Artificial intelligence , machine learning , blockchain, electric cars. If, at some point, you related these topics to companies of the future, know that you may be mistaken. At least, that's the opinion of Mike Walsh , futurist, writer and CEO of consultancy Tomorrow . In his view, companies of the future will still depend on people.

The majority of business professionals I meet these days accept that we are now deep in the digital age, where mountains of data are gathered on everything we do, online and offline. Yet most executives are struggling with how to harness this data with artificial intelligence and machine learning, and use it to hone their intuition and improve their business leadership.

The rise of deep learning and machine learning are radically changing our relationship to data. For evidence, look around you to see the impact that algorithms, data, and machine learning are already having on our daily lives. In his recent keynote address at Oversight’s [in]sight 2018 conference, futurist and author Mike Walsh challenged attendees to ask dangerous questions such as:

AUSTIN, Texas—The world is entering the “Algorithm Era.” Algorithms are already transforming society and business in ways we cannot even see. According to Mike Walsh, the key question to ask is: What kind of leaders are organizations going to need for an age of digital transformation? Walsh, a futurist and author, says there is a “widening gap” between the analog leader of the 20th century and the algorithmic leader of the 21st century.

HOUSTON—The history of technology is littered with buzzwords—but while innovations like artificial intelligence may get a lot of hype, they do also promise to alter the environments in which we live and work. At HITEC Houston, keynote speaker Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing companies for the 21st century, discussed the ways in which hospitality will change going forward.

On the second day of the American Society of Safety Professionals’ (ASSP) Safety 2018 Conference and Exposition held in San Antonio, Texas, self-described futurist Mike Walsh, author of The Dictionary of Dangerous Ideas, energized the crowd of attendees by advocating an approach to safety and leadership that embraces automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning as valuable tools for safety programs of the 21st century.