invited Jim in - twice - to share his insight on innovation strategies.

Innovative organization accelerate their creativity by turning their innovation engines upside down, focusing on customer oriented innovation and other unique models. They excel at sourcing ideas from the outside, turning that unique insight into fuel for their internal innovation factories. They challenge themselves on speed by getting into an iterative process of constantly rethinking, adjusting and redoing in order to discover the next best thing. They challenge themselves on business cycles, time to market and more. 

In accelerated organizations, partnership is a key focus, collaboration is critical, agility is oxygen and imagination is relentlesss.

Launch yourself into the faster future with this unique, high energy keynote for global futurist, trends & innovation expert Jim Carroll.

Learn more here.

Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Innovating in the Age of Disruption

We live in a time of massive challenge, and yet one of massive opportunity, with every industry and organization impacted by business model disruption, the emergence of new competitors, the impact of technology, the collapse of product lifecycle, political volatility and ever-more challenging custom ...

We live in a time of massive challenge, and yet one of massive opportunity, with every industry and organization impacted by business model disruption, the emergence of new competitors, the impact of technology, the collapse of product lifecycle, political volatility and ever-more challenging customers. Those very things which might have worked for us in the past might be the very anchors that could now hold us back as the future rushes at us with ever increasing speed.

In the era of Uber, Tesla and Amazon, leaders must have the insight into unique opportunities for innovation and change. Small, quick upstarts like Square are challenging the global credit card industry, at the same that GPS based driver monitoring devices are rewriting the rules of the auto insurance industry. The NEST Learning Thermostat morphs from a quiet startup to a worthy challenger to industrial energy device powerhouses. Autonomous vehicle technology leads us to road trains and a more rapid emergence of intelligent highway infrastructure. We’re in the era of the end of incumbency, in which small dominates big, fast trumps ponderous, and indecision spawns failure. Everywhere we look, we can see acceleration, speed, and velocity: and in times like these, time isn’t a luxury.

These trends matter — because we are at the dawn of a time in which “software is poised to take over the world.” That’s not an understatement – it’s a reality.

In this keynote, Jim Carroll takes you on a voyage into how the new rules of business and technology are providing for a reality in which the spirit of agility isn’t just an option – it’s the new normal. He provides you with a highly customized overview of the key trends impacting your organization, and invaluable leadership lessons that provide a clear path for going forward.

Learn more here.

The Lessons of Powerful Optimism: Rethinking the Future Right Now

We have seen more change in the last 5 years than we have seen in the last 100 – and yet there is so much more to come. But with economic, political, career and business model volatility all around us, it’s all too easy to fall prey to a swirl of negative thinking — with the result that you lose sig ...

We have seen more change in the last 5 years than we have seen in the last 100 – and yet there is so much more to come. But with economic, political, career and business model volatility all around us, it’s all too easy to fall prey to a swirl of negative thinking — with the result that you lose sight of the fascinating opportunities from what comes next.

The best antidote? An uplifting, hopeful and motivational view into the future with futurist Jim Carroll. In this engaging, humorous and yet powerfully refreshing keynote, he takes you on a tour of the trends which are reshaping our world in a great way. A renaissance in thinking and imagination, enabled by 3D printing, advanced robotics and self-driving cars, space tourism, and concepts involving asteroid mining, vertical farming, and other fascinating trends. An era that provides opportunities for the transformation of entire industries such as healthcare, retail, agriculture, sports and transportation through big bold thinking. The acceleration of ideas with scientific advancements that are allowing us to solve some of the biggest challenges of our time having to do with education, the environment, energy and water. A generation of millennials who know that it is a great time to think big ideas and do great things with their boundless enthusiasm and global awareness!

It’s time to turn your mind to the future once again, restore a sense of hope and optimism, and link yourself to the fast paced trends which energize your outlook on opportunity!

In this keynote, Jim takes you on a voyage to the future, and promises to leave you with a boundless sense of optimism and passion for what comes next!

Learn more here.

Healthcare 2025: The Transformative Trends That Will Really Define Our Future

When Jim Carroll began a recent keynote talk for a senior group of hospital CEO’s, he announced that he wouldn’t even mention health care reform — and the audience of 300 senior executives cheered! Instead, he told the audience that he would take them on a voyage to the world of healthcare in the ye ...

