Keynote · Future of Work
The future of work is human.
Brad Hook is a future of work speaker based in New Zealand, speaking internationally. Founder of FLAME, author of the forthcoming The FLAME Method (Penguin, 2026), and a technologist since the first internet boom — with a keynote about what AI changes, what it doesn't, and how people stay ahead of both.
Why Brad
A technologist who studies humans.
Brad has lived through every wave of digital disruption since the late nineties: building in the foundational internet era with organisations like Unilever and Lloyds of London, spending a decade in employee engagement with Australia's award-winning Life by Design — where the meCentral platform he co-created with Ian Hutchinson was adopted by half of Australia's top ten companies — and launching one of the world's first carbon-offset platforms. He doesn't speculate about technological change from the sidelines — he has shipped through it.
He also has the receipts. In January 2020 — nearly three years before generative AI went mainstream — Brad published The Future of Work: Driverless Teams in Training Industry, sketching AI assistants that assign tasks, run meetings, track performance and turn managers into coaches. Much of that piece now reads like a product roadmap.
Today that technologist's eye is pointed at the human side. Through FLAME and a decade in human performance, Brad works on the question underneath every future-of-work conversation: as machines take over more of the doing, what do people need to stay curious, creative and connected? His forthcoming book The FLAME Method (Penguin, 2026) is a framework for exactly that — thriving in the age of intelligence.
The keynote is neither hype nor doom. It's a clear-eyed look at what AI genuinely changes about work, what it doesn't, and the evidence-backed capacities that let people and teams update faster than their circumstances change.
What the keynote covers
What changes, what doesn't, and what to do about it.
The age of intelligence, honestly
What AI and agentic systems actually mean for your industry's work — beyond the headlines and the hype cycle. Tailored to your organisation and sector.
The predictive brain meets change
Why humans resist updating, how brains respond to uncertainty, and the science of change-readiness: helping people meet disruption with curiosity instead of threat.
The distinctly human capacities
Thinking, connecting, creating, caring: the work machines relieve us for, not of. What matters more as machines get smarter, and how to build it deliberately.
Leading through the transition
How leaders set the emotional climate for change, and how organisations avoid the pessimistic future — where cognitive load goes up rather than down.
How it works
Keynote, workshop or both.
The future of work keynote runs 45–60 minutes and is tailored to your audience and industry — conference main stage, leadership offsite or strategy day. For teams navigating a live transformation, it extends into workshops on change-readiness and the human side of AI adoption.
Every session is interactive and grounded in evidence, and every participant receives a follow-up resource pack so the ideas stick long after the applause. Virtual and hybrid formats are available for distributed teams.
Bookings run through FLAME, Brad's human performance company.
Absolutely brilliant, engaging, practical, and energizing.
Outstanding presenter, facilitator, communicator and educator.
Genuinely helps people improve their wellbeing and health.
Trusted by leading organisations
Questions
Booking a future of work speaker: the practical bits.
What does Brad's future of work keynote cover?
What AI and agentic systems genuinely change about work, how the predictive brain responds to disruption, and the distinctly human capacities — thinking, connecting, creating, caring — that matter more as machines get smarter. It's evidence over hype, tailored to your industry, and finishes with tools people can use the next morning.
Is this a technology talk or a people talk?
Both, deliberately. Brad has been a technologist since the first internet boom and now works on the human side of change through FLAME. The keynote connects what the technology actually does to what your people need to do about it — which is where most future-of-work talks fall short.
Does the keynote help with change-readiness?
Yes — it's woven through the whole session. The science of how brains meet uncertainty is the foundation of the keynote, and for organisations in a live transformation it extends into workshops on navigating change without burning people out.
Who is the keynote for?
Conferences, leadership teams and organisations navigating AI adoption, restructures or industry disruption. Brad has worked with organisations including PwC, Electronic Arts, Shell, Fonterra and Fletcher Building, and tailors every session to the audience.
How do I book, and is Brad available virtually?
Bookings run through FLAME at flame.live, or you can contact Brad directly. He is based in New Zealand and speaks internationally, in person and virtually, with interactive online formats for distributed teams.
Go deeper
Brad writes extensively about AI and the future of work.
Book the future of work keynote.
Enquiries and bookings run through FLAME. Tell us about your event and we'll come back within a day or two.