Amy Webb
Quantitative Futurist | Founder & CEO, Future Today Strategy Group | Professor, Strategic Foresight at NYU Stern | Thinkers50 Leader | Bestselling Author
Bettina Warburg
Co-Founder, Advanced AI Society | Founding Member, Public AI Network | TED Speaker | Investor & Advisor in AI and Cryptography
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As AI agents begin to buy, sell, and negotiate on our behalf, Bettina Warburg helps leaders understand how to trust, verify, and govern them. One of the first voices to explain blockchain on the TED stage, she is now Co-Founder of the Advanced AI Society and invests in founders building where AI and cryptography meet. Audiences leave with a plain-language grasp of frontier technology and a clear view of what to do next.
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Bettina Warburg biography
AI speaker Bettina Warburg is an investor and advisor who explains how artificial intelligence, cryptography, and open protocols are rebuilding the infrastructure of the internet and the institutions that depend on it. She is Co-Founder of the Advanced AI Society, which brings together researchers, entrepreneurs, and leaders around the opportunities and risks of increasingly capable AI, with a focus on development in the public interest. She is also a Founding Member of the Public AI Network.
Her current work centers on the agentic economy, as AI agents begin to buy, sell, negotiate, and transact on behalf of people and companies. As an investor, she backs founders building the identity, verification, and payment systems that allow autonomous software to operate safely, and she advises established infrastructure teams and AI-native companies on the technological and institutional changes ahead.
From the TED Stage to the Agentic Economy
Warburg was one of the first people to explain blockchain to a global audience, in her TEDSummit talk How the Blockchain Will Radically Transform the Economy. Her WIRED video explaining blockchain at five levels of difficulty has since reached millions of viewers, and her explanations are used in universities and boardrooms worldwide. Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of WIRED, called her work “one of the most insightful and clear explanations of this new technology.”
She previously co-founded Warburg Serres, an early-stage investment firm focused on decentralized technologies, and Animal Ventures, a strategic advisory firm serving Fortune 500 companies. A former Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information, she co-authored Asset Chains and Basics of Blockchain, and her work has been cited in The Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, and by the Center for Public Impact. She holds an MSc from the University of Oxford and a BS from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
As a speaker, Bettina Warburg is known for making complex technology understandable without diluting it. She has spoken at TED, WIRED, the World Government Summit, IBM Think, Consensus, DLD, and the Skoll World Forum, and she tailors each session to the audience’s industry and level of technical depth. Leaders leave with a working model of where AI and cryptography are heading, the questions their boards should be asking, and practical steps to prepare their organizations, customers, and workforce.
Bettina Warburg Speaking Videos
Bettina Warburg - Web3 and the Road Ahead
Bettina Warburg - How the blockchain will radically transform the economy
Bettina Warburg Speaking Topics
AI agents are moving from tools to actors. They book travel, handle procurement, trade assets, and negotiate contracts, more and more often with other agents. Warburg explains what this means for markets, identity, payments, and accountability when software acts for us, and which infrastructure must exist before organizations can depend on it. Audiences get a map of where agents already transact, why identity and payment rails are the main bottlenecks, and how to prepare customers and teams for agent-to-agent commerce. Ideal for boards, financial services, retail, and technology leaders.
AI is becoming as basic as roads, power grids, and the internet. Drawing on her work with the Advanced AI Society and the Public AI Network, Warburg shows who is building the most capable systems, who governs them, and what a public option for AI could look like. Participants gain a clear view of the AI stack (models, compute, data, and the institutions behind each) and the questions every board and cabinet should ask about AI dependence. Well suited to government, policy forums, foundations, and universities.
As synthetic content and autonomous agents spread across the internet, the hardest question becomes what is real and who said it. Warburg explains how cryptographic tools such as verifiable credentials, provenance, and zero-knowledge proofs can give AI systems the proof layer they are missing. Without jargon, she shows why AI and crypto are converging, how verification and identity will reshape digital business, and where the lasting opportunities lie beyond the hype. Designed for technology, financial services, media, and enterprise leaders.
Countries and companies are competing to control the compute, data, and protocols behind the digital economy. Warburg offers a framework for this global contest, explains what open protocols mean for national competitiveness and corporate strategy, and shows how to build resilience when critical technology belongs to someone else. Relevant for government, trade and economic forums, multinationals, and security audiences.
Building on her landmark TED talk, this keynote looks at banks, registries, supply chains, and marketplaces as systems designed to create trust between strangers. Warburg shows how open protocols and cryptographic verification are changing these institutions, with real examples from finance, trade, and government, and helps leaders separate lasting infrastructure from speculation and decide what to build, buy, or partner on. A strong fit for C-suite offsites, supply chain, financial services, and general business audiences.
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FAQs on Booking Bettina Warburg
Booking Bettina Warburg gives your audience one of the clearest guides to the technologies reshaping the economy. One of the first people to explain blockchain on the TED stage, and the voice behind a WIRED explainer seen by millions, she now works where AI and cryptography meet as Co-Founder of the Advanced AI Society and an investor in agentic-economy infrastructure. She tailors every session to the audience’s industry and technical level, which makes her a strong choice for leadership summits, financial services and technology conferences, and government forums. To book Bettina Warburg, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau and one of our founders will respond within 24 hours.
The agentic economy describes a market in which AI agents act as economic participants, buying, selling, negotiating, and transacting on behalf of people and organizations, often with other agents. Bettina Warburg focuses on the infrastructure this requires, especially identity, verification, and payment systems, so businesses can trust and hold autonomous software accountable.
In “How the Blockchain Will Radically Transform the Economy,” delivered at TEDSummit, Warburg explains how blockchain can lower the cost of trust between strangers by replacing traditional intermediaries with shared, verifiable records. The talk made her one of the first people to explain the technology to a global audience, and it remains the foundation for her current work on open protocols and AI.
Warburg speaks on the agentic economy and AI agents, AI in the public interest, the convergence of AI and cryptography, digital identity and trust, digital sovereignty, open protocols and blockchain, and the geopolitics of technology. She delivers keynotes, fireside chats, panels, workshops, and virtual sessions. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check her availability for your event.
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Bettina Warburg as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Bettina Warburg's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Bettina Warburg or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
Bettina Warburg speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Bettina Warburg to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Bettina Warburg.
We only work with Bettina Warburg on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Bettina Warburg and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Bettina Warburg speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Bettina Warburg for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Yes, Bettina Warburg is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Bettina Warburg for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
