Gregg Semenza
2019 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine | Discoverer of HIF-1 | C. Michael Armstrong Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Brian Evergreen
Former Head of Autonomous AI Co-Innovation, Microsoft Research | Author of Autonomous Transformation | Founder & CEO, The Future Solving Company | Thinkers50 Radar 2025
Brian Evergreen led Autonomous AI Co-Innovation at Microsoft Research before founding The Future Solving Company, where he advises Fortune 500 leaders on AI strategy. His book Autonomous Transformation was a Thinkers50 Top 10 management book, and Forbes named him one of the Top 30 Thinkers Redefining Leadership in 2025. His argument on stage: AI is not your strategy, and vision has to come first.
Want to book Brian Evergreen as a speaker for your event? Please provide the info below and we’ll get in touch within 24h:
Brian Evergreen biography
Brian Evergreen spent years inside Microsoft helping Fortune 500 executive teams build their AI strategies, and came away with an uncomfortable conclusion: the playbook business inherited from the industrial revolution, and then from the era of digital transformation, does not work for the era of AI. His response was a different method entirely, one that starts not with the technology but with a clear-eyed answer to a harder question: what future is actually worth building?
AI speaker Brian Evergreen is the former Global Head of Autonomous AI Co-Innovation at Microsoft Research, with earlier roles at AWS and Accenture, and is now founder and CEO of The Future Solving Company. He advises more than a dozen Fortune 500 organizations, and the methodology he introduced in his book has been adopted by more than fifty Fortune 500 companies as well as NASA. His central argument is deliberately contrarian: AI is not your strategy. Vision comes first, and AI is one of several ways to get there.
Autonomous Transformation and the Future Solving Method
His book, Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, was named a Next Big Idea Club “Must-Read” and one of the Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Books, and it introduced the distinction at the heart of his work: problem solving is the craft of getting rid of what you don’t want, while future solving is the craft of getting what you do want. He is a Thinkers50 Radar honoree, a Senior Fellow at The Conference Board, a guest lecturer at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and Purdue University, and was named by Forbes one of the Top 30 Thinkers Redefining Leadership. His LinkedIn Learning course on leadership in the era of AI is among the platform’s highest-rated.
As a speaker, Brian Evergreen is the rare AI voice who spends more time on judgment than on tools, and he is unusually willing to tell an audience which applications will not work for them. He speaks on why vision must precede AI strategy, the future solving method for setting and reaching an ambitious future, where AI agents genuinely fit within a specific industry, and how leadership and work change when tasks are decoupled from jobs. Audiences leave with a way of thinking rather than a list of tools, and with considerably better questions to bring to their own AI investments.
Brian Evergreen Speaking Videos
Brian Evergreen - CEO at The Future Solving Company | An Interview at #PeakofDataAI
Brian Evergreen - Agentic AI - Autonomous Agents
Brian Evergreen Keynote Topics
Evergreen makes the case that most organizations have the sequence backwards, starting with the technology and working outward, which produces pilots that never scale and investments nobody can defend. Drawing on years developing AI strategies with Fortune 500 executive teams at Microsoft, he shows how to set a vision first, then treat AI as one instrument among several for reaching it, and why this ordering is what separates companies compounding real advantage from those accumulating expensive experiments.
This is the method at the center of his book and his practice. Problem solving, Evergreen argues, is the craft of eliminating what you don't want, which is useful but inherently limited. Future solving is the craft of getting what you do want, and it requires whole-systems thinking plus a willingness to re-examine assumptions about which parts of a market or organization are genuinely fixed. He walks audiences through the method and how leaders apply it to set an ambitious but achievable direction.
Agentic AI is the subject of enormous enthusiasm and very little discrimination. Evergreen brings a practitioner's skepticism, working through where autonomous agents create real value in a given industry, where they quietly fail, and what governance and accountability structures have to exist first. This talk is customized to the sector in the room, and its usefulness comes as much from what he rules out as from what he recommends.
Evergreen argues that a job is accountability for an outcome, and that AI cannot hold accountability, which makes wholesale job replacement both a category error and a costly mistake. He points to companies that cut human teams and then scrambled to rebuild them. His alternative is to separate tasks from jobs, route the repetitive work to machines, and concentrate people on judgment and relationships, and he explores what that means for how leaders organize, measure, and develop their teams.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Brian Evergreen
Why Brian Evergreen?
Booking Brian Evergreen gives audiences an AI strategist who has done the work at the highest level and is willing to puncture the hype around it. He led Autonomous AI Co-Innovation at Microsoft Research, advises more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies, and his Future Solving methodology is in use at fifty-plus Fortune 500 organizations and NASA. His book was named a Thinkers50 Top 10 management book, and Forbes named him one of the Top 30 Thinkers Redefining Leadership. What distinguishes him on stage is discipline: he is more interested in judgment, sequencing, and accountability than in tools, and he will tell an audience plainly which AI applications are wrong for them. He is ideal for events on AI, strategy, leadership, digital transformation, and the future of work. To bring Brian Evergreen to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Brian Evergreen?
Brian Evergreen is an American AI strategist, author, and advisor. He is the former Global Head of Autonomous AI Co-Innovation at Microsoft Research, with earlier roles at Amazon Web Services and Accenture, and is founder and CEO of The Future Solving Company. He wrote Autonomous Transformation: Creating a More Human Future in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, a Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Book, and is a Thinkers50 Radar honoree, a Senior Fellow at The Conference Board, and a guest lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management and Purdue University. Forbes named him one of the Top 30 Thinkers Redefining Leadership in 2025.
What is "future solving"?
Future solving is the methodology Brian Evergreen introduced in Autonomous Transformation. He draws a sharp distinction: problem solving is the craft of getting rid of what you don't want, while future solving is the craft of getting what you do want. In practice it means starting with a specific, ambitious vision of a future worth building, then applying whole-systems thinking to understand every part of the system you operate in and how those parts interact, and deliberately re-examining assumptions about what is fixed. Only then does technology enter the conversation, as a means to a defined end rather than a starting point. The framework is used by more than fifty Fortune 500 organizations and NASA.
What topics does AI speaker Brian Evergreen cover?
Brian Evergreen speaks on why vision must precede AI strategy, the future solving method, where AI agents genuinely apply within a specific industry, how leadership is changing in the era of AI, the future of work and decoupling tasks from jobs, reinvention, and the skills that matter for innovating with AI. His keynotes suit events on AI, strategy, leadership, digital transformation, and the future of work. To book Brian Evergreen as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Brian Evergreen as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Brian Evergreen as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Brian Evergreen'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 Brian Evergreen or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Brian Evergreen speaking fee?
Brian Evergreen 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 Brian Evergreen 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 Brian Evergreen.
How can I contact Brian Evergreen?
We only work with Brian Evergreen on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Brian Evergreen and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Brian Evergreen 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 Brian Evergreen for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Brian Evergreen for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Brian Evergreen is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Brian Evergreen for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
