Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas will deliver an energetic and inspiring keynote that shows you how hope is the energy that changes our world. He will ignite curiosity and shift your mindset from what is to what if. He will share stories of cultural shifts, insights into new disruptive technologies, and strengthen strategic planning in your organization by embracing futures thinking.

Nikolas will show you how to…

• Shift your mindset from what is to what if… – see the signals of change, trends shaping our world, and stories of our futures that inspire new thinking and strengthen strategic planning, increase revenues, and drive explosive growth
• Understand global megatrends – see what is shaping geopolitical dynamics – economic power, population growth, water-energy-food, waste, climate change and energy.
• Explore the trends that will transform your industry – Data Science, Digitization, Artificial Intelligence and automation, smart cities and urban planning, privacy and security, sustainable agriculture and food supply, space and aerospace, progressive engineering and manufacturing, transportation and logistics, fintech, and more.

Once you see the potential for building hope and change, you can’t not do the work.

Every organization wants to be seen as innovative, solving real world problems and leading their industry. The majority fall at the first hurdle – taking a chance and empowering their people to explore possibilities. Leading executives are now finding that the process of innovation can be revolutionized by leading with futures work to speculation on the futures ahead of us and their place in those incredible worlds.

Nikolas will show you how to…

• Build resilience and innovation into your organization – how to build innovation mindsets and capabilities across your organization, and in the heart of every employee.
• De-risk innovation through futures work – by looking at the signals, trends and scenarios that show us the dynamics of solutions we imagine will change the world. It also allows us to feel how we are in those places using design fiction and world building.
• Think like a futurist – how to question your own history and perspectives, be wildly creative & collaborate, look for pockets of the future in the present, and build hope as an energy to change the world.

Nikolas will take you through his world-leading process of futures work and show you how that supercharges innovation and strategy to deliver increased revenues and explosive growth.

The exploitation of data has long been the lifeblood of industrial progress since the 1980s and now we’re transcending that ability through Artificial Intelligence, augmentation, and automation. In harnessing its ability, we hope to positively affect the world and create incredible futures to drive productivity and solve some of the greatest challenges of our times.

Nikolas will show you…

• A.I.’s transformation – and how it’s shifted from academic exploration into a real-world powerhouse of change across all industries.
• How our world is being revolutionized – through industry automation, education being redefined, and exponential industries changed through the foundations of data science, the implementation of new A.I. tools, and the application of machine learning in the wider world and in your industry.
• How to implement A.I. in your organization – the practical abilities and skill sets needed, the structural considerations for strategic planning, and the mindset needed for continual development and growth in A.I. capabilities.

Today, everything changes. Let Nikolas guide you on your first steps forward into a bigger world and share his experience building these systems since the 1990s.

The discipline of foresight and futures exploration started with Royal Dutch Shell in the 1950s and we’ve come full circle as we explore the signals, trends and scenarios emerging in the world of energy.

Global and domestic economic shifts, regional growth and market dynamics are changing the world in which we generate, distribute and consume energy. The renewable energy economy is here, and new research ecosystems based on data, AI, sensors and automated systems are accelerating our path to this new reality.

Nikolas works with progressive leaders in energy to embrace foresight and futures exploration to help anticipate what comes next, and gain strategic advantage and foresight on what comes next as our energy-driven economies change.

The following areas of exploration will be considered:

• Global megatrends – megacity growth, population movements, water, energy and food resiliency, aging populations and more.
• The renewable energy economy – the new energy mix (wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal), rise of electrification, our reliance on mineral extraction to create new energy infrastructures, and national / global super grids and the path to a global energy supply and trade. We will also look at carbon sequestration and the promise and challenges of nuclear – from fusion to small reactors and beyond.
• Data Science – the application and usage of big data analytics, AI, generative AI, quantum computing is driving forward new ideas with energy. We’d also consider the sensor economy, digital twins, spatial computing and robotics.
• Industry shifts – the signals and trends showing how industries – logistics, retail, agriculture, big tech, engineering, and more – are shifting towards renewables, battery infrastructures and decentralized energy.

This workshop is presented as part of the program and for a select group of attendees of 30 or so people. It will provide the ability for attendees to explore key signals and considerations from Nikolas’ keynote and will be related to client’s needs.

The session will be led by Nikolas, with support from a client-side executive / learning leader.

The Futures Exploration Workshop will run as follows (draft agenda):

• Recap – Nikolas Badminton will provide a quick recap of signals, trends and scenarios discussed – these will be used by the groups in the exercise.
• Group formulation – Attendees split into groups to explore possible futures relating to traditional and renewable energy with the signals and trends from the keynote as a reference point.
• Signals and emerging effects – Groups will undertake a simple exercise where groups will brainstorm the futures discussed in the keynote, and then we will discuss the opportunities and challenges that comes from energy transition reflected against their business.
• Considering futures today – groups discuss the future trends and possibilities they have just heard and summarize what are the most important things to consider relating to:

1. 1. What should we begin doing (or stop doing) in the near term (0 to 36 months)?
   2. What do we need to prepare in the medium term (4 to 9 years)?
   3. What do we need to learn about for the long term (10+ years)?

• Sharing – Groups would then share their thoughts on effects and futures considerations with the rest of the workshop. Then we’d have an open discussion, moderated by Nikolas, to think strategically in the business of energy.