Areas of Expertise
Human Behavior • Emerging Technology • Future Forecasting
About Michell
“Michell Zappa is a Singularity University expert in Emerging Technology & Human Behavior. He is a technology futurist, information designer and founder of Envisioning, a technology foresight institute. His work aims to illustrate the implications of accelerating change and facilitate a higher level of awareness about our relationship to technology.
Michell has collaborated on projects on all continents. He is a renowned public speaker, and frequently consults on technological strategy. His work has been featured in WIRED and TASCHEN.
Responsible for the technology thinking module at THNK School of Creative Leadership in Amsterdam. Frequently lectures about patterns of technological transformation at major events.
Born in Stockholm, raised in São Paulo. Fluent in three languages, currently learning Italian. Has lived in five countries and worked in over 30. Oversaw design and platform development at Trendwatching in London and Amsterdam before launching Envisioning.”
Democratic Design Day Lugano 2018
Tudo está acelerando
Transformational Technologies: Foundations for Understanding the Future of Global Security
SingularityU Portugal Documentary- Michell Zappa
How Technology Evolution Assessment Works
Speaking Topics
Accelerating change and unintended consequences
Centaurs: Combining Human and Machine Intelligence
The world changed on May 11, 1997 when chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was defeated by IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. A milestone in artificial intelligence, met by countless others in the subsequent decades. The story of what Kasparov did in 1998, however, remains mostly untold. Learn about how Centaur Chess allows players to play alongside computers instead of against them, and the consequences it has for our decision-making around machine learning today.
Envisioning Technology
Envisioning is the world’s first platform for tracking emerging technology. Founded in 2011, Envisioning aims to bring free and reliable technology intelligence to the world. Learn about our distributed work models and decentralized operations for the inside view on how to future-proof your organization.
How imagination instructs innovation
How technology evolves through combination
Patterns for Technology Thinking
Patterns of Technological Transformation
Finding certainty in uncertainty. Technology often seems unpredictable, but an understanding of the underlying patterns affecting its development allows us to predict more likely future scenarios. For example, Exponential Change leads to Unintended Consequences and Combinatorial Evolution. Knowing these patterns helps us paint a clearer picture of the emerging future.
Strategies for combining human and machine intelligence
Strategies for Reimagining the Future
Why there is no 'technology industry'