The guests have just been to 2040. What have they seen?

Many of us dream of traveling to the future, but what if you could talk to someone who’s already been there and back?

In this podcast series, Roni Michael, Global Head of Innovation at KPMG International, asks leaders from across industries and areas of society – technology, academia, financial services, manufacturing, energy and many more – to put themselves in the reality of 2040 as they envision what’s possible, and explain what they have seen.  What has radically changed and, more importantly what was the journey to arrive there and what enabled this very specific reality?

The podcast explores a broad range of topics, from what our cities may look like and where we will work, to how will we consume information and what we will consider as sustainable in 2040.

New episodes will be added regularly and we welcome your ongoing feedback. Feel free to reach out at innovation.team@kpmg.com

Meet our host

In this version of 2040, we take a look at what the Gen Alpha children’s reality looks like. In this episode, Cathy Hackl, Founder & Chief Metaverse Officer at Journey, visit her three children in 2040 and discuss how new technologies have been created to express themselves through fashion, how virtual reality is now a mainstream reality and the transition to virtual currencies in different forms.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:
Cathy Hackl, Founder & Chief Metaverse Officer at Journey


Episode description

Back from 2040 is a podcast where speakers reflect on their 2040. In this version of 2040, humans being an interplanetary species will no longer be confined to sci-fi. It will be a reality. In this episode, Dava Newman, MIT Media Lab and former NASA Deputy Administrator, explores the impact of discovering evidence of past life on Mars, how we've ensured that everyone gets to experience what space looks like and how space exploration has made us so much more appreciate of our own spaceship, Planet Earth.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Dava Newman, Director at MIT Media Lab


Episode description

In 2040, gender equality is no longer a topic. Equality has spread across different areas - from health to education. In this episode, Fatou Ndiaye discusses her 2040 and describes how many of the challenges around gender equality have been addressed in the years leading to 2040, and how having women in positions of power in business and politics has reshaped the world.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Fatou Ndiaye, Founder & CEO of The Wonders


Episode description

How will we manage to crack the whole cybersecurity problem which we faced in the early 2020s by 2040? In this episode, Alexander Klimburg, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity at the World Economic Forum, travels to 2040 and explores how a political solution helped  resolve some of the biggest cybersecurity problems, and how security issues were balanced out by regions coming together and aligning law enforcement. 

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Alexander Klimburg, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity at the World Economic Forum


Episode description

In 2040, technology has blurred the lines between time and space, enabling the urban and rural divide to fall away. Far from being undermined by technology, the sense of community has been enhanced, as we recognize the importance of the human touch. In this episode, Julia Glidden, CVP, Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft, describes how in 2040 we’re able to be anywhere, at any time, living, working, and experiencing together, and how we have put human agency over technology so that it’s used for the service of humans around the world.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Julia Glidden, CVP Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft


Episode description

Democratizing technology-related decision making to enable companies to move fast. Accepting mistakes and failures. And removing bottle necks to remain competitive. In this episode of Back from 2040, Eran Zinman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Monday.com discusses the future of enterprise innovation and gives great tips on being open to feedback and criticism from his experience as an entrepreneur.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Eran Zinman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Monday.com


Episode description

Farmers in 2040 are able to better protect crops from challenges like pests and drought through advanced prediction methods and agricultural technologies (Agtech). This translates into significant leap in production but also more environmentally sounds practices. Diego Stone, CEO of KrillTech, 2021 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator winner is just back from 2040 and the next guest on our podcast Back from 2040. Diego explains how digitization and automation have changed the agriculture landscape with nanotechnology taking precision agriculture to almost unimaginable levels. These changes will have profound impacts on many society’s challenges poverty and hunger.

The guest recently back from 2040 is:

Diego Stone, CEO of KrillTech, 2021 KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator winner


Episode description

With the enhanced development of technologies like augmented reality, visual recognition, advanced haptic suits and AI, Roni Michael, Global Head of Innovation, KPMG International discusses with Singularity University’s Co-CEOs on how people in 2040 no longer fear that technology will take over their life. Instead, they embrace it for what it truly is, highly functioning tools. In this episode Roni discusses with her guests their views of the impact of technology on humanity, such as freeing ourselves for greater creativity, being able to read other people's emotions and decreasing anti-social behavior. They explain how the freedom from that fear of technology allows people to use technology to remove menial tasks from lives which can free people to use their creativity more, and be even more human.  

The guests, recently back from 2040 are:

Lisa Andrews and Christina Gerakiteys, Co-CEOs of Singularity University Australia