Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a leading authority on global mega trends including business intelligence, self-employment and social media among others (listed below). Patrick is the author of the award-winning book Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed (2011, Wiley) and a regular keynote speaker for Bloomberg TV. He has spoken at conferences and business events around the world, including destinations across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Business and geopolitical mega trends are converging and overlapping, bringing implications in every aspect of life and business, and Patrick is well known for his ability to break down complex subjects into accessible and understandable language. And with his dynamic and engaging speaking style, Patrick’s megatrends keynote is perfect as a high-level strategic and inspirational opening or closing session for your upcoming event. More information about the prevailing megatrends and Patrick’s perspective on their business implications is listed below.
Past speaking clients include:
Recent speaking destinations include:
10 Primary Business Mega Trends:
- changing demographics (developed nations aging, baby booms in emerging economies)
- higher productivity (automation and outsourcing leading to higher inequality)
- businesses are more powerful than governments (globalization of everything)
- technology is accelerating (data processing, bandwidth and storage, “big data”)
- biotechnology is exploding (extending life expectancy for aging populations)
- the global mind (the internet is uniting expertise from every corner of the globe)
- monetary policies our credit system are both on unsustainable paths
- resource depletion (top soil erosion & fresh water shortages leading to food riots)
- global warming (rising temperatures, bigger storms and higher ocean levels)
- increasingly empowered and self-reliant citizens (self-employment, etc.)
Megatrends Keynote Speech
With changing demographics, developed nations are getting older while developing nations are getting younger. Younger populations are more productive and require less medical attention while the opposite is true for older populations. That means the developed world (including America, Europe, Australia and Japan) will struggle in the years ahead (as their populations age) while the developing world (including China and India) will flourish. Regarding empowered citizens, people now have access to online social media tools, allowing them to easily find like-minded advocates and voice their opinions in far more powerful ways, resulting in protest movements around the world (including the Occupy Wall Street, austerity protests in Europe and the “Arab Spring” in the Middle East).
Meanwhile, the pace of change in accelerating, requiring businesses and governments to anticipate change rather than react to it. Obviously, technology and the internet factor prominently in this trend. The internet is also fueling globalization which is affecting social networks, business networks, supply chains, commodity markets and governance imperatives. Business and governments have to cultivate a global perspective for everything they do.
Finally, people all around the world have become suspicious and frustrated with large organizations, be they private companies or government organizations. At the same time, difficult economic times have resulted in elevated unemployment levels and reduced the benefits normally available through traditional employment. All of this has led to a surge in self-employment and entrepreneurship. Even the big companies are literally tripping over themselves trying to act like little companies. It used to be good to big. No longer. Today, it’s better to be small!
