"Alec Ross is one of those very rare people who can see patterns in the chaos and guide us toward the right path" (Eric Schmidt). Previously a technology and media policy coordinator during Barack Obama's primary campaign, from 2009 to 2013 Ross served as Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—a role tailored to his profile to maximize the potential of technology and innovation in service of the U.S. diplomatic agenda. In 2000, he co-founded the non-profit organization One Economy, which grew into a global enterprise serving millions of low-income people across four continents. A former Distinguished Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, he currently lives between the United States and Italy, serving as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Bologna Business School. He is also a Board Partner at the global venture capital firm Collective Global and advises investors, heads of government, and corporations. Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, and his ability to interpret emerging economic factors has earned him significant accolades, including the U.S. Department of State Distinguished Honor Award. Some of his bestselling essays, published in Italy by Feltrinelli, are: The Industries of the Future (2016), in which Ross leverages years of field experience to highlight the primary socio-economic themes and emerging technological fields of the coming decades; The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People - and the Fight for Our Future (2021); and The Italian Dream (2026).

(photo: Twitter @AlecJRoss)