For one of my last keynotes this year, I had an unanticipated “full circle” moment that brought with it some valuable lessons…

When I was 19, I received a scholarship to study Shakespeare at Oxford University’s Balliol College. It was my first time abroad, and the experience completely changed my perception of the world—and what felt possible for my life.

All these years later, I found myself back—not as a pupil, but giving a keynote on AI & the Future of Education. The 19-year-old version of me would never have believed that was even possible!

It was a welcome reminder that I’ve made some good decisions for myself over the years, that taking risks pay off, that I’m where I’m meant to be, and that it’s important to honour where you came from, and to celebrate how far you’ve come.

Huge thanks to Hewshott for inviting me to be the host and keynote at their terrific event! 🙏🏼 Special thanks to Joe Stevens, Daniel Lee, David Berman, Asha Maher, Rachel Hunt, and everyone else who helped make it such a wonderful day! 💐

Having clients in the arts is such a privilege! It was a huge honour to be invited to the opening night of the English National Ballet‘s #TheNutcracker and I couldn’t be more impressed. It was spectacular, captivating, dazzling, and magical, a feast for the eyes and soul! 👏🏼 🩰 🍭 💐

The use of technology and illusion… the sets and costumes… not to mention some of the most astounding dance and athleticism I’ve ever seen up close.

To anyone who thinks ballet is boring or stuffy – go see this show. It pushes boundaries and sets a new benchmark in stagecraft and live entertainment. Highly recommend! & If you’re in the US, look out for it on PBS this week! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Huge congratulations (and Thank You!) to Anu Giri, Aaron S. Watkin, Grace Chan, and sir rupert gavin for the incredible achievement. Bravo! 🎉

#futurist #futureofentertainment #EnglishNationalBallet

Speaking on “AI & Us: Events, Design & Experience” with Impact XM, one thing I touched on was how AI can enhance events:

By combining personalisation with natural language prompts, we can turn event apps from static systems into an on-demand, centralised, proactive, and hyper-personalised SERVICE.

For instance, I can say to an event app:

📍”List all the exhibitors that specialise in GEO and pin their booth locations to my map”
☕️ “Contact the most senior person attending this event from my perspective client’s company, and ask if I can buy them a coffee on Wednesday afternoon”
♻️ “Add any talks on Sustainability to my calendar and send me notifications 15 minutes before they start”

Why this is so important is because it lets people spend more time GAINING VALUE from your event and less time trying to figure out where to go and what to do.

Futurist Amelia delivered the opening keynote at Birmingham Tech Week’s Frontier’s Day, presented by Birmingham Open Media. In this short clip, Amelia describes the crossroads we face—how AI can lock us into closed systems, or set us free so that the algorithms work FOR us, not against us. Plus, she highlights one company offering a possible solution to the copyright crisis that is AI, Echora AI.

If I was going to try to sum up a main message in my keynotes this year, it would be that the choices we make today around AI really matter, and will have lasting implications.

In this short clip from an interview I did following a recent keynote at #Recomm25 on “Life in the Future: Changing Technologies, Buildings, Lifespan, & Mindsets,” I challenge the language we use around this technology—something we should all consider when talking about AI with our fellow humans, and the next generation.