everyone wants to SEE the future.
so SHOW THEM.
As a futurist speaker I bring a mix of insight and inspiration, ideal for almost every event. Whether you want to enliven a conference, inform your team or engage new business prospects, I can deliver a tailored talk that everyone will remember.
Booked by…
…and many, many more.
BIOGRAPHY
My name is Tom Cheesewright and I’m the Applied Futurist. I tell stories of tomorrow for the world’s biggest brands. I help leaders to see the future more clearly and tell their stories to the audiences that matter, whether that’s the board, their staff, or their customers and prospects.
I’m a trusted consultant, advisor and futurist speaker to more than 30 of the global 500, as well as major government bodies such as NASA. And I’m a regular broadcaster, recognised from thousands of media appearances, explaining tomorrow’s world across TV, radio, print and online. Currently I’m the resident expert on BBC Radio 4’s Dough, and contributing to The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, and have appeared across other channels and shows including BBC Breakfast and News, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, You and Yours, and The Big Questions.
I’m the author of three acclaimed books for adults and children, helping me to bring both fun and credibility to the stage, using my storytelling skills to teach your audience new skills, shift their thinking, and leave them inspired.
MEDIA PROFILE
I have been a frequent presence in the UK and international media for nearly 20 years now, my face, voice, and unusual name recognisable from more than 2000 appearances on TV and radio including BBC Breakfast, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, 5live and Radio 4 in the UK, as well as internationally on shows such as Germany’s Galileo. I have written for and contributed to many print and online titles such as The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Financial Times.
VIDEOS
PUBLICATIONS
My most recent book is See Inside The Future (Usborne, 2024), a children’s guide to tomorrow’s world. This book is the fulfilment of a near-lifelong dream for me, as my whole career was inspired by the 1979 Book of the Future - to which I was also asked to contribute a foreword on its reissue.
Prior to this, I published Future-Proof Your Business (Penguin, 2020), a manual for foresight and agility, as part of the Penguin Business Experts series. Future-Proof Your Business was recommended by the Financial Times as one of its business books of the month.
My first book, High Frequency Change, was published in 2019 by LID Publishing and shortlisted for the Business Book Awards in the ‘Leadership for the Future’ category.
Frequently Asked Questions
what do you talk about?
I’m most frequently asked to talk about “The future of…“ - how that title ends is up to you. For every talk I run a foresight process to determine what I believe will be the most interesting and critical issues for your audience. That process can be applied to any sector, but there are places where I have greater experience.
These include: Technology & Telecommunications | Food & Drink | Transport & Automotive | Property & Construction | Cities | Health & Medicine | Finance & Banking
what format do your talks take?
Typically I am asked to do a 40 minute keynote with 10-15 minutes of questions, or at more informal events (for example, a lunch or dinner), a 15-20 minute provocation. But I also run workshops up to a full day, teaching the skills of futurism to leaders and managers. I facilitate foresight sessions for clients who want to look to the future. And I’m happy to participate in panels and interview formats.
I am also sometimes asked to host whole events or segments, using my knowledge of a sector to bridge between sessions, conduct panels, and introduce other speakers.
will you help to promote our event?
I’m happy to use my audience reach to help to promote your event, on request, through a variety of approaches.
Pre-event video
Articles or blog posts
Posts to social media
Media interviews (Over 1000 hours of broadcast experience)
why should we book you rather than anyone else?
I believe the best futurist talks need three ingredients:
Storytelling: you want a speaker who will entertain your audience
Relevance: you want a talk that is tailored to your audience and a speaker who shows they understand the people they are speaking to
Original Insight: audience should be able to take away new information, ideas, and tools they can apply in their own work
I try to pack in all three of these things.
How much do you charge?
The best answer to is to speak to my agent. For speaking and other work, I’m represented by Pomona Partners. Drop us a line via the form below and we can have a chat about your project and your budget.
RECENT rEVIEWS
CLIENT: Economic Times / Rockwell Automation
EVENT: India Inc On The Move
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mumbai is home to the annual India Inc On The Move event, convened by India’s leading business title, the Economic Times, and Rockwell Automation. as “Chief Guest”, I was delighted to give a special address to the room, highlighting the opportunities and challenges presented by AI to the world of manufacturing.
“Great words spoken superbly to make us understand of current changes and what should be our reaction to it.”
“Amazing!”
“This session gave clear guidelines for adapting to new technology.”
“This was a very nice session about decision-making, focusing on the future and building for reality.”
“Great talk. Inspirational.”
“Great, Tom gave the practical approach to implement AI in the industry.”
CLIENT: UKSPA
EVENT: Annual Conference
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The UK Science Park Association is the body for our spaces where innovation becomes industry - fascinating places for a futurist! So it was a great pleasure to speak to its members at the annual conference, giving the closing address.
“Great insight about how to think about intersections and the cross-cutting themes of the future!”
“Slide simplicity aids the message.”
CLIENT: APADMI
EVENT: LEARNING FESTIVAL
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Apadmi is one of the world’s leading developers of mobile software and digital applications. I joined the UK team in person - and the global team remotely - as part of the company-wide learning festival, sharing my views on the next evolution of our digital interactions.
“Enlightening.”
“Very interesting chat.”
“Lots of good information delivered in an easily digestible way.”
CLIENT: City Nation Place
EVENT: Global Conference 2025
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
City Nation Place brings together place leaders from around the world to discuss strategy for city branding, attracting tourism and investment. I gave the closing address to the conference, speaking about how to future-proof our places in an age of high frequency change.
“Great talk.”
“Great!”
“Great insights on the future.”
“Very insightful.”
“Great insightful presentation!”
“Really tangible presentation. Thank you.”
“Loved this! Very thought provoking.”
“Very interesting.”
CLIENT: mETIS BLUE / INTUITIVE RECRUITMENT
EVENT: FUTURE OF RAIL DINNER
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I spoke to an audience of rail leaders from across the UK about the future of rail, referencing my project with LNER but also broader issues around transport, automation, AI and the future of work.
“Inspiring, exciting and horizon broadening!”
CLIENT: PwC
EVENT: Future Leaders Day
REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I spoke to the future leaders of professional services giant PwC about what it takes to be a visionary leader in an age of high frequency change, focusing on some of the critical areas where I’ve seen companies fail, and giving tips on how to avoid those failures.
“Very engaging, particularly about human behaviour, rather than technology necessarily.”
“Reframes the way you think about your vision - is it really future proofing the business?”
“Tom is an inspiring and charismatic speaker, with strong views and great breadth”
“Inspiring and thought-provoking.”
“Keeps it simple … even when the topic is so expansive.”
COULD I HELP YOU?
Want to start a conversation about how we might collaborate? Drop me a message via the form here and I’ll be in touch soon.