Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?
As chief futurist for Deloitte Consulting, my team and I help our clients make sense of what’s new and next in tech. Our goal is to help them engineer an advantage that gets them to their preferred tomorrows a bit ahead of schedule. Tragically, I possess neither crystal balls, nor time machines of the DeLorean or hot-tub variety; alas, there’s no telephoto lens into the future. There’s a common quote in our field, often attributed to William Gibson: “The future’s already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.” We take that quote literally and scour the globe to chronicle novel tech that figures to become normal for the rest of us in the next few years.
What’s your favorite emerging tech project you’ve worked on?
Fifteen years ago, my team and I co-invented a sort of reverse Wikipedia that allowed folks to submit a question to a community of coworkers who could pile on in creating the fittest possible crowdsourced answer. We learned so much about how to best tap into the wisdom of a crowd.
What emerging tech are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?
I’m bullish on augmented reality. Not because it’s shiny, but because it’s simple. Today’s clunky headsets will be remembered as the 8-track/minidisc gateways to a simpler, more sophisticated future of slick glasses and contacts that let us BYOB—bring your own bits. Think about it: We have too many screens today. They’re everywhere. We’ve reached peak screen. The future of human-computer interaction can’t help but be a simpler paradigm wherein we overlay the digital information we need onto our physical world as needed. Done right, this will reduce, not amplify, information overload. We’ll be able to lift our heads up from our devices and re-engage with a single, unlimited reality. And as the parent of a teen, tween, and tot, I’m here for it.
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Least? I’m not anti-NFT, but I continue to wrestle with digital scarcity as a concept and endgame. I certainly want to see creators better compensated for their creations, but the idea of using digital tech to generate scarce, exclusive content sits in stark contrast with my values around inclusivity and abundance. I’m still learning about the space and working to untether my biases.
What’s the best piece of tech-related media you’ve read/watched/listened to?
Tim Urban’s Wait But Why cartoons. On the surface, he writes profanity-laden, poorly drawn cartoon strips about arbitrary topics, many of which are decidedly nontechnical. Upon closer inspection, he’s a world-class science communicator, a la Richard Feynman and Neil deGrasse Tyson. He does a better job explaining the “what,” “so what?” and “now what?” of his chosen topics than just about anyone.
One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile?
I used to have long hair and play guitar in a ska band. We cut a CD and toured the country singing original songs about the Commodore 64, the game show Press Your Luck, and the London transport system. It was pure, unadulterated ’90s.
What do you think about when you’re not thinking about tech?
When I’m in family-guy mode, my wife and three kids. A piece of advice I’ve taken to heart: You’re only as happy as your least happy family member. Relationships require real investment. When I’m in that liminal space between work and family, it’s philosophy of all sorts. Lately, I’m into ethics. “What is a good life?” and all of that. Learning is my favorite, and the more I learn, the more important I realize it is to continue to approach life as a learner as opposed to a knower. Per the great Carl Sagan: It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out.