Leveraging the power of the individual.
Has disruption – from employee burnout, hybrid work, AI, global uncertainty, and more – shaken up your world? Are your people looking for clear leadership in this time of massive change? Do you want to be more confident in chaos and uncertainty?
Gihan Perera is a business futurist, conference speaker, AI researcher, and author who shows you how to be fit for the future in a fast-changing world.
For more than 25 years, he has worked with organisations and leaders throughout Australia and the world, helping them to lead in uncertainty, act with clarity and confidence, and thrive in a fast-changing world.
He is the author of Disrupted, Disruption By Design, The Future of Leadership, and ten other books.
Through his keynote presentations, interactive masterclasses, and in-depth leadership programs, he shares future trends and thought-provoking insights – delivered with interaction, engagement, and humour – that leave people feeling positive, empowered, and optimistic about their future.
Forbes magazine rated him the #5 social media influencer in the world (and #1 in Australia) in his area of expertise.
He has always taken the lead in embracing emerging technologies and trends, from his university thesis in AI more than 30 years ago, to leading a software development team building the infrastructure for the early Internet, founding one of Australia’s first Web development companies in 1996, teaching thought leaders how to create e-learning platforms, and helping business leaders with scenario planning to lead their teams into the future.
Gihan is one of Australia’s leading online presenters, and has been delivering online presentations since 2009. Citrix (the company behind GoToWebinar) engaged him to teach their clients around the world how to run better online presentations. Garr Reynolds, author of the world-renowned bestseller Presentation Zen, asked him to write the online presentations section for the book.
He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), the only internationally recognised designation for professional speakers, and was awarded 2024 Educator Of The Year from Professional Speakers Australia.
His formal background is in science and AI, with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Western Australia. But he’s always been interested in people and the way they communicate – and how to become fit for the future, so they embrace change, act on opportunities, and live happier lives.
Talking Points
Fit for the Future
Thriving, Not Just Surviving, in a Fast-Changing World.Fit for the Future
The world is changing faster than ever, and we know there’s more uncertainty and disruption – but also opportunity – in our future.
From digital expansion to climate action, from fresh faces in the office to new rules on how and where we work, and from social change to AI – these aren’t just disruptions, they are your next big chance.
You might think the future is outside your control, but that’s not true. We can’t be future proof, but we can be future ready. We all have the opportunity to shape the future – and that starts now.
Explore the trends shaping our future, understand the skills and mindset we most need now, and learn how to thrive in a fast-changing world. Come ready to think, laugh, learn, and leave with a game plan for your own future.
Key Messages
- Understanding the most important trends shaping our world
- Being an active learner and possibility thinker
- Leveraging the diversity in your team and community
- Taking control of your own future
Who Is This For?
This is for you if:
- Your business is facing increasing competition from inside or outside your industry
- Your people are feeling tired, stressed, burned out, and jaded – and need a spark of energy and inspiration
- You want people to take more initiative and be more open to change
- People are worried or scared about change, and you want them to have a more optimistic and positive mindset
- You want to be an employer of choice for attracting and keeping the best talent
Format
This is one of Gihan’s most-requested presentations, and is suitable for all audiences. Use this for a high-impact opening keynote, an inspiring closing keynote, or even the opening session the morning after the Gala Dinner.
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-60 minute online presentation
Leveraging AI
Humans and Machines – Better Together.Leveraging AI
The AI revolution is here, and will continue to shape the way we live and work. If you’re not already engaging with AI, you’re falling behind. But it’s not as simple as just switching it on and hoping for the best!
AI offers incredible opportunities, and we have moved past the point where people are fearful about AI. Now your role as a leader is to help them be skilful, resourceful, and appropriately careful.
In this engaging and eye-opening presentation, you’ll discover how to leverage AI – to enhance your customer experience, empower your team to collaborate with AI, and boost productivity and performance to stay ahead of the game.
