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Greg Lindsay

Expert on Cities, Mobility, Travel, Trade, and the Future of Work

Greg Lindsay
The Urban Moment
Engineering Serendipity
Discovery Channel's Mankind From Space - Featuring Greg Lindsay
TEDx - Dumbo
Greg
Greg Lindsay
The Urban Moment
Engineering Serendipity
Discovery Channel's Mankind From Space - Featuring Greg Lindsay
TEDx - Dumbo

Greg Lindsay is an urbanist and futurist, bringing audiences insight from the intersection of global trends, the latest tech breakthroughs, and on-the-ground research. Widely cited as an expert on the future of cities, the future of work, technology, and mobility by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, and more, he’s been described as “very energetic,” “sweeping and inspiring,” and “sharp, incisive, and provocative.” Lindsay offers fascinating insights into our richly connected future, the challenges we face, and the opportunities ahead for those prepared to meet it.

Lindsay is the chief communications officer at Climate Alpha, an AI-driven location-analysis platform steering investment toward climate adaptation and more resilient regions across the US. He is also an urban tech fellow at Cornell Tech’s Jacobs Institute, a senior fellow of MIT’s Future Urban Collectives Lab, and a non-resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Strategy Initiative.

Lindsay speaks frequently on cities, mobility, innovation, and globalization, with past clients including 10 Downing Street, the United States Military Academy, Sandia National Laboratories, the OECD, Harvard Business School, the MIT Media Lab, and the Aspen Ideas Festival. His work with Studio Gang Architects on the future of suburbia was displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2012, and his work has also been displayed at the 15th, 16th, and 17th Venice Architecture Biennales, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, and Habitat III.

As a journalist, Lindsay’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times, McKinsey Quarterly, Time, Wired, The Atlantic, Slate, Politico, and The World Economic Forum, to name a few. He was previously a contributing writer for Fast Company and Fortune, and an editor-at-large for Advertising Age. In addition, Lindsay is the co-author of the 2011 critically acclaimed international bestseller Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next.

Lindsay currently sits on the board of CREtech Climate and was a guest curator of the 2018 and 2019 editions of reSITE. He is also a two-time Jeopardy! champion, and the only human to go undefeated against IBM’s “Watson.”

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

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Client reviews

  • Greg was the featured speaker at our quarterly leadership meeting.  We strive at these meetings to include a program component that challenges our leadership team to “keep our heads up” on how technology, mobility and demographic trends can and will impact our business, our clients and our lives in general as we guide our firm forward into the future.  Greg’s presentation was fascinating, impactful and incredibly well-received.  His  insights and perspective are thoughtful, well-researched and they generated a great deal of discussion and questions long after the program had ended.  His presentation far exceeded our hopes and expectations. Of particular note was the homework Greg did on us.  It made for a presentation targeted to our company and industry that pulled our team in right away, and had all of us engaged from beginning to end.  We hope to have Greg join us again in the future to not only expand on themes discussed, but to identify and lay out the next topics.

  • Greg is a very energetic speaker who had an immense wealth of knowledge that was apparent to the entire audience. One hour gave us only a glimpse into the fascinating ideas and research that Greg presented.

     

     

  • Everyone enjoyed meeting Greg. Highly inspirational with a great dose of realism Greg pushed everyone outside of their comfort zone. Many objectives were met and beyond.

     

     

  • When we feature Greg Lindsay in our programming, we rest easy knowing that the sophistication and intellect he brings to each program will be hugely beneficial to our audiences.    Greg’s confidence and flexibility make him a joy to work with in the lead-up to even the most complicated events, and on-site, his expertise makes him the ideal contributor to a variety of exchanges. Comfortable in leading, solo, or supporting roles, Greg is a go-to big ideas person, gifted with the relatability and humility that make him a fantastic collaborator across a range of topics and settings.

     

  • Greg kicked off our inaugural Purpose City event with a sweeping and inspiring talk connecting cities, stars, and serendipity. His ability to tell stories and connect the dots across multiple disciplines was exactly what we need to prime the mental pumps of our attendees, as they spent the rest of the event debating his ideas and what a “purpose city” should be. He’s an energetic, funny, and engaging speaker.

