Sam Rad

Meet Sam Rad 

Sam Rad is a futurist, anthropologist, bestselling author and four-time entrepreneur dedicated to understanding humanity in periods of radical change. Her work sits at the intersection of technology, culture, consciousness and human connection, giving audiences a powerful framework for understanding where society may be heading and how we can actively shape what comes next.

As the founder of Radical Next, a meta-media studio, Sam creates transformative stories, experiences and media productions designed to shape a positive future. Her work explores the “radical next ideas” and technologies that have the potential to transform societies over the coming decades. At the heart of her perspective is a fundamental question: as our technologies become more powerful, how do we retain and strengthen the qualities that make us human?

A charismatic speaker and performer, Sam has shared stories of radical change with audiences across five continents. Her keynotes empower individuals, leaders and organizations to thrive through accelerating change rather than simply react to it. She has advised organizations including the United Nations, World Economic Forum and Federal Reserve Bank, bringing her perspective on emerging technologies, society, the future of work and human connection into conversations shaping the future.

An anthropologist of the future

Sam was trained in anthropology, engineering and symbolic systems, with a focus on simulated and immersive realities. Her work has consistently pushed at the boundaries of human consciousness, identity and connection.

In 2009, she was among the first anthropologists to conduct ethnographic research while living in the virtual world Second Life. She later became one of the earliest AI researchers to virtually clone herself. These experiences gave Sam an unusually early view into questions that have since become central to the global conversation around artificial intelligence, digital identity, immersive worlds and the relationship between humans and machines.

Sam describes herself as an “archaeologist of the future,” drawing on the term coined by Fredric Jameson. She applies the traditional anthropological practice of ethnography to emerging technologies, social structures, people, places and practices. Instead of treating the future as something abstract or predetermined, she examines the signals already around us to envision and illustrate possible futures.

From AI to blockchain & NFTs

Sam Rad’s work as an entrepreneur has placed her directly inside several major waves of technological change. A four-time entrepreneur, she has held multiple founding executive roles across the C-suite and worked hands-on with technologies that have reshaped how people think about trust, identity, communication and digital ownership.

She was previously co-founder of NYOUM, a London-based generative AI communication platform, and Chronicled, a San Francisco-based blockchain company focused on bringing trust to global commerce and supply chains. Before Chronicled, Sam founded two companies that used artificial intelligence to map personal taste.

Her technological work spans a wide range of frontier fields, including:

• Applied cryptography and blockchain systems
• Artificial intelligence and natural language processing
• Immersive realities and simulations
• Technologies connecting physical and digital worlds
• Digital ownership and Non-Fungible Tokens

Sam holds several patents linking the physical and digital worlds and is considered a pioneer across applied cryptography, blockchain systems, AI, natural language processing, immersive realities and simulations. She is also noted for inventing protocols that would lead to ERC-721, the standard associated with Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs.

Radical Next & human connection

Sam is the author of two #1 bestselling books, Radical Next and Bitcoin Pizza, and previously wrote as a contributor to Forbes. In 2017, she was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, recognizing her work at the forefront of technological innovation.

Radical Next: Reclaiming your Humanity in a Post-Human World explores how radical new ideas and technologies will transform societies in the decades ahead. The themes reflect the broader mission behind Sam’s work: helping people understand technological transformation without losing sight of human needs, relationships and values.

For Sam, conversations about AI and emerging technology ultimately become conversations about humanity. Her mission is to restore trust and connections between people and themselves, each other, all beings and the planet. She challenges audiences to think beyond the capabilities of the latest technology and consider what kind of society, organizations and relationships we actually want to create with it.

Why book speaker Sam Rad?

Booking Sam Rad brings together technological expertise, entrepreneurial experience and an anthropological understanding of human behavior. She can move between the technical realities of AI, blockchain and immersive systems and the larger questions these technologies create for leaders, organizations and society.

Her experience as a researcher, founder, advisor, author and futurist enables her to translate complex developments into stories and ideas that audiences can engage with. Rather than presenting technological change as an isolated trend, Sam connects emerging technologies to shifts in work, culture, identity, trust and human connection.

True to her “Rad” name, Sam is also no stranger to risk. An ex-competitive skydiver with hundreds of jumps behind her, she brings a personal understanding of uncertainty, courage and stepping into the unknown. Whether discussing artificial intelligence, future societies or the changing nature of human connection, Sam Rad offers audiences a provocative and optimistic way to think about radical change and the human possibilities within it.