A Brief History of the Future
Join Mike Bechtel ’98, Managing Director and Chief Futurist at Deloitte Consulting LLP and adjunct professor of corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame, for a discussion about the novel and exponential technologies most likely to affect the future of business; how a wide angle lens, not clairvoyance, is the key to looking into the future; and why the sweet spot for innovation adoption isn’t acorns or oak trees—it’s saplings.
Experience the Event
Thursday, June 5, 2025 12:00 pm
What will the process of creation and renewal look like by 2035? How will we leverage innovation to meet the challenges of the future in areas from our power grid and collaborative intelligence to community health and resilience building? Explore questions, ideas, and trends likely to affect business and society over the next decade. Let these ideas serve as a springboard for structured speculation about emerging issues and the next ten years.
Join Mike Bechtel ’98, Managing Director and Chief Futurist at Deloitte Consulting LLP and adjunct professor of corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame, for a discussion about the novel and exponential technologies most likely to affect the future of business; how a wide angle lens, not clairvoyance, is the key to looking into the future; and why the sweet spot for innovation adoption isn’t acorns or oak trees—it’s saplings.
Join us on June 5, 2025.
Meet the Speaker: Mike Bechtel '98
Mike Bechtel ’98 is an inventor, investor, and futurist.
A managing director with Deloitte, Mike leads the firm’s research of novel and experimental technologies and business models. Mike also helps Deloitte and its clients best engage the startup community, catalyzing profitable partnerships between established enterprises and emerging entrepreneurs.
Prior to Deloitte, Mike served as managing director of Ringleader Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2013. Before Ringleader, Mike served as CTO/CIO of The Ounce of Prevention Fund, a national not-for-profit focused on early childhood education for at-risk youth.
Mike began his career with Accenture Labs, where he and his team helped Fortune 500 clients bring emerging technologies to bear on their established businesses. 12 years (and 12 U.S. patents) later, he was named Accenture’s first global innovation director.
Mike has served on a number of startup, university, and not-for-profit boards, and has been a featured columnist in the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and Inc. Magazine.
He is a graduate of, and Professor of Corporate Innovation at, the University of Notre Dame.