Josh Allan Dykstra
Optimistic Futurist, Recovering Tech CEO, Author, & TEDx Speaker
Josh Allan Dykstra
Optimistic Futurist, Recovering Tech CEO, Author, & TEDx Speaker
Biography
Josh Allan Dykstra is an optimistic futurist keynote speaker who helps leaders stop reacting to chaos and start designing the future with clarity. Known for cutting through A.I. and future-of-work hype, Josh helps organizations focus on what actually matters: not the trend of the week, but the systems shaping what comes next.
His keynotes equip leaders with practical, future-focused frameworks that cut through complexity, rebuild optimism, and design work environments where transformation energizes people instead of burning them out. Leaders drowning in disruption hire Josh when they need clarity without fear-based narratives.
Over the past 15 years, Josh has worked with organizations employing 1M+ people — including Microsoft, CHANEL, Amazon, Sony, and Genentech — transforming how they approach change, technology, and the future of work. His thinking has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Josh is the author of Igniting the Invisible Tribe: Designing an Organization That Doesn't Suck and host of the Hello Tomorrow Podcast, where he makes sense of what's next for leaders navigating uncertainty. He holds an MBA in Executive Leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is currently writing his second book. Josh is frequently brought in when organizations are navigating uncertainty, A.I. disruption, or deep culture change and need a clear, human, and grounded path forward.
Speaker Videos
Show Reel
Create a Future That Doesn't Suck
This Doesn't Sound Like A True Story... Is It?
What You Need To Win
Speech Topics
Hello Tomorrow: Making Sense of What's Next
Most of us are exhausted. We’re working harder than ever, yet nothing seems to improve. Burnout is epidemic. Trust is collapsing. The old playbooks aren’t working… and deep down, we know it. At its core, this keynote is about helping leaders make sense of what’s next so they can stop reacting to the present and start intentionally designing the future.
Here’s what nobody’s telling you: the system isn’t broken. It’s doing exactly what it was designed to do. We’re in a predictable 80-year cycle of crisis and renewal that happens like clockwork throughout history. And just like the generations before us who lived through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II, we’re in the “winter” phase. The good news? Winter always creates space for the spring that comes next.
In this bold and inspiring keynote, optimistic futurist Josh Allan Dykstra uses demographic patterns and historical data to show you exactly where we are in the cycle, so you can stop optimizing what needs to die and start designing what comes next. You’ll walk away knowing what to invest in, what to let go of, and how to lead with the bold optimism that sees rebirth at every turn.
Your Group will Leave Knowing How To:
- Understand the Cycle — Learn why systems are breaking (hint: they’re destined to), where we are in the cycle, and why this crisis is actually predictable, necessary, and temporary. This perspective shift alone will reduce anxiety and unlock strategic clarity.
- Release What’s Dying — Discover how to identify what’s worth saving versus what’s dragging you down, and get permission to stop exhausting yourself trying to fix systems that need to collapse. You’ll learn the art of strategic letting go.
- Build What’s Next — Master the mindset of Future Design™ and learn how to position yourself as an architect of tomorrow instead of a victim of today. You’ll leave with practical tools to invest your energy where the future is actually heading and knowing how to lead with confidence and optimism.
AI Clarity: How to Cut Through Confusion & Lead with Confidence
A.I. isn’t the threat… confusion about A.I. is.
Your people have conflicting ideas about what it is, how it works, and whether it’s coming for their jobs. That confusion creates paralysis, anxiety, and wasted time debating instead of executing.
This keynote cuts through the noise by helping leaders make sense of what’s next with A.I., separating real opportunity from hype so teams can move forward with clarity and confidence. By utilizing a simple three-part framework — 1) Understand, 2) Connect, 3) Elevate — optimistic futurist Josh Allan Dykstra gives leaders the clarity and confidence to lead their A.I. transformations with intentionality and focus.
You’ll learn exactly what A.I. actually is (and isn’t) going to do to your organization, how to think strategically about where it fits, and powerful principles that will guide your A.I. integrations at every level.
Your Group will Leave Knowing How To:
- Understand A.I. Without the Hype – Cut through the confusion with three essential truths about what A.I. is actually going to do for your organization. This clarity eliminates fear, stops the endless debates, and gets your team moving forward with confidence instead of paralysis.
- Connect Your Team for A.I. Transformation – Discover why psychological safety is your secret weapon in the A.I. age. You can’t trust A.I., so you need to trust your people. Learn how to build the trusted, aligned team that turns A.I. disruption into opportunity.
- Elevate Beyond the Noise – Learn why the future belongs to leaders who create space for wisdom, not just speed. Discover how to rise above A.I. chaos, cultivate depth and strategic clarity, and become the leader who helps others navigate what’s next with calm and confidence.
Stop Forcing Change, Start Fueling It: How to Create Transformation That Energizes
Only 12% of change initiatives succeed… and that number hasn’t improved in a decade. Your teams are drowning in transformation projects. Leadership transitions. Tech upgrades. Process overhauls. Cultural shifts. Every single one requires people to change… and 88% of them fail.
When disruption becomes constant, strategy alone will never be enough if our systems drain the very energy required to adapt to the future. The problem isn’t your strategy. It’s not your budget. It’s not even A.I. The problem is fuel. We’re measuring everything except the one resource that makes transformation possible: Human Energy™.
When leaders can’t make sense of what’s next, they push transformation through systems that are already running on empty. Here’s what most leaders miss: change never happens without energy to precede it. Yet we design transformation projects as if humans run on willpower alone. We pay attention to strategy, but ignore the fuel that powers execution.
This keynote reveals breakthrough research on flow states, energy optimization, and workplace design that explains why some changes soar while others crash — and gives you a practical framework to ensure YOUR changes succeed.
Your Group will Leave Knowing How To:
- Properly fuel your changes — Most change isn’t a strategy problem, it’s an energy problem because we don’t know how to fuel our changes. You’ll learn how to identify “human energy debt” and why you can’t push transformation through systems running on empty.
- Optimize humans for change — When people increase time in flow just 20%, productivity doubles. You’ll learn the simple question that reveals where your people’s energy actually lives and how to help them spend more time there.
- Design the missing ingredient into your systems — Your job isn’t to blame the people, it’s to fix the system. You’ll see real data from 600+ employees showing measurable results in 90 days, and learn how the best leaders enable flow and eliminate friction.