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Amy Webb

– Adjunct Professor

Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Tisch Hall
40 West Fourth Street, 900
New York, NY 10012

E-mail aw115@stern.nyu.edu
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Biography

Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist who teaches Strategic Foresight at the New York University Stern School of Business. Professor Webb pioneered a unique quantitative modeling approach and data-driven foresight methodology that identifies signals of change and emerging patterns very early. In her role at Stern, she teaches graduate students the fundamentals of strategic foresight, scenario modeling and strategy in an intensive course that includes live case studies.

Recognized as the global leader in strategic foresight, Professor Webb advises business leaders through disruptive change, enabling them to navigate an unpredictable future with confidence and take actions that address global challenges, create sustainable value, and ensure a company's long-term growth. As founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute (FTI), Professor Webb and her colleagues identify white spaces, opportunities and threats early enough for action. They develop predictive scenarios, along with executable strategy, for their global client base.

In 2023, Professor Webb was recognized as the #4 most influential management thinker in the world by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of global business thinkers. She was also featured on the 2021 Thinkers 50 list, was shortlisted for the 2021 Digital Thinking Award, and received the 2017 Thinkers50 Radar Award. Forbes called her “one of the five women changing the world” and she was honored as one of the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020.

In addition to her role at Stern, Professor Webb is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Säid School of Business. She was elected a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee. She is a member of the World Economic Forum and serves on several boards and councils, including the Forum’s Risk Advisory Council, the Global Futures Council and AI Governance Alliance, and she is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Foresight Council. She serves on the Board of Directors for South By Southwest.

Regarded as one of the most important voices on the futures of technology (with specializations in both AI and synthetic biology), Professor Webb is the author of four books, including the international bestseller The Big Nine and her most recent, The Genesis Machine, which was listed as one of the best nonfiction books of the year by The New Yorker. To date, her books have been translated into 21 languages.

A lifelong science fiction fan, Professor Webb collaborates closely with Hollywood writers and producers on films, TV shows and commercials about science, technology and the future. She helped create the world for The First, which was Hulu’s first big sci-fi drama. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and has served as a Blue Ribbon Emmy award judge. A widely published and quoted thought leader, Professor Webb has appeared in publications and broadcasts including The New York Times, Fortune, Wired, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, the BBC, CNN, NBC and NPR, among others. She is a competitive gravel and road cyclist.