Pathfinder

"Michael is an outstanding guide to the new and bewildering world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Armed with a deep understanding of the history and evolution of blockchain, he offers unique insight into the promises and risks of this rapidly evolving space."

—Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director at The Rockefeller Foundation

In a globally connected, digitized economy of ever-expanding networks, fast-paced economic and social change has become an unavoidable reality. The more we forge networked connections between ourselves and between devices, the greater the prospect for new ideas to take root. We live in a world of ever-expanding complexity, one that’s rapidly accelerating the innovation cycle but also making it harder to prepare for that evolving, unpredictable future.

This dynamic environment can be unnerving. Strategic time horizons are being constantly shortened. This is generating an insatiable demand among companies and individuals for advice on what to expect in the coming years, or even months. But this is no place for “futurists” who claim to predict the unknowable. What’s needed are pathfinders, people who can identify existing patterns and trends that show a direction forward in the present, allowing decision-makers to prepare for the disruptive opportunities and challenges that will arise. Pathfinders can’t tell you which hitherto unimagined product or business solution will be adopted by how many people at what future date. But they can help leaders identify how their organizations’ current operating methods could become obsolete and to devise strategies for deploying their existing resources and innovative capabilities to harness new technologies, markets and models.

Michael Casey is a pathfinder. Over three decades in journalism, business and academia, he has made a career out of outlining the big technological, geopolitical, economic and social trends that impact businesses, communities and individuals. He has traveled and lived all over the world as a writer, educator, consultant and public speaker, crafting narratives and spreading ideas that help people think outside the boxes of their lived experience so that they too can find paths to new opportunities in a changing environment. As the author of five highly acclaimed books, his writings draw a common thread across an eclectic but interrelated array of topics to deliver compelling analyses of how our cultural, economic and political systems are evolving in an age of globalization and digital connectivity. 

Blockchain Technology

Michael’s pathfinding mission does not narrowly focus on the crypto and blockchain ideas, however. He treats this technology as an enabling platform for a host of other disruptive forces of change underway in what some call the Fourth Industrial Revolution: artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, renewable energy, the sharing economy, social media and so on. With deep knowledge of how globalization and digitization have reshaped economies, financial systems, media, community structures and personal identity, he combines these technological trends into a holistic, sweeping vision of the decentralization and digital transformation of our time.

At the root of Michael’s thinking lies an abiding belief in the power of human ingenuity and imagination and in the value of diversity and open, unimpeded access for all. He believes in competition but also in the immense value creation that comes from collaborative invention. He believes that wealth and prosperity are not zero-sum concepts but the outcome of common endeavors. He believes we are all better off in a world of inclusion, that change for good happens when we allow the widest possible array of economic interactions. For all these reasons, he believes we have an obligation to create systems that give every person on our planet the opportunity to create, build and prosper with dignity and independence. 

Beyond Blockchain: A Holistic, Humanistic Vision

Michael’s pathfinding mission does not narrowly focus on the crypto and blockchain ideas, however. He treats this technology as an enabling platform for a host of other disruptive forces of change underway in what some call the Fourth Industrial Revolution: artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, renewable energy, the sharing economy, social media and so on. With deep knowledge of how globalization and digitization have reshaped economies, financial systems, media, community structures and personal identity, he combines these technological trends into a holistic, sweeping vision of the decentralization and digital transformation of our time.

At the root of Michael’s thinking lies an abiding belief in the power of human ingenuity and imagination and in the value of diversity and open, unimpeded access for all. He believes in competition but also in the immense value creation that comes from collaborative invention. He believes that wealth and prosperity are not zero-sum concepts but the outcome of common endeavors. He believes we are all better off in a world of inclusion, that change for good happens when we allow the widest possible array of economic interactions. For all these reasons, he believes we have an obligation to create systems that give every person on our planet the opportunity to create, build and prosper with dignity and independence. 

Michael Casey is an accomplished and sought-after public speaker. His extensive experience includes talks on blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and social media at TEDx, Google, CES, Money 20/20, and Consensus.

Disclosures

In addition to his work at MIT, Michael Casey earns income from various for-profit and non-profit entities. He gives speeches and presentations and provides high-level consulting services to a wide range of corporate entities. He has also been hired to present to and consult for U.S. government agencies and non-government organizations, including The World Bank.  Michael is a permanent advisor to a number of early-stage companies and has earned compensation in that role from CoinDesk, WeTrust and Ricult. He is listed as an unpaid advisor for others, including Agentic and Procivis. He serves on the board of the West Australian Ocean Foundation. Michael holds a small, immaterial amount of bitcoin and ether but generally does not invest in cryptocurrencies, blockchain companies or other startups.