Jason Bradbury is one of the leading technology speakers of our time, famed for his expertise in emerging tech and futurism. As a broadcaster, author and keynote presenter, he explores how innovations like AI, automation, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things will reshape business and society.
He is the creator of 30 Days of AI — a daring experiment in living fully with artificial intelligence — and has a knack for making complex tech understandable, immersive and inspiring.
In this exclusive interview with The AI Speakers Agency, Jason reveals his vision for the future of business, shares insights on ethical AI, and shows how we all can begin to harness technology responsibly and boldly.
Q: How do you foresee artificial intelligence transforming the future of business across industries?
Jason Bradbury: “That’s a critical question. I would counter with, how is it not going to affect the future of business? I mean, let’s put it this way—imagine that you had a crystal ball back in the noughties when computers were traditionally disconnected in offices around the world.
“The internet didn’t really exist; it was just happening as bulletin boards or simple email services. But imagine you had access to a vision of the future that told you that new services like something called Amazon were going to arrive, where you could get logistics shipped around the world at lightning speed, order products and get them delivered not just the next day, but in some big cities, even the same day.
“That services like Blockbuster—which at that time would have been really familiar on the high street—would fail and no longer exist, replaced by mega corporations like Netflix and Amazon. Something called Google would come along, and lots of other search engines you’d never heard of. Imagine you were able to look into the future and predict all that.
“How would that have changed your business? How would it change your workforce, what you skilled them in, the kind of people you employ, where you operate from, how you interact with your customers, what services you offer?
“Well, that’s the state we’re in now. AI is as big, arguably bigger, than the dot-com boom or the invention of the computer. This is how species-level important this innovation is. In line with my 30 Days of AI speech, I actually asked this question to an AI. I wrote: “How will AI affect the future of business?” and asked for a short answer.
“The AI said: “AI is expected to have a significant impact on the future of business, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings through automation and improved decision-making. It will also enhance the customer experience through personalised recommendations and support. Additionally, AI is expected to give rise to new business models.”
“That’s critically important—the jobs that AI is going to bring to your business, some of them haven’t been invented yet. It’s going to create new opportunities for growth and innovation. I don’t know—it’s up to you which answer you prefer, the human one or the AI one.”
Q: Given the rapid pace of technological advancement, what steps should organisations take to ensure AI development and deployment remain ethical?
Jason Bradbury: “The ethics of AI is really the talking point of the moment. You might be aware there are certain signatures to a letter—one of which is Elon Musk, where all the headlines come from—and the letter is asking for a pause in the development of AI. Who knows, by the time you read this, that pause may have been initiated.
“It might sound strange that in our current stage of late capitalism, pausing innovation might seem impossible, but actually there are historical precedents for slowing things down—putting moratoriums on the development of various critically important technologies.
“For example, chemical and biological weapons, nuclear weapons, or human cloning from the Human Genome Project. It’s been agreed through most countries on Earth that we don’t pursue human cloning at this point in our evolution.
“We’re quite good at coming together as a species and agreeing to make the right decision. I wonder whether that might be the way we go forward with AI. The reason the ethical question is so important is the rapid nature of AI’s growth.
“AI evolves exponentially—very quickly—almost to the extent where we can’t control it, and we don’t yet have the moral or ethical frameworks in which to work. That’s why ethics is a particular problem. It will be rapid, fast, and potentially problematic, so we need to think very carefully about AI’s ethical dimension.”
Q: From your perspective, what emerging technologies are poised to make the greatest impact over the next decade?
Jason Bradbury: “This is the number one question I get asked as I travel the world doing speaking engagements. My answer has evolved over the last ten years. I used to talk about blockchain, crypto, quantum computing, and automation—and I’d still include automation in that answer.
“Self-driving vehicles will be huge, in ways we don’t immediately imagine. There’s a crisis in the retail sector right now—big stores on the high street are no longer serviceable, simply because certain companies can deliver products to you within hours. So why would you go into a shop and wait two weeks for a product to arrive?
“What’s happening in retail is that experiential shopping is becoming a thing. Physical stores can offer hands-on experiences that delivery services can’t. Automation will make civic spaces safer, less polluted, and more engaging.
“When cars and buses can drop you off and park themselves elsewhere, city centres no longer need to be busy traffic hubs—they can become greener, filled with trees and open spaces.
“That will change retail—it will move out onto the streets, using those spaces to create more experiential shopping. Of course, artificial intelligence has to be in that list—it’s probably the number one. Within AI, the biggest near-term advances will be in entertainment: augmented and mixed reality, the metaverse, interconnected virtual and physical spaces.
“You might buy something in the metaverse and wear it across various gaming or social experiences, even overlaying information, navigation, or entertainment on real-world spaces.
“AI will drive this, and other breakthroughs—like biotechnology, health tech, and materials science—will also be accelerated by AI.”
Q: Your new keynote, 30 Days of AI, explores living entirely with artificial intelligence for a month. What inspired this experiment, and what key lessons can audiences expect to learn from it?
Jason Bradbury: “As the name suggests, I gave my life over to various AI services for 30 days. The results were fascinating—some amazing, some hilarious.
“You can expect a colourful, entertaining, and profound experience around AI—an opportunity to see, in a tangible and meaningful way, not just where we are now with artificial intelligence, but where we’ll be in one, five, and ten years.
“For example, I enter the room on a hoverboard—for real!—and the opening speech I deliver is written by AI. I have various versions of that: one in rap, one in Shakespearean verse, and one in plain English, depending on what the client wants.
“I also talk about using AI to improve my fitness. I used several AI services and devices to try and bulk up—and it worked, but I developed a pain in my side. When I asked the AI for a diagnosis, it said it was a urinary tract infection. My doctor laughed, examined me, and diagnosed a small hernia—which might even have been caused by the AI workout programme!
“I also used AI to code my website, develop marketing plans, and even explore side hustles—one of which actually made a profit within 30 days. The keynote is upbeat, different, and thought-provoking. I hope audiences enjoy 30 Days of AI as much as I did creating it.”
This exclusive interview with Jason Bradbury was conducted by Mark Matthews of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
