Jonathan Brill is an American business futurist, keynote speaker, and author, known for his work on strategic foresight, disruption preparedness, and innovation leadership.
He is the author of AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm and Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change and advises Fortune 50 companies and U.S. government agencies.
Brill is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Center for Radical Change, where he advises global business and government leaders on how to identify, manage, and transform change into innovation and opportunity. He is a board member at one of the world's largest private intelligence agencies, a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Business Review's China New Growth Institute, and Amazon's Futurist in Residence.
Brill is an active business futurist and keynote speaker. Forbes ranked him among the top futurists in their "5 Futurists To Watch In Uncertain Times", and Harvard Business Review described him as "The world's leading transformation architect." His talks draw upon his experience as a technology and intelligence executive, including at:
He has consulted on the development of over 350 products for major technology and consumer brands, as well as the United States government. Projects have ranged from metaverse technologies to theme park rides and design of the US Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 to Taco Bell's Gordita.
Bibliography
Brill is the author of two books:
AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm (MenloPark, 2025), is a call to action for leaders to fundamentally rethink how organizations operate in the AI age.
Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change (McGraw-Hill, 2021), a business strategy book on navigating systemic disruption. The book draws on his years of experience as an executive, advisor, and inventor to deliver a practical action plan for managing change. It received positive reviews from The Economist and business author Adam Grant, who described it as "An actionable framework for driving change instead of being blindsided by it."
Other writing and media includes:
The Octopus Organization Podcast
CIO Magazine: "The octopus playbook: What nature’s smartest cephalopod can teach leaders about AI"
Forbes: "Building Your Rogue Radar: How to Spot Unexpected Peril and Opportunity"
Harvard Business Review: "Identify — and Mitigate — Risks to Your Career", co-authored with Dorie Clark
Speaking and media coverage
Brill has delivered keynote addressed to executives in 29 countries, including events such as TEDx, SXSW, the Global Peter Drucker Forum, and the Aspen Institute.
He has been featured in:
ABC News – 2024 New Year's Special
CBS Green Bay – Interviews on AI and economic disruption
Bloomberg Radio – Interview on the book Rogue Waves
CNN Chile – Singularity Summit
Newsweek Podcast – How to Adapt to Exponential Change
San Francisco Business Times – Executive profile
Diario Financiero (Chile) – Feature on future strategy
Psychology Today – AI Anxiety at Work
Radio La Clava – AI Models for Organizations
National Geographic – Software Creates New Flavors, Some Not for the Squeamish
SXSW 2026 – Art as an Identity in a Jobless Future
El Mundo interview with Jonathan Brill
Jonathan Brill on Wake Up America Weekend
Other notable appearances include:
TED Interview – Future‑Proofing Your Business in Our Rogue Wave Era
TKC Podcast – Building Your Ideal Future with AI
Autodesk – 8 Future‑Proofing Business Strategies from Jonathan Brill
Fireside Chat with Rita McGrath
How HP Turns Business Catastrophes to Their Advantage
Innovation Despite Rogue Waves
Balancing Risks and Rewards of Innovation in engineering and manufacturing
Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson: What AI Can Never Understand
Just Start – Interview by Adam Mendler
CNN Prime Chile – Singularity Summit Additional Coverage
Corporate board member Magazine – Rethinking Risk After The Pandemic
El País – Jonathan Brill, ‘futurólogo’ de IA
Psychology Today – How to Move Beyond the AI Pilot
Clarin – Jonathan Brill, futurólogo: “En los próximos cinco años van a colisionar en el mundo cinco tendencias impulsadas por la IA”
.jpg)