     

     

     

  • Mr. Lindsay brought fresh perspective to our panel on “A New Model of International Governance: Why Cities Will Lead the Way.” His dynamic, personable manner and humor coupled with anecdotes on his extensive experience studying cities livened up the panel, engaged the audience, and reanimated the discussion on cities as central nodes in future global governance. He skillfully delivered new facts while keeping the conversation going between the audience and his fellow panelists. Given the opportunity, we would whole-heartedly welcome Mr. Lindsay back to the Council as a thought leader and speaker who clearly understands how to deliver complex facts to all types of audiences, be they technologists, career government workers, or academics.

     

  • Greg Lindsay took us from 30,000 feet – trends in the world – to 15,000 feet – showing us trends that pertain to our industry specifically – to 5,000 feet – where to go.  He was excellent.

     

  • The New Cities Foundation has had the good fortune of getting to know Greg in the past two years. Greg has been an invaluable addition to three of our events in the past year, and undoubtedly many more to come. He has the gift of clarity and eloquence, which paired with his broad knowledge and quick wit, allows him to connect easily with the audience and panelists, no matter what topic is thrown his way.

    We count on Greg to devote his time and energy to our events, both in his moderating role and in an advising capacity. He is always extremely helpful, professional, and accessible, to both our team and our speakers.

     

     

  • Greg Lindsay recently spoke to the Southern CA group of CORENET, an industry organization for Corporate Real Estate Executives and Economic Developers. As an attendee and coordinator for this event I can attest to the success. Broken into two speaking events, morning in LA and afternoon in Orange County, Greg kept both audiences intently listening to informative information about globalization: where we are, and where we are headed. The information he provides is made up of factual history about how we got to where we are, and what the future may hold as it relates to cities, airports, mass transit and connectivity. The description of the places he enlightens the audience about, mesmerized both groups for an hour without so much as a murmur. His delivery and energy are contagious and he is superb in transforming the audience across the globe and back to the local view, beautifully. He is a pleasure to partner with, a joy to listen too, and has a way of making everyone in the room walk away feeling a lot smarter and informed about “THE BIG PICTURE!”

     

     

     

  • I had the pleasure – and disadvantage! – of following Greg as a speaker at a conference devoted to the future of work in May. His presentation was sharp, incisive, and provocative – so much so that I immediately booked him to speak at my own event in New York next year. I can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next.

     

     

  • Greg Lindsay’s lecture on “How we will work in the future” was intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking, educational and entertaining, absolutely fascinating and superbly presented. I highly recommend inviting Greg to any conference or workshop if you want someone who sets the standard of an outstanding presentation.

     

     

  • This past spring, I invited Greg Lindsay to speak at a pair of Intel Labs “futurecasting” events, one devoted to the future of Big Data, and the other to the future of the workplace. In both cases, he was a smooth, polished, and beguiling speaker, alternately informing, challenging and making his audiences laugh. His prescriptions of a near-future in which your office is the city, your smartphone plays matchmaker, and your best coworker actually works for someone else were fascinating – and immensely valuable to the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, which must constantly imagine what the world will look like a decade out. I would not only recommend him as a speaker, but I also look forward to working with him again to chart this future.

     

    Intel

     

     

    Greg Lindsay recently spoke at our 2012 Air Cargo Symposium in Moncton, New Brunswick. We can attest to the success. His presentation was uplifting, entertaining and enlightening. What a refreshing topic, and one that should be shared with all! Greg presented in a manner that was both humorous and entertaining, while still getting his message across to the entire audience. That’s a hard combination to achieve, but Greg did it with style and grace. Greg would be a huge asset to ANY group who is looking for an amazing, one-of-a-kind speaker. His ability to connect to a variety of personalities and cultures is a true gift!

     

    CYQM

     

    Greg’s presentation to an executive audience provoked new thought about the context and patterns of urban life in the 20th and 21st century.  Hi presentation style was energetic, engaging, and humorous. His vivid journalistic style brought potentially dry academic topics and disparate ideas to life and created new relevance for our team.

    Chrysler

    We had the very good fortune of having Greg Lindsay as a featured speaker at our 2013 State of the City.  Greg was phenomenal.  In the event planning process, he was easily accessible and very willing to provide our planning team with rapid responses to logistical and content inquiries. Greg had completed extensive research about the local area prior to arriving in Ontario and tied this knowledge into his presentation, providing a customized and very relevant “Ted-style” talk for the 800 attendees.  He was a huge hit with the audience.  We will be bringing Greg back into our community to further inspire the future direction of our community.  He is a total professional, outstanding speaker, and we are honored that he invested so much into this speaking engagement.