The Change Futurist; Anthropologist; Four-Time Tech Founder; #1 Bestselling Author
Sam Rad Biography
Sam Rad (born Samantha Radocchia) is The Change Futurist: an anthropologist and entrepreneur who spent two decades inside technology revolutions, founding four companies across AI, blockchain, and connected hardware. Her keynote, "Change Has a Pattern," shows Fortune 500s, governments, and associations on five continents how to read the pattern behind every big change.
Rad’s first two companies used AI to map personal taste, starting in 2010. She went on to co-found Chronicled, the San Francisco company that brought trust to global commerce and supply chains, where she served as Chief Product Officer and later Chief Marketing Officer, and where her early blockchain protocol work was open sourced into the Ethereum standards, predating and paralleling ERC-721. She then co-founded NYOUM, a London-based generative AI communication platform. She is the first-named inventor on four granted US patents in identity and provenance.
Trained in anthropology and linguistics, Rad studies technology the way an anthropologist studies a culture: from the inside. She did ethnographic fieldwork inside Second Life in 2009, and in 2020 she built a working AI clone of herself. That work led to her research on perceptual security: what happens to a society when it can no longer agree on what is real.
Today Rad is Co-Founder and CEO of MISTIC Systems, a causal AI platform for strategic foresight and decision intelligence. She also leads RAD Original Creations (RADOC), the studio behind Illicit Shadows, an investigative documentary series on the global illicit economy. She has briefed the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, INTERPOL, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the OECD.
Rad is the author of two #1 bestsellers, "Radical Next: Reclaiming Your Humanity in a Post-Human World" (2025) and "Bitcoin Pizza" (2019). She wrote for Forbes, which named her to its 30 Under 30 list in 2017, served on the faculty of Singularity University, and is a member of the Content Authenticity Initiative.
On stages across five continents, she brings the calm confidence of a former competitive skydiver and the energy of a rock star, so audiences don’t just walk out ready for what’s next. They walk out wanting it.
Sam Rad Speaking Topics
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Change Has a Pattern
Every powerful new technology is like a jetpack.
It promises new heights, and it scares you about where it might take you. Once everyone has one, not having one is how you get left behind. But owning it isn't the point, and neither is using it. Steering it is.
In "Change Has a Pattern," anthropologist and futurist Sam Rad shows audiences the cycle every big change follows, why the new tools aren't paying off yet, and the four moves that turn the corner. The pattern has repeated through five thousand years of recorded history, which is why the message works in any industry and lands with any room: it is universal, and above all, human.
In times of radical disruption there is no roadmap, and what got you here won't get you there. The natural reaction is to brace. Sam uses history, and a clear look at what's coming, to make the change feel less daunting.
People don't just walk out ready for what's next. They walk out wanting it.
THE FOUR MOVES
See the pattern. Let go of the old way. Lead the jetpack. Take it off. The arc underneath: recognition, reassurance, challenge, agency, practice, hope.
We don't have an adoption problem. We have a reinvention problem. The jetpack was handed to individuals while the organization around them stayed the same. That produces more output, not more progress. The returns happen after you redesign.
THE ROLE IN THE ROOM
Sam opens the day or closes it. Opening: break the room's brain gently, lift the overwhelm, and prime people to embrace the technical changes the rest of the offsite will present. Closing: send them out fired up about the future, with an optimism they didn't know they walked in with.
The catalyst, not the consultant.
Format: Opening or closing keynote, 45 to 60 minutes, in person or virtual
Sam Rad Videos
Sam Rad Speaker Reel
Keynote speaker and futurist Sam Rad on change, AI, and transformation: how leaders and teams move through change with resilience, adaptability, and...
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Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Sam Rad for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Sam Rad, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Sam Rad or any other speaker of your choice. -
What are the speaker fees for Sam Rad
Speaking fees for Sam Rad, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Sam Rad are $20,000 - $30,000 for live events and $10,000 - $20,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Sam Rad, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent. -
What topics does Sam Rad speak about?
Sam Rad is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Artificial Intelligence, Change Management, Digital Transformation, Economy, Entrepreneurship, Ethics & Integrity, Finance, FinTech, Future of Work, Futurism, Healthcare, Human Resources, Innovation, Leadership, Manufacturing, Resilience, Social Sciences, Supply Chain, Teamwork & Teambuilding, Technology, Women in Business, Women in Tech -
Where does Sam Rad travel from?
Sam Rad generally travels from New York, NY, 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. -
Who is Sam Rad’s agent?
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Sam Rad is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Change Has a Pattern. The estimated speaking fee range to book Sam Rad for your event is $20,000 - $30,000. Sam Rad generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Andrew Busch, Ayesha Khanna, Ian Beacraft, Sharon Gai and Edgar Perez. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Sam Rad for an upcoming live or virtual event.
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