Amy Webb

Amy Webb

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 an adjunct professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, where she developed and teaches an MBA-level strategic foresight course with live case studies.

Recognized as the global leader in strategic foresight, Professor Webb advises 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 Strategy Group (FTSG), Professor Webb pioneered a unique quantitative modeling approach and data-driven foresight methodology that identifies signals of change and emerging patterns very early. Using that information, Amy 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 Professor Webb “one of the five women changing the world,” and she was honored as one of the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020.

Professor Webb is regularly asked to advise policymakers in the White House, Congress, US regulatory agencies, the European Union and United Nations. She is an inaugural member of the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Foresight Advisory Board, a member of the WEF’s Global Risks Board, and is an AI Governance Alliance partner. Professor Webb was elected a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee. She served as a Delegate in the former U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, where she advised on the future of technology and international diplomacy.

Professor Webb is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Säid School of Business, a former Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a Fellow in the United States-Japan Leadership Program and a Foresight Fellow in the U.S. Government Accountability Office Center for Strategic Foresight.

Regarded as one of the most important voices on the futures of technology (with specializations in both AI and biotechnology), Professor Webb is the author of four award-winning books, including international bestseller The Big Nine, a sobering analysis of the future of AI, and The Genesis Machine, a detailed look at the future of bioengineering. To date, her books have been translated into 23 languages. 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.

Professor Webb attended the Jacobs School of Music to study classical clarinet. She holds a B.A. in political science, game theory and economics from Indiana University and an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a competitive endurance cyclist.

Research Interests

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Strategic Foresight
  • Scenario Planning
  • Quantitative Modeling
  • Predictive Modeling

Courses Taught

  • Strategic Foresight

Academic Background

Post-Graduate, Nieman Fellowship
Harvard

M.S., Journalism
Columbia University

B.A., Political Science and Economics
Indiana University

Related News & Research

Adjunct Professor Amy Webb interview: “Futurist Amy Webb Has Some Advice For Founders on How to Plan For What Lies Ahead.”

Commentary from Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is highlighted: “The Era of ‘Living Intelligence’ Is Decisive For Humanity, Futurist Warns.” (Translation Required)

Commentary from Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is spotlighted: “AI in Healthcare Magazine.”

Why "Living Intelligence" Is the Next Big Thing.

Commentary from Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is featured: “The Incredible, World-Altering ‘Black Swan’ Events That Could Upend Life in 2025.”

Only At Stern: Professor Amy Webb, One of the World’s Leading Minds on the Future and Technology

Adjunct Professor Amy Webb interview: “Companies Need to Understand the Future More Than Ever. Here’s How to Integrate Forecasting Into Your Business.”

Commentary from Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is featured: “Amy Webb: Computers That Use Brain Cells Are the New Frontier of AI.” (Translation Required)

Commentary from Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is spotlighted: “‘AI Is Changing the History of Humanity.’” (Translation Required)

Adjunct Professor Amy Webb video interview: “Amy Webb on Brain Chip Implant: Be a Little Skeptical.”

Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business.

Adjunct Professor Amy Webb video interview: “500+ OpenAI Employees Threaten to Quit Over CEO Firing.”

Adjunct Professor Amy Webb is highlighted for being named to Thinkers50: "The Most Influential Business Professors of 2023."

How to Prepare for a GenAI Future You Can’t Predict.

The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology

The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream