Amy Zalman

Dr. Amy Zalman is a futurist, strategist, and educator whose work focuses on emerging technology, global security, and institutional transformation. Her research explores how geopolitical trends and technologies such as artificial intelligence and information systems are influencing governance, security, and institutional power. Zalman's scholarship and advisory work address governance challenges related to AI, the weaponization of information environments, and the institutional capacities needed for anticipatory policymaking.

Zalman is the founder of Prescient, a foresight consultancy that supports Fortune 500 firms, governments, and nonprofit organizations in preparing for future challenges. She is also the founder and director of the Foresight Sandbox, an executive education program that provides strategic foresight training to business and government leaders. The Foresight Sandbox is a collaboration with Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Prescient offers executive education, strategic retreats, and services for organizations seeking transformation amid uncertainty and change. Through keynotes and leadership sessions on the future of governance, the impact of emerging technologies, and strategic foresight, Zalman helps teams understand systemic risks and make long-term decisions.

Zalman previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of World Future Society, a membership organization for futurists. She led the organization's transformation from a publishing model to a modern membership ecosystem. Prior to that, she was the first Chair of Information Integration at the United States National War College. She has also served as a member of the Board of Visitors of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base and as a Board Director of the Council on Emerging National Security Affairs.

Zalman holds a Ph.D. from New York University Department of Middle Eastern Studies, a Master of Fine Arts from Cornell University, and an undergraduate degree in English literature from Columbia. She has been a Fulbright scholar in Jordan and a research fellow at EastWest Institute. Zalman has taught at Georgetown, Cornell, the New School, and New York University, and serves as a trustee of International Futures Forum. At Georgetown, she teaches strategic foresight methods to interdisciplinary students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and periodically instructs military officers in the Joint Flag Officers Warfighting Course.

Her audiences have included Atlantic Council Global Strategy Forum, Forbes Mexico Summit, KBS Korea Future Forum, the U.S. Library of Congress, G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance Summit in Istanbul, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Congress, and TEDx. Zalman has presented on topics such as governance of emerging and disruptive technologies and has moderated sessions on the evolving relationship between humans and algorithmic life-forms. She has published more than 50 articles, book chapters, essays, and monographs on the future of governance, technology, and global security.