Geopolitical Risk Expert, Stanford Professor, Corporate Board Director & Bestselling Author
Amy Zegart Biography
Amy Zegart is one of the nation's leading experts on geopolitics, emerging technologies, intelligence, and global political risk. A Stanford professor, bestselling author, and experienced corporate board director, she brings a rare combination of national security expertise and business experience to understanding the forces reshaping the global economy.
Zegart is the Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where she leads the Technology Policy Accelerator, and is an Associate Director and Senior Fellow at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered AI. She serves on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the publicly traded defense technology company Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, and two mutual fund boards at Capital Group (American Funds).
Her experience spans the White House, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and academia. She served on the National Security Council staff, spent several years as a McKinsey & Company consultant, and for more than two decades has advised senior U.S. government officials about intelligence and national security challenges.
Zegart is the author of five books, including the bestseller "Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence." With former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, she taught a pioneering political risk course to Stanford MBA students for years and co-authored "Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity." Their new book project, "Pattern Break," builds on that work to examine how business leaders can navigate an increasingly unpredictable geopolitical order.
In her talks, Zegart combines surprising stories, historical insights, cutting-edge research, and practical lessons from intelligence agencies, military strategy, and corporate boardrooms. She explores how China's rise, shifting U.S. policies, and revolutionary technologies like AI are transforming global competition—and why even the smartest leaders often fail to see geopolitical shocks coming.
Amy Zegart Speaking Topics
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AI and Geopolitics: How Technology Is Transforming Global Power
Artificial intelligence is transforming geopolitics. And geopolitics is transforming AI. For business leaders, understanding both is essential.
In this thought-provoking talk, Stanford professor Amy Zegart examines how AI and other emerging technologies are fundamentally reshaping global power in three ways: shifting the balance of power between countries as the United States and China compete for technological dominance; shifting power within countries as private companies increasingly wield influence once reserved for governments; and changing the very sources of national power, from tangible assets such as armies, oil, and industrial capacity to intangible assets such as knowledge, algorithms, and technological innovation.
But the relationship between technology and geopolitics runs both ways. Intensifying competition among nations is creating new technological, economic, and military races; turning unexpected places, from Middle Eastern data centers to outer space, into geopolitical battlegrounds; and spurring new forms of digital sovereignty as governments seek to control the technologies on which their security and prosperity increasingly depend.
Drawing on history, cutting-edge research, and surprising real-world examples, Zegart explores what these changes mean for business leaders. Companies face growing policy volatility, geopolitical risks in unexpected places, and strategic decisions with consequences that could last decades. At the same time, they have unprecedented power to shape the emerging global order.
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Pattern Break: Navigating Geopolitical Risk
In June 2025, just 24 hours before Israel attacked Iran, two geopolitical analysts gave American business leaders completely opposite predictions. One was a veteran Middle East expert with decades of experience and high-level government contacts. He was confident Israel wouldn't strike. The other was a 25-year-old former CIA analyst who noticed unusual Israeli military movements and a sudden spike in late-night pizza deliveries to the Pentagon. He warned an attack was imminent. The 25-year-old got it right.
Welcome to the pattern break moment—a time when the old rules are breaking down, conventional wisdom is proving dangerously unreliable, and the past is becoming a poor guide to the future.
In this provocative talk, Stanford professor Amy Zegart examines three seismic shifts driving today's geopolitical upheaval. China has become both a cornerstone of the global trading system and a fundamental threat to its foundations—using the rules and institutions of the postwar economic order to gain advantage while undermining the very system that enabled its rise. The United States is shifting from global risk mitigator to risk generator, upending assumptions about trade, security, and international stability that businesses have relied on for decades. And AI and other emerging technologies are fusing economic and military competition, creating new battlegrounds, vulnerabilities, and sources of corporate power.
For years, Zegart and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice taught a pioneering political risk course to Stanford MBAs. Their 2018 book, "Political Risk," examined how globalization and social media were exposing companies to new political risks. Their new book, "Pattern Break," builds on that work to address a fundamentally different challenge: navigating a world where the international order itself is coming undone.
Why are even the smartest leaders so often blindsided? Why did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fail to believe U.S. intelligence warnings that Russia was about to invade? Why did investors miss the warning signs of China's DeepSeek breakthrough when Stanford computer scientists saw them coming? And what can CEOs learn from intelligence agencies, military wargames, nuclear deterrence, and aircraft carrier operations about anticipating threats, mitigating risk, and making better decisions under pressure?
Drawing on surprising cases, firsthand national security experience, and insights from corporate leaders, Zegart offers a new way to think about geopolitical risk—and practical tools for navigating it.
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What topics does Amy Zegart speak about?
Amy Zegart is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Artificial Intelligence, Business Authors, Disruptive Thinking, Futurism, Geopolitics, Non-Fiction Authors, Political Science, Professors, Security & Defense, Strategic Leadership, TED, Thought Leadership, World Affairs -
Where does Amy Zegart travel from?
Amy Zegart generally travels from Stanford, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent. -
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Amy Zegart is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as AI and Geopolitics: How Technology Is Transforming Global Power and Pattern Break: Navigating Geopolitical Risk. The estimated speaking fee range to book Amy Zegart for your event is $30,000 - $50,000. Amy Zegart generally travels from Stanford, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Erik Brynjolfsson, Garry Kasparov, Michael Hochberg, Edward Goldberg and Lyantoniette Chua. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Amy Zegart for an upcoming live or virtual event.
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