Tarun Wadhwa

The most fascinating things in life are those that surprisingly pop-up out of nowhere and inexplicably capture our attention. After all, we are hardwired with a fight-or-flight instinct that demands that we notice anything disruptive. Tarun Wadhwa has lived his whole life examining rule-changing innovative disruptions and how they affect our business and personal lives, and may be the clearest and most accurate futurist alive today.

Tarun is an entrepreneur, academic and award-winning writer who is working at the intersection of technological advancement, innovation, global growth, security, and public policy. He regularly writes for Forbes and The Huffington Post, and his work has appeared in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Marketwatch, The Washington Post, Digital-Life-Design, and many other prestigious journals. A noted thought leader, he is currently a Visiting Instructor at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, and was previously co-Founder and COO of AIC Chile, a private innovation lab that creates technologies aiming to alleviate poverty.

Tarun’s anticipated new book, Identified: The Digital Transformation of Who We Are, which explores the global rise of digital identification systems, will be out in the Fall of 2018. It analyzes the technologies that governments and companies use to see who we are — things such as national identification systems, biometrics, and online identity. He tracks these systems over time to see how they are changing governments, social norms, and the lives of people all around the world.

One of Tarun’s most exciting ventures is Day One Insights, a strategy and advisory firm he founded around technological convergence and corporate reinvention. This work focuses on trends that are overturning established industries; developments in cyber security, privacy, and surveillance; and the impact of technological advancements on legal systems and societal institutions. All of this cutting-edge research has provided opportunities to partner with several of the most talked about companies in the world and influence leadership decision-making that is transforming these organizations.

It is no surprise that Tarun has become a favorite speaker with these same global companies. He packs his keynotes with eye-opening data, memorable stories, and a charismatic style that is infectious.