Each year, world-renowned futurist and founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute, Amy Webb, takes the SXSW audience into a deep dive of emerging technologies. Webb's annual "Emerging Tech Report" has become a beacon of insight for industry leaders and innovators- and experts at the Future Today Institute are ready to share her secret with YOU.
Returning for a second year to SXSW, the multi-day Foresight Master Class from the Future Today Institute will provide skills to unlock the incredible superpower of peering into the future of tech trends.
"Strategic foresight shows you where to play, how to win in the future, and how to make sure that you’ve got organizational resiliency in the wake of unforeseen disruption." - Amy Webb
Over the course of four days at SXSW 2025, the Future Today Institute (FTI) will adapt its proprietary Foresight Master Class offerings into a six-session continuing education course, including elective course options to choose your own adventure. Attendees will learn FTI’s methodology and at the end be able to say they have basic foresight skills. SXSW registrants who attend two of the three Core classes and one Elective class will receive a certificate from FTI and SXSW credentialing their participation in Foresight Master Classes.
Core Classes
Strategic Foresight 101
Organizations face an unprecedented pace of technological change. Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing, and other fields are accelerating exponentially. As these once-disparate technologies converge, organizations that fail to monitor closely, connect the dots, and proactively adapt may find themselves caught off guard seemingly overnight. Organizations wedded to the status quo won’t survive the shake up. It’s time to recognize threats and identify opportunities before it’s too late.
Led by Future Today Institute’s Head of Computing and Technology Sam Jordan, attendees will learn about the origin of strategic foresight and the various models and methodologies that make up modern strategic foresight practices. This class will provide an overview of the strategic foresight practice and example business cases. Attendees will leave with an understanding of what foresight is, where it came from, and how to apply it. Attendees will be eligible for a Credential if they attend two of the three Core classes and one Elective class.
Factors Influencing the Future
How do you separate helpful signals from hyped-up noise? We will teach you how to spot important clues that point to the future and tell the difference between trends and trendy. We’ll equip you with practical tools to cut through the clutter, validate what matters, and read critical signals to gain an advantage in your industry.
Led by Future Today Institute Managing Director Melanie Subin, attendees will be introduced to FTI methodologies that help them explore factors that are influencing the future – namely, signals and trends. Attendees will walk through FTI’s frameworks for finding signals and validating trends. They’ll also gain access to our secret sauce: deep insights into how we identify the trends for our trend report.
"What If" Scenarios
Understand what is plausible so you can build what is desirable. In this workshop, we will show you how to prototype multiple scenarios that could realistically play out in your industry. Scenarios are narratives that ask “what if” using data and evidence. Creating these narratives will help you answer critical strategic questions: Who could be the winners and losers in various futures? What might we gain or lose in different versions of the future? Where can we play and win given different possibilities? What is our preferred future and how do we make it happen?
Led by FTI’s Head of Computing and Technology, Sam Jordan, attendees will be introduced to FTI methodologies that help them explore multiple plausible futures – uncertainties and scenarios. Attendees will learn how to identify uncertainties, how to conduct axes of uncertainty, scenario archetypes and approaches, and how to build a scenario. Attendees will be eligible for a Credential if they attend two of the three Core classes and one Elective class.
Elective Classes
Design Futures
Dive into the transformative power of strategic foresight in shaping the future of design and innovation. This session offers practical guidance for architects, designers, product designers and innovators to integrate foresight tools into their work, aligning adaptive systems and consumer needs with actionable strategies.
Through real-world examples and expert insights, FTI’s Design Futurist Mark Bryan will share best practices for embedding foresight into the design process—moving beyond theory to real implementation. Learn how to build competencies, foster strategic partnerships, and create forward-thinking spaces and products that thrive in an ever-changing world. This is your roadmap to making foresight work in practice.
Financial Services Futures
The financial industry faces a unique balancing act—managing risk while driving growth. Led by FTI's Director of Financial Services Nick Bartlett, this session dives into how strategic foresight can help navigate this complexity, enabling organizations to anticipate trends, overcome challenges, and design impactful, future-ready strategies. In this session, you'll explore tools and frameworks tailored to financial services (banking, digital payments, insurance), with real-world examples that showcase how to create innovative products, adapt to shifting customer needs, and mitigate risks in a rapidly evolving landscape. Learn the unique challenges of operationalizing foresight in this high-stakes industry and gain actionable insights to demonstrate its value and make it work in practice. Don’t miss this essential guide to shaping the future of finance.
Entertainment and Media Futures
Get ready to explore how to leverage world-building—a natural strength of storytellers—both to generate new ideas and to create resilient strategies that drive growth. Gain actionable insights with tailored recommendations for music, journalism, and film, and discover how to harness foresight to craft experiences that captivate audiences and shape the future of entertainment. Don't miss this opportunity to rethink what's next in media. Led by Future Today Institutes Marketing and Communications director Victoria Chaitoff, this masterclass dives into the unique challenges and opportunities facing media and entertainment professionals, offering tools to anticipate trends, adapt business models, and thrive in a tech-driven landscape.
Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity open exclusively to SXSW 2025 registrants. Register today and get ready to predict the future this March. Hurry, badge prices increase on Friday, January 31.
