Amy Webb can’t predict the future, no one can in this deeply uncertain world. But of anyone on Earth, she can get awfully close.
Webb is the CEO and founder of the Future Today Institute, an internationally renowned futurist, author and former foreign correspondent. She helps her clients — which include the U.S. government, foreign governments and Fortune 500 companies like Mattel and H&M — determine plausible futures for their organizations.
She doesn’t use a crystal ball, but developed a data-driven foresight methodology to help answer questions like: How does my company grow? How do I mitigate risk?
“My job is really about preparing people for anything, versus preparing them for everything,” Webb said. She collects data, builds models and identifies trends. “We then look at uncertainties… and from that, we extrapolate scenarios.”
On Wednesday, Aug. 16, Webb will be joining The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a fireside chat to discuss what’s next for Georgia and industries vital to its future. She will get into technology in consumer packaged goods businesses, like Coca-Cola. She will also discuss technology disruptions in the media industry, like artificial intelligence and film.
Following the keynote conversation, attendees will be invited to a reception and book signing.
The AJC’s events are live journalism, bringing audiences behind the scenes of what’s happening in metro Atlanta and around the world.
Webb and her team have advised movies and TV series on futuristic world-building, including Hulu’s “The First.” Before the writer’s strike, they were working on three Netflix series and a project for the BBC.
“[Film and TV] want to work with us on what does the world look like 10 years from now, so that it’s plausible and it doesn’t detract from there’s the story they’re trying to tell,” Webb said.
Rodney Gibbs, the AJC’s senior director of strategy and innovation, will moderate the conversation. Preceding Webb’s keynote discussion, Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business faculty members will discuss how AI may affect business in Atlanta and beyond.
Ultimately, Webb is hoping the audience step away from the discussion with a new look on the future:
“The best case scenario coming out of that fireside chat would be that people leave with a different perspective and feeling a little bit more prepared to take in this sort of soul crushing amount of deep uncertainty and manage through it.”
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IF YOU GO
When: Wednesday, Aug. 16. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The discussions run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Reception and book signing are 8 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Where: Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, 800 W Peachtree St NW
Tickets: General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased at live.ajc.com/futureatlanta
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