Key Messages
- Develop a well-rounded perspective on AI that balances its potential and limitations
- See real-world case studies showcasing AI in use
- Explore the potential benefits and opportunities of AI for your organisation
- Understand some of the ethical considerations and challenges
- Learn how to identify and engage ‘AI champions’ in your team
Who Is This For?
This presentation is for leaders and managers. It’s right for you if:
- You want to use AI, but you’re not sure how
- You’re concerned about the privacy, security, legal, and ethical implications of using AI
- Some of your people are keen and enthusiastic about AI – and others are worried about losing their jobs
- You are in a competitive industry that’s constantly changing
- You need to build foresight and flexibility in your team
Format
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-60 minute online keynote
Seeing into the Future
Practical Foresight For A Fast-Changing World.Seeing into the Future
Welcome to a world where uncertainty, change, and disruption rule! External pressures beyond our control have a massive impact on lives, and we’ve all seen this in the last few years.
We would love to have certainty about our future, but that’s impossible in a fast-changing world. Don’t step back and make your plans shorter and your goals smaller. Instead, learn to think like a futurist, so you can think ahead to see what’s around the corner and over the horizon.
Discover how to anticipate trends, spot opportunities, and prepare today for an uncertain tomorrow. The best leaders don’t promise certainty, but they offer more clarity and confidence so we can all make better, more well-informed decisions now.
In this compelling keynote for forward-thinking leaders at all levels, learn the essentials of futurist thinking so you can inspire, motivate, and lead your team through an uncertain – and exciting – future.
Key Messages
- Understand the key external factors that could affect your short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans
- Broaden your thinking to have an external perspective
- Engage the diversity and different perspectives of the entire team
- Adopt the mindset of an active learner and possibility thinker
- Stay relevant, flexible, and resilient in your planning
Who Is This For?
This presentation is for leaders and managers. It’s right for you if:
- Your people are feeling tired, stressed, burned out, and jaded
- Your people – even leaders and managers – resist change, and are worried about the future
- You are working in a competitive industry that’s constantly changing
- You want teams and departments to collaborate, innovate, and share more with each other
- You need to build foresight and flexibility in your team
Format
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-60 minute online presentation
Customers on Your Side
Engaging The Customer Of The Future.Customers on Your Side
The world is in flux, and so are your customers. Are you keeping up?
If you don’t know what matters to them now, they will choose somebody else who does.
Many businesses start with a laser-focused view of their ideal customer, but over time, they drift apart. Far too often, the customer – your business’s true north – is forgotten. And in a fast-changing world, it’s easier than ever for competitors to swoop in.
The businesses that succeed adapt to the changing customer, with leaders who can lead in uncertainty, team members who put the customer first, and a culture that embraces change.
In this engaging and eye-opening presentation, we examine the customer of the future: what captures their imagination, what drives their loyalty, and what you need to do to stay ahead of the game.
Key Messages
- Understanding the five key trends shaping the post-pandemic customer
- Knowing how your customer’s journey has changed
- Creating stronger ties with your customers
- Engaging customers in creating better products and services
- Tapping into the diversity of team members when solving customer problems
Who Is This For?
This if for you if:
- Your business is facing increasing competition from inside or outside your industry
- You want a more customer-focussed and customer-centric approach from your team
- Your people are feeling tired, stressed, burned out, and jaded – and need a spark of energy and inspiration
- Customers have become more demanding and have different expectations
Format
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-60 minute online presentation
Bright Sparks
Build a Culture of Change Agents.Bright Sparks
Disruption and innovation are both about change, but it’s disruption when change happens to you and innovation when you create the change yourself.
We have all faced massive disruption, and it’s now time to start being proactive. The teams and organisations that will succeed are those who create a culture that welcomes and embraces change and innovation.
Innovation is everybody’s business now, but innovation doesn’t mean you have to invent the next iPhone, solve climate change, or plan a mission to Mars. The secret is to engage in everyday innovation – with an environment that encourages change, respect and trust for the diverse experience and expertise of everybody in the team, and systems that make change and innovation part of everyday work.
In this engaging and entertaining keynote, discover how to make innovation an integral part of your team’s DNA and create a culture for sustained success.
