Robert Safian

Robert Safian is one of the most sought-after speakers, moderators, and interviewers in modern business, bringing decades of experience from leadership positions at Fast Company, Time, Fortune, and Money to audiences seeking insight on innovation, leadership, and the future of business. His presentations combine compelling storytelling with cutting-edge analysis of what makes breakthrough organizations succeed.

The Editor Who Predicted the Future of Business

For nearly twelve years, Safian led Fast Company as editor-in-chief, transforming it into the world’s leading progressive business media brand. He earned Adweek’s Editor of the Year honor and won the National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year, beating rivals including The New Yorker and The Atlantic. Known for near-clairvoyant prediction, Safian was the first editor to put Mark Zuckerberg on a magazine cover and covered Airbnb, Netflix, and Uber long before they became household names. He coined the influential concept of “Generation Flux.”

Unlocking the Secrets of the World’s Most Innovative Companies

Safian has conducted onstage interviews with CEOs of Starbucks, Nike, Target, Ford, Pepsico, Pixar, and dozens more, along with celebrities from Serena Williams to Dwayne Johnson. He has keynoted events from SxSW Interactive to the Cannes Lions Festival and the United Nations Global Accelerators Council. His presentations synthesize lessons from thousands of odds-defying organizations into eye-opening, thoroughly entertaining narratives that help audiences reimagine the status quo.

How To Succeed In The Age of Flux: Leadership That Matters

Modern business is pure chaos. To succeed in an environment of constant change requires a whole new approach. Only those organizations and individuals that embrace uncertainty and seek opportunity in disruption will be poised to thrive.

How do we recalibrate our assumptions? Our business models? Our careers? The vast bulk of our institutions — educational, corporate, political— are not built for flux. While many leaders talk about emphasizing agility, there is still an incomplete understanding of what that really means.

In a talk that draws on the research for his highly-anticipated forthcoming book, Robert Safian—who coined the phrase Generation Flux—delves deep inside cultures from Nike to Starbucks, Airbnb to Warby Parker. He shares examples of Flux Leaders at all levels who are reinventing business, connecting the diverse perspectives of big-brand CEOs, upstart entrepreneurs, and the creative thinkers who power today’s innovation economy.

In the process, Safian presents a compelling framework for re-imagining the status quo. He offers a narrative that is incredibly illuminating and entertaining, one that business audiences have fallen in love with again and again..

Lessons of the World’s Most Innovative Companies

In this informative and enlightening presentation, Robert Safian unlocks the key lessons of what makes breakthrough businesses stand apart in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace.  He shares his firsthand experience with the likes of Apple, Starbucks, and Under Armour, offering insights on today’s most innovative companies. He shows how companies can thrive, even in tough times, by embracing the power of innovative ideas and creative execution.

The word “innovation” has been co-opted and tarnished, spread through marketing campaigns and corporate titles so recklessly that its meaning has become diluted. But true innovation remains an extraordinary engine for success. By examining the inside workings of today’s most innovative companies—including breakthrough startups like Snapchat, Spotify, and more—Safian shows how businesses and businesspeople in all industries can thrive, even in challenging times.

How Breakthrough Leaders Thrive Amid Chaos

This may be one of the most intriguing leadership speeches you will ever experience. Safian shares the inside stories of amazing leaders who have transformed their organizations and their industries in the face of constant change in culture and business.

He explores how and why these leaders turn the threat of change into a vast pool of opportunities, by motivating and developing a talented workforce to creatively capture these opportunities. Both inspiring and educating, Safian zeros in on the power of purpose and mission, explaining how and why a redefinition of leadership is sweeping through the world’s top organizations, In the process, Safian reveals the tools and mindset necessary to become a breakthrough leader.

Is Your Enterprise “Fluxing” Toward The Future?

No one has a crystal ball anymore. With the rising pace of competition and ever-changing consumer demands, it’s become extraordinarily difficult for business leaders to build and maintain long-term plans. And yet it is that long-term perspective that enables outsized success.

Robert Safian, who built a reputation for near-clairvoyant prediction as the longtime editor of the award-winning innovative business magazine Fast Company, provides a disciplined framework for managing in a world of constant flux. He provides distinct guidelines for assessing new information and developments, and illuminates how to incorporate elements of agility and adaptation to help fuel future success.

As technology, business and culture collide, spawning new trends, new ideas and new movements in rapid-fire sequence, we all need new tools for managing the ever-changing landscape. Audiences walk away from Safian’s presentation with the perspective necessary to implement a “flux” approach to their lives and their business.

…and Safian is a World-class Moderator

Getting to the heart of the story and digging to find insights that will resonate long after your event is over is Robert Safian’s specialty. One of the best interviewers of our generation, he deploys a warm, disarming style, able to weave hard-hitting topics and emotional reflections into a compelling narrative. He also has an innate ability to tie varying speeches and panels together into one central message, creating more effective and entertaining general sessions.