When Jim Carroll began a recent keynote talk for a senior group of hospital CEO’s, he announced that he wouldn’t even mention health care reform — and the audience of 300 senior executives cheered! Instead, he told the audience that he would take them on a voyage to the world of healthcare in the year of 2020, and provide them the insight they really need to deal with the challenges and opportunity of the future.

Everyone in a leadership position in the US health care system knows that even with health care reform, the challenges facing the US health care system are substantial and immense. That’s why innovation has quickly come to be one of the top issues that senior healthcare executives and medical professionals are thinking about. There is a realization that there is an urgent need to challenge the very philosophies upon which the system is built. They’re seeking insight into the major scientific, technological, consumer and social trends that will, by the year 2020, allow for some very dramatic change in the concept of health care delivery. And that’s why organizations such as the Physicians Hospitals of America Association, CIGNA, the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations, Blue Cross Blue Shield and many more have selected Jim to open their annual conference or event.

Where will we by the year 2020? We will have successfully transitioned the system from one which “fixes people after they’re sick” to one of preventative, diagnostic genomic-based medicine. Treating patients for the conditions we know they are likely to develop, and re-architechting the system around that reality. A system which will provide for virtual care through bio-connectivity, and extension of the hospital into a community-care oriented structure. A consumer driven, retail oriented health care environment for non-critical care treatment that provides significant opportunities for cost reduction. Real time analytics and location-intelligence capabilities which provide for community-wide monitoring of emerging health care challenges. “Just-in-time” knowledge concepts which will help to deal with a profession in which the volume of knowledge doubles every six years. That and much, much more.

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Jim Carroll is one of the world’s leading futurist, trends and innovation experts, with a massive global Blue Chip client list. Over the last 25 years, Jim has shared his insight with more than 2 million people in attendance at his events. He is recognized within the global speaking industry for his highly customized, heavily researched, industry specific keynotes, leadership presentations and small, intimate senior leadership meetings.

Jim’s global client list is extensive and covers virtually every industry sector, including the World Bank, Volvo, NASA, the PGA of America, the Walt Disney Organization, the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Swiss Innovation Forum, the Wall Street Journal, National Australia Bank, WorldSkills, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, DuPont, The GAP, the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Godiva, SAP, Pfizer, Mercedes Benz, & hundreds more.

This client list gives him a front row seat to the high velocity change that is occurring as disruption comes to take hold of every industry and every organization. With that insight, and the customized research that he undertakes for every engagement, he helps to transform growth-oriented organizations into high-velocity innovation heroes!

Jim provides high energy keynotes for audiences of 5,000, or intimate, detailed customized strategic planning sessions for CEO / board / senior management meetings. He has researched key innovation success factors for dozens of associations, professions, companies, individuals, and industries including life sciences, health care, insurance, automotive, manufacturing, agriculture, technology, education, government, consumer products, retail, banking and countless others.

He is recognized worldwide as a “thought leader” and authority on: global trends; rapid business model change and industry transformation; business model disruption and the acceleration of market change; global economic trends; and the necessity for fast paced innovation. He is an authority recognized for his deep insight into the cutting edge trends of our time including autonomous vehicle technology, 3D printing, virtual reality, alternative energy generation and storage technologies, the transition to electric battery vehicle technology, genomic medicine, CRISPR and healthcare virtualization, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual cash, machine learning and robotics, crowd-thinking and next generation R&D.

Jim’s insight has been covered in countless global publications, including the UK Telegraph, Dubai’s Capital Magazine, South Africa’s The Star, the BBC, Reuters and AP News, among hundreds more. BusinessWeek named Jim Carroll as one of four leading sources for insight on innovation and creativity.  He was also a featured expert on the prime time CNBC series, The Business of Innovation.

Jim Carroll is an author, with numerous books including: Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Surviving the Information Age; The Future Belongs To Those Who Are Fast; Ready, Set, Done; and What I Learned From Frogs in Texas: Saving Your Skin with Forward Thinking Innovation.