Key Messages
- Understand the five key mindsets for future success
- Learn what leaders say that block change and innovation (you’ve probably said them yourself!)
- Boost trust, judgement, and independence in hybrid teams
- Encourage a learning and growth mindset
- Make innovation and change an everyday habit, not an optional extra
- Take more control of your own future
Who Is This For?
This is for you if:
- Your business is facing increasing competition from inside or outside your industry
- You want your team to be more proactive, rather than always having to react to change
- You know your products and services are no longer the best available to customers and clients
- Your people are feeling tired, stressed, burned out, and jaded – and need a spark of energy and inspiration
- You want people to take more initiative and be more open to change
- People are worried or scared about change, and you want them to have a more optimistic and positive mindset
- This presentation is suitable for people at all levels in your organisation, or can be customised specifically for leadership groups.
Format
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-60 minute online presentation
Future Ready Leaders
From Chaos and Confusion to Clarity and Confidence.Future Ready Leaders
We have already faced years of change and uncertainty, and the real disruption is still to come. The future of work will be even more fluid – influenced by climate change, working from home, diversity and inclusion, generational shifts, AI and automation, changes in global economic power, and more.
If your people are burnt out, fed up, falling behind, and pushing back, you’re not alone! More than ever, we need leaders to step up and lead the way – providing clarity and confidence when they face chaos and confusion.
The best people can – and will – choose where, when, how, and for whom they work. Will you create the sort of workplace that will attract and keep them? And are you the sort of leader they want to follow?
In this keynote presentation for leaders and managers, you will understand the essential components of the future of work, gain insights into the must-have skills for tomorrow, and learn what it takes to create the best workplace on earth.
Key Messages
- Discover how smart, savvy leaders thrive through crisis, recovery, and growth
- Understand the four key elements of the future of work – and how they apply to your teams
- Learn how to leverage individual skills and talents to create a more agile, resilient, and ‘antifragile’ organisation
- Adopt a mindset of an active learner and possibility thinker
Who Is This For?
This is for you if:
- It’s becoming more difficult to attract, nurture, and reward the best people
- Your people are feeling tired, stressed, burned out, and jaded
- Your people resist change, and are worried about taking initiative or being proactive
- People waste time in office politics and other unproductive work
- It’s difficult to build a positive culture when people are sometimes working from home
Format
- 45-60 minute conference keynote
- 90-minute extended keynote
- 45-minute online presentation
Video
Gihan Perera | Futurist, Conference Speaker, Author | Saxton Speakers
Gihan Perera is a futurist, conference speaker, author and consultant who gives you a glimpse into what's ahead - and how you can become fit for the future, in your professional and personal life. Since 1997, he has worked with business leaders, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and other change agents - helping them with their strategy for thriving in a fast-changing world. He has clients throughout Australia, as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the USA and Canada. He is the author of The Future of Leadership, Disruption By Design, and 10 other books. Forbes magazine rated him the #5 social media in?uencer in the world (and #1 in Australia) in his area of expertise.Gihan Perera | Fit For The Future | Keynote Showreel
Thriving, Not Just Surviving, in a Fast-Changing World COVID-19 transformed our world - at home, at work, and in every other area of our lives. But even before the pandemic, we could see change and disruption from many other directions - such as artificial intelligence, social media, climate change and sustainability, new generations entering the workforce, more people working from home, and a focus on diversity and inclusion. We don't know what the future will look like, but we know it will be full of change, uncertainty, chaos, and even more disruption. What can you do to be fit for the future? You might think the future is outside your control, but that's just not true. We can't be future proof, but we can be future ready. We all have the opportunity to shape the future - for ourselves, our family and community, and our workplace. In this engaging, inspiring, and entertaining presentation, you will explore the biggest trends shaping our future, understand the skills and mindset we most need now, and learn how to thrive in a fast-changing world.Gihan Perera | Future Ready Leaders | Keynote
