Richard Watson

Richard Watson is an internationally recognised futurist, author, and scenario thinker, helping organisations explore new opportunities, anticipate risks, and stimulate innovative thinking. He is best known for creating roadmaps and scenario frameworks designed to spark conversation and strategic insight—praised by the Financial Times as “brave” and by Business Insider as potentially “mind-blowing.”

Richard is currently Futurist-in-Residence at the Entrepreneurship Centre at the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Previously, he spent three and a half years with the Technology Foresight Practice at Imperial College London. He is the founder of What’s Next and Global Innovation Network, and co-founder of GDR Creative Intelligence.

A prolific author, Richard has written best-selling books, including Digital Versus Human, Future Vision: Scenarios for the World in 2040, The Future: 50 Ideas You Really Need to Know and Future Files: A Brief History of the Next 50 Years (2007).

He has also contributed to numerous other publications, including Future Frontiers: Education in an AI World (2017), The Future of Universities (2018), and After Shock (2020). He is currently writing two new books, one examining society’s obsession with busyness and the other exploring how physical spaces shape creativity and thinking.

Richard lives in London and Sussex and holds dual British and Australian citizenship. His work combines rigorous research, scenario planning, and creative foresight to equip organisations and leaders to navigate uncertainty and think boldly about the future.