Zack Kass
Global AI Advisor, Author & Researcher | Co-Founder of Korza | Former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI
Neil Redding
The Near Futurist™ | AI Leadership Strategist | Creator of the Clock Drift Framework | Featured SXSW Speaker | 30-Year Technologist
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Most leaders still lead as if humans were the only ones in the room, while AI agents quietly fill it. Neil Redding, The Near Futurist, calls the result Clock Drift: AI executes faster than organizations can decide. A 30-year technologist and featured SXSW speaker, he gives senior leaders frameworks to close that gap, redesign roles for AI, and orchestrate teams of people and agents.
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Neil Redding biography
Futurist speaker Neil Redding is known as The Near Futurist™, a technologist with a philosopher’s eye who connects the emerging possible with the immediately practical. Over more than 30 years at the convergence of the digital and physical worlds, he has started and led Near Future teams at firms including ThoughtWorks, Gensler, and Mediacom, and helped brands such as Apple, Nike, and Visa put new technology to work.
Today Redding works with senior leaders on the defining management challenge of the AI era. His central idea is Clock Drift: as AI agents join the workforce, they execute far faster than organizations can make decisions, and that gap shows up as shadow systems, frustration, and strategic misalignment. His frameworks and mental models help executives close the gap, move from simply using AI to orchestrating teams of people and agents, and redesign roles and organizations so AI investments deliver real returns.
From SXSW to Boardrooms Across the Americas
Redding has been a featured speaker at SXSW every year since 2023, and in 2026 alone he spoke in 13 cities across five countries, including the United States, Brazil, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. His rooms have included the IT Forum CIO Summit, the BIG BANG AI Festival in Berlin, Universo TOTVS, Rio Innovation Week, BB Americas Bank’s strategy retreat, PwC Brasil’s partner gathering, and leadership programs for American Express and the Money Management Institute with Duke Corporate Education. His ideas have been covered extensively in Brazil’s business press, including a front-page story and full-page interview in Valor Econômico, as well as Época Negócios, Veja, and a television interview on Times Brasil / CNBC. IT Forum has also profiled his view of AI as a new species heading toward symbiosis with humans.
As a speaker, Neil Redding gives senior audiences strategic clarity they can act on immediately. He shines on large innovation stages and in executive settings such as C-suite summits, strategy retreats, and partner meetings, and also leads two-hour keyshops for 15 to 50 leaders, fireside chats, roundtables, and board-level strategy sessions. Audiences leave with a clear model for leading organizations where humans and AI work side by side.
Neil Redding Speaking Videos
Why AR is the inevitable Future of Commerce with Neil Redding
Neil Redding - Co-Creating the Near Future with AI & Spatial Computing
Neil Redding Speaking Topics
AI now executes faster than most organizations can make decisions, and that widening gap is where frustration, shadow systems, and strategic drift take hold. Redding names this Clock Drift and shows leaders how to recognize it in their own organizations, rethink how decisions get made, and build the rhythms that let human judgment keep pace with machine speed.
AI systems have become active participants in business, and leadership has to change accordingly. Redding presents a model for moving beyond AI adoption to orchestrating human and AI capabilities together, with practical daily leadership habits for working with AI as a teammate and a roadmap for organizations that adapt in real time.
Many companies have invested heavily in AI yet still wait for the returns. Redding explains why today’s roles and org structures, designed for a human-only workforce, hold those returns back, and shows how to redesign work, roles, and decision rights so people and AI agents create value together.
As AI agents begin shaping strategy and automating decisions, businesses are shifting from static machines to self-adjusting ecosystems. Redding gives executives the mindsets and practical tools to seize that opportunity and build sustainable, symbiotic growth.
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FAQs on Booking Neil Redding
Booking Neil Redding gives your leaders a clear, practical way to lead in the age of AI agents. As The Near Futurist and a 30-year technologist, he coined Clock Drift to describe what happens when AI executes faster than organizations can decide, and he helps executives close that gap. A featured SXSW speaker, he has spoken for PwC Brasil, American Express, IT Forum, and the BIG BANG AI Festival. As Jens de Buhr, founder and host of the BIG BANG AI Festival, put it: “Neil put his finger on one of the central leadership questions of the AI era.” He is ideal for innovation stages, C-suite summits, and strategy retreats. To book Neil Redding, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau and one of our founders will respond within 24 hours.
Neil Redding is a keynote speaker and technologist known as The Near Futurist™. Over more than 30 years he has started and led Near Future teams at firms including ThoughtWorks, Gensler, and Mediacom. Today he works with senior leaders on how to lead organizations where humans and AI agents work together, and he has been a featured speaker at SXSW every year since 2023.
Clock Drift is Neil Redding’s term for the gap that opens when AI executes faster than an organization can make decisions. As AI agents take on more work, that gap appears as shadow systems, frustration, and strategic misalignment. Redding’s frameworks help leaders close it by rethinking decision-making, roles, and how people and AI work together.
Neil Redding speaks on leading in the age of AI agents, Clock Drift, AI return on investment and organizational redesign, and orchestrating teams of people and AI. Beyond keynotes, he offers two-hour keyshops for 15 to 50 leaders, fireside chats, roundtables, and board-level strategy sessions. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to customize a session for your event.
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Neil Redding as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Neil Redding'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 Neil Redding or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
Neil Redding 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 Neil Redding 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 Neil Redding.
We only work with Neil Redding on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Neil Redding and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Neil Redding 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 Neil Redding for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Yes, Neil Redding is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Neil Redding for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
