Future Today Strategy Group

Mark your calendars! 🗓️ On November 3 at 2:30 PM ET, FTSG CEO Amy Webb will lead a virtual masterclass on “Harnessing Strategic Foresight” at Harvard Business Review’s Future of Business 2025. The day-long event will feature executive leaders and global thinkers sharing their insights on how to navigate a fast-changing business environment. Amy joins an agenda that includes Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Mars CEO Poul Weihrauch, Moderna Co-Founder and Flagship Pioneering CEO Noubar Afeyan – and many more. Register now at https://buff.ly/jBm2woC.

The internet was made for humans to read. So what happens when humans aren’t the primary readers anymore? 🤖 Every day, more people are using AI as their front door to the web. We don’t browse, we ask. We don’t scroll, we summarize. Models are quickly becoming the way we see the internet. But today’s web is still optimized for us. It's full of design elements and formatting that helps make the internet appealing to humans. "Appeal" isn't really important to large language models, it turns out. The next iteration, therefore, is the Model Web — fundamentally, a new layer that makes it easier for LLMs to navigate the internet. According to FTSG’s Andrew Hornstra, both companies and AI providers have compelling incentives to make this concept a reality. Read more about the Model Web, plus the winners and losers of this future, in Andrew’s post on ftsg.com/blog 🌐

ICYMI: Amy Webb will be back on the SXSW stage this year for her annual featured session! Amy will once again explore the emerging technologies that demand your attention and reveal scenarios that challenge how we think about the future. This year, though, there’s a twist you won’t see coming... 👀 SXSW will run from March 12-18, 2026. Stay tuned for scheduling details.

🚨 Must-read from our CEO, Amy Webb. She unpacks a scientific breakthrough that, as she puts it, "Completely upends our conventional thinking about reproduction, parenthood, and family."

We're back today with a foresight FAQ! 🔎 Our question: how do you actually spot a signal? Signals are the earliest hints of change – little indicators that something new may be emerging. But how can you make sure you're identifying the right things? Here’s a simple guide: 1️⃣ Cast a wide net. Don’t just read within your industry. Look across a spectrum of "macro sources," from public health to wealth distribution to geopolitics. 2️⃣ Go beyond headlines. If it’s front-page news, it’s already mainstream. Dig into research papers, patent databases, and early-stage investments to see what's really bubbling up. 3️⃣ Check for bias. We’re all good at spotting what we want to see. Ask yourself: am I only noticing data that confirms what I already believe? 4️⃣ Distinguish weak vs. strong. A weak signal might be niche or experimental. A strong signal is gaining traction. Both matter, but some are immediately actionable than others. 5️⃣ Connect the dots. A single signal doesn’t tell the story. Patterns across multiple signals are what reveal real trends. Once you know how to spot them, signals stop feeling like noise and start guiding smarter decisions.

Congratulations to Marc Palatucci on his promotion to Director of Growth & Engagement! 🎉 Marc is the ultimate "personality hire" – in that he has an incredible knack for building relationships, as many in our network can attest. He is also one of our longest-serving employees, having joined the team back in 2018. Armed with both intimate knowledge of the company and years of foresight experience, Marc is the ideal ambassador for FTSG as we continue to grow. "Marc has played a key role in deepening our existing connections and driving conversations that open new opportunities," said FTSG Managing Director Melanie Subin. "With this promotion to Director of Growth & Engagement, we are formalizing and expanding his contributions to our strategic trajectory. We have confidence in his ability to represent the firm at the highest levels." Please join us in celebrating Marc's well-deserved promotion!

🎧 Can't-miss podcast just dropped: Amy Webb joined "On with Kara Swisher" this week to have a practical discussion about AI in business. Amy covers: ➡️ The risks of rushing into big AI investments without a clear problem to solve. ➡️ Why “future-proofing” a career isn’t about stockpiling skills, but about staying flexible. ➡️ The next wave of AI convergences, from biology to robotics to space. ...And much more. Listen at the link below or on your preferred platform. 🔗 https://buff.ly/T8hrNBL

It's budget season! What are you missing?💰 Every year in October and November, we get the same flavor of emails from prospective clients. These executives are eager to spend their unallocated funds and want to crank out a last-minute engagement with us before the end of the year. Foresight is often considered a "nice to have" or treated like a last-minute fire drill, when disruption is already at the door. But as FTSG Managing Director Melanie Subin points out, "Foresight is the competitive differentiator. Companies that deliberately fund foresight are better positioned to anticipate disruption, spot opportunities earlier, and move faster than competitors." In the latest post on ftsg.com/blog, Melanie unpacks why foresight is hard to plan for – and why it’s worth it anyway. From mitigating risk to reassuring investors and boards, foresight pays dividends that short-term wins can’t touch. If you’re currently planning for the next 12 months, this is the moment to make space for foresight. Because the future won’t wait for budget cycles⏳

Three of Brazil’s most important industries are on the edge of disruption 🚨 FTSG and Google Brazil have teamed up to create three in-depth reports on CPG, retail, and telecommunications. Co-authors Amy Webb, Melanie Subin, and Sam Jordan visited São Paulo last week to present the groundbreaking reports, which blend FTSG’s robust foresight methodologies with Google’s search trend data and other sources. The bottom line? Traditional approaches in these industries won’t cut it anymore. 🛒 In CPG, the customer journey, from demand anticipation to post-purchase, is being re-written – forcing companies to rethink the entire pipeline. 🛍️ In retail, the established marketing playbook is losing relevance as technology, demographics, and geopolitics rapidly transform the landscape. 📡 And in telecom, investment strategies and technical architecture are shifting dramatically – ushering in a new era where the old ways of scaling no longer apply. Stay tuned. The full reports will be publicly available in the coming months.

Could your team benefit from actionable, no-fee strategic scenarios to help navigate uncertain futures? This fall, we're offering companies the opportunity to partner with graduate students in Amy Webb's foresight course at NYU Stern School of Business. Over the course of six weeks, the selected organizations will have the chance to interact directly with FTSG's tools and frameworks. At the end, they will each receive tailored insights on the disruptive forces and emerging technologies shaping our world. 🔗 Link in comments. Learn more and apply today! 📅 Submissions are open now through September 19.