Tracey Follows

Futurist of the System and the Self

Futurist · Author · Strategic Foresight Adviser · Founder of Futuremade

She is the author of The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st Century Technology? and The Future of You Five Years On: From Machine-Readable to Me:chine. And she hosts the award-winning The Future of You podcast, featuring the Me:chine Dialogues.

You can read The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st Century Technology?, her original book on identity and emerging technology

The Future of You: Five Years On — From Machine-Readable to Me:chine.

Too Much Future: Five Essays on the Age of Big Futurity

Check out more books, essays and papers.

Tracey Follows is an internationally recognised futurist, author and strategic foresight adviser whose work explores the futures emerging between the systems shaping our world and the selves who inhabit and transform them.

Her work spans technological, economic, geopolitical and societal change, examining how emerging developments reshape industries, markets, institutions, organisations and human lives.

With more than 30 years of experience across industry, corporate strategy and strategic foresight, including senior international and board-level leadership, Tracey combines commercial understanding with long-range futures thinking. She has worked across sectors including technology, media, retail, financial services, housing, health, travel, pensions, engineering, fashion & luxury, telecommunications and consumer goods.

She is the founder of Futuremade®, her strategic foresight practice, and the creator of System & Self™, an original futures framework and methodology for examining the relationship between large-scale systems and individual agency.

Rather than studying technological or societal systems independently of the people who live within them, System & Self explores what happens between the two: how systems shape human possibilities, and how people interpret, adapt to, challenge and transform the systems around them.

Its central proposition is:

Every future is written between the system and the self.

Tracey's wider body of original work includes the Database Brand, exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming the nature of brands and commerce; Too Much Future, examining the relationship between prediction and possibility; and Me:chine®, her research programme investigating human–machine futures and the relationship between machinable and unmachinable human capabilities.

Ranked among the world's Top 10 Futurists by Global Gurus in 2025 and 2026, Tracey contributes regularly to BBC Radio 4, guest lectures on executive programmes at London Business School and is a former Visiting Professor in Digital Futures and Identity.

Her academic background includes a First Class degree in Philosophy, an MSc in Technological Change and Industrial Strategy, and formal study in Futures and Strategic Foresight.

Through Futuremade, Tracey advises organisations, works with executive teams and delivers international keynote talks, connecting systemic change with strategic choices and the human possibilities that emerge from them.

Understanding the future requires examining both the macro forces changing the world and the personal futures of those living through that change. It is in their relationship that new possibilities emerge.

A woman with long gray hair, wearing glasses, a black pinstripe blazer, and layered jewelry, smiling during a talk. A quote by Tracey Follows is overlaid on the image, reading: "AI isn’t changing how your brand is discovered. AI is changing what a brand is". The background features a dark, out-of-focus stage with purple and gold accents.

Work With Tracey

System & Self™ is Tracey's original futures framework and methodology for understanding the relationship between the systems shaping our world and the people who inhabit, influence and transform them.

Her central proposition is: Every Future is Written between the System and the Self.

Tracey advises, teaches and delivers selected keynote talks for organisations including Google, the United Nations, the US State Department, FT Global Boardroom, Virgin, Coca-Cola, Farfetch, Aviva, Tesco, BAE Systems and Fortune. Read the testimonials.

  • Thirteen years as a professional futurist, ranked among the Top 30 worldwide. #9 in Global Gurus 2026.

  • Twenty preceding years in industry, including board-level leadership.

  • Published author with original intellectual property and proprietary methodologies.

  • Creator of System & Self™ and Me:chine®.

  • BBC broadcasting experience, including as resident futurist on Radio 4’s Dough.

  • Visiting Professorship and London Business School teaching.

  • Major international platforms and strong client ratings.

  • Glowing testimonials across keynote and advisory projects.

  • See full CV including Wired, The Future Laboratory, Cannes Lions below

THE NEW WORLD RE-ORDER: The System keynote

SELFHOOD IN THE SYNTHETIC AGE: The Self keynote

Tracey’s Keynote & International Speaking Enquiries:
Managed by Connect Speakers Bureau
Contact

“She really does see trends before anyone else”

The logo of the Financial Times with a peach background and bold black initials 'FT'

"Exceeded all expectations"

"Mind-blowing"

"An exceptional futurist"

"Stayed with me long after it ended "

"So inspiring - loved it!"

"Favourite Session of the Day"

"Exceeded all expectations" "Mind-blowing" "An exceptional futurist" "Stayed with me long after it ended " "So inspiring - loved it!" "Favourite Session of the Day"

International Events

International events include FT’s Global Boardroom, UN HQ, UNDP Women’s Leadership in Digital in Doha, Nobel Visions in Moscow, FTLIve Tech, Virgin’s FutureVisions with Sir Richard Branson, and more

Tracey Follows: Experience & Appointments

A career spanning three interconnected fields: futures, strategic foresight, thought leadership, technology, leadership in institutions, governance and academia; and corporate strategy and leadership.

Leadership, Awards & Appointments

World’s Top 30 Futurist Professionals 2025 & 2026, Global Gurus • Jury President, Inaugural Creative Strategy Lions, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity • Associate Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science • Co-Chair, Emerging Technologies Cross-Technology Group, ITU Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds and AI • Guest Lecturer, Futures & Strategic Foresight, London Business School • Visiting Professor in Digital Futures & Identity, Staffordshire University • Advisory Board, Human Trajectories Programme, Lifeboat Foundation • Winner, Best Tech Show, Independent Podcast Awards • BusinessCloud Top Trailblazing Women in Tech • Advisory Board, Doteveryone • Chair, Account Planning Group • Non-Executive Director, Advertising Standards Authority • Campaign Top 25 UK Marketing Influencers on Social Media • Ad Age Woman to Watch • Outstanding Contribution to Marketing, Women in Marketing Awards


Research & Intellectual Work

Tracey's books, research and original frameworks have been cited, discussed and featured in academic publications, institutional research and the work of other thinkers.