From Chaos and Confusion to Clarity and Confidence COVID-19 changed our lives in ways we couldn't imagine, and the real disruption is still to come. The future of work will be even more disruptive and uncertain - influenced by climate change, working from home, diversity and inclusion, Generation Z in the workforce, AI and automation, changes in global economic power, and more. If your people are burnt out, fed up, falling behind, and pushing back, you're not alone! More than ever, we need leaders to step up and lead the way - providing clarity and confidence when they face chaos and confusion. The future of work is about skills, not jobs; diversity, not hierarchy; and meaning, not just money. If you think there's been a war for talent, you ain't seen nothing yet! The best people can - and will - choose where, when, how, and for whom they work. Will you create the sort of workplace that will attract and keep them? And are you the sort of leader they want to follow? In this keynote presentation for leaders and managers, you will understand the key elements of the future of work, discover the most important skills for the future, and learn what it takes to create the best workplace on earth.Gihan Perera | Customers On Your Side | Keynote
Engaging The Post-Pandemic Customer It's a fast-changing world - do you know where your customers are? COVID-19 has changed everybody's priorities, and the new customer has different wants, needs, goals, and aspirations. If you don't know what matters to them now, they will choose somebody else who does. Many businesses start with a clear view of their ideal customer, take the time to understand their problems and goals, and create products and services to fit. But over time, they drift apart. Far too often, the customer - who should be the primary focus of the business - is forgotten. In the past, it was easier to see the warning signs and re-engage with customers. But in a fast-changing world, that's not so easy, and it's easier than ever for competitors to swoop in and take your customers and market share. Especially when customers face ongoing chaos, disruption, and uncertainty. The organisations that succeed are those that can adapt to the changing customer, with leaders who can lead in uncertainty, team members who put the customer first, and a culture that embraces change and a customer-first mindset. In this engaging and eye-opening keynote presentation, we turn our attention to the post-pandemic customer: what makes them tick, what makes them loyal, and what you need to do to stay ahead of the game.Gihan Perera | Bright Sparks | Keynote
Building a Culture of Change Agents Disruption and innovation are two sides of the same coin: They are both about change, but it's disruption when change happens to you and innovation when you create the change yourself. We have all faced massive disruption, and it's now time to start being proactive. The teams and organisations that will succeed in the future are those who create a culture that welcomes and embraces change and innovation. Innovation is everybody's business now, but innovation doesn't mean you have to invent the next iPhone, find a COVID-19 vaccine, or plan a mission to Mars. The best teams engage in everyday innovation - with an environment that encourages change, respect and trust for the diverse experience and expertise of everybody in the team, conversations that matter for the future, and systems and processes that make change and innovation part of everyday work.Gihan Perera - Futurist, Conference Speaker, Online Presenter, Author
Has COVID-19 shaken up your world? Are your people looking for leadership in this time of massive change? Do you want to be more confident and decisive in chaos and uncertainty? Gihan Perera is a futurist, conference speaker, online presenter, and author who shows you how to be fit for the future in a fast-changing world.We were extremely happy with Gihan as were our delegates for the Australian Association of Practice Management conference held in Perth 2017. Not only was I personally impressed with his pro ... keep reading Australian Association of Practice Management
Engaging, funny and witty, with an insightful global view of business
Funny and entertaining while at the same time gave us the inspiration to think ahead.
"Gihan's presentation was a great opening session at our recent senior leaders forum. He cleverly integrated his knowledge and facts about technology evolution and other global disruptions into a compelling story about the change occurring in our working lives, and how we can best respond to it as leaders and individuals."
"Gihan's candid style and humour won over the packed house from the moment he began speaking. It came as no surprise when he received the highest rating of all the guest speakers we had on the day. If you get a chance to bring him into your organisation or conference, I strongly recommend you do so before someone else books him."
"Gihan's professional, thorough and collaborative approach were evident in all our dealings with him. Framed by Gihan's entertaining presentation style, his relevant knowledge of key issues in local and global context, practical tips and tools for the workplace, and his understanding of emerging trends resonated with the group and contributed to our leadership conference's success. Overwhelmingly positive feedback and light-bulb moments from delegates.
