Neil Redding is The Near Futurist™, helping you connect the emerging possible with the immediately practical — to realize a thriving, abundant future for your business and for humanity.
Neil Redding is one of the most renowned strategists at the intersection of innovation, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and business transformation. His career combines over two decades of experience advising large corporations, startups, public organizations, and executive leaders on anticipating the impact of technological change and turning uncertainty into a competitive advantage.
In addition, Neil Redding is the author of numerous specialized articles on innovation, digital transformation, and emerging technologies, actively contributing to the international debate on the future of business.
The technological landscape is advancing exponentially, impacting every aspect of our humanity and our businesses. With the future arriving faster than ever, there’s unprecedented opportunity to evolve rapidly and lead from the front — yet we need to move beyond traditional foresight and existing design practices to do so.
By skillfully connecting the possible with the practical, our virtual and physical environments, and society’s potential with the here and now, Neil Redding is a Near Futurist with over 30 years of expertise in unlocking the reality-shaping capabilities of emerging technologies for audiences, brands and teams.
A sought-after keynote speaker on stages like SXSW, Dubai Future Forum, and Building the Future, and corporate events for Meta, Microsoft, and more, Neil guides audiences towards a paradigm-shifting realization: Our realities are wholly co-created. By integrating technologies like AI and spatial computing with our physical, digital, and natural ecosystems, we can unlock new innovations, evolved business models, sustainable growth, and deeper connectedness across all aspects of work and life.
With expertise as an Innovation Architect and computer scientist, Neil has pioneered Near Future teams at diverse firms including Mediacom, Gensler, and Thoughtworks, helping to evolve their portfolios into groundbreaking territory. Neil operates his boutique consultancy, Redding Futures, to deliver disruptive strategies for world-class brands, and has served clients including Visa, Nike, Apple, and Verizon, among dozens of others.
His foundational Near Future Framework translates emerging technology possibilities into practical business value via ecosystem-centered design, promoting resilience, sustainable growth, deeper customer relationships, and transformative business opportunity.
As a speaker, Neil inspires and activates audiences with expertise, relatability, and humor. His visionary talks connect the profound with the practical, offering actionable steps that expand our relationship with reality and co-create thriving futures through AI and spatial computing, without fear.
