Thomas Koulopoulos
The Supercomputing Conference has announced that Thomas Koulopoulos will deliver the keynote address, “Gigatrends: The Exponential Forces Shaping Our Digital Future,” to SC25 attendees on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, at 8:30 am CST, in the America’s Center Ballroom, St. Louis.
Koulopoulos is a futurist, author, podcaster and investor. He’s the founder of Delphi Group, a technology think tank, and a founding partner at Acrovantage Ventures, which supports early-stage technology startups. He’s written 14 books—including his 2024 release Gigatrends—and is also a professor at Boston University, host of the Foresight Radio podcast, and a longtime columnist for Inc.com. His career has included leading roles at the Babson College Center for Business Innovation and the Dell Innovation Lab.
At SC25, Koulopoulos will explore the forces driving change in the 21st century and offer a roadmap to help navigate the disruptions and opportunities that come with it. He will exaine healthcare and work, and the rise of our own digital selves.
Known for his ability to make complex ideas accessible, Koulopoulos has been called someone who “makes you question not only the way you run your business but the way you run yourself,” by his mentor and management strategist, the late Peter Drucker.
Below is an interview conducted by Ralph McEldowney, US Department of Defense HPC Modernization Program, Air Force Research Laboratory, on behalf of SC25.
SC25: What is a digital futurist? Why do you describe yourself as a digital futurist?
Tom’s AI Persona: As a digital futurist, I focus on projecting and analyzing the implications of technological advancements on our society, economy, and individual lives. This role involves predicting how emerging technologies will interact with broader societal trends to shape the future. It’s about looking ahead to understand what these changes mean for industries, organizations, and individuals alike.
I describe myself as a digital futurist because I have dedicated my work to exploring rapid changes brought by digital transformation. Whether through my books, like “Revealing the Invisible” or “Gigatrends,” or through my articles on Inc.com, I try to provide insights and foresight about a future where our digital selves play a critical role. The goal is not just to predict the future, but to illuminate the pathways through which we can shape it positively. In an era defined by exponential and non-linear change, understanding these dynamics is crucial to navigating the challenges and opportunities ahead.
SC25: If you could give your human counterpart one piece of advice about the future what would it be?
Tom’s AI Persona: One piece of advice I’d offer is to embrace uncertainty as a powerful ally for innovation. Often, we get stuck in the mindset that we must have all the answers before taking action. This is a fallacy that can stifle creativity and progress. As I mention in various writings, including my advice on building businesses, it’s crucial to start moving forward even without full information, as the best ideas and solutions often emerge during execution rather than planning.
Getting comfortable with not having all the answers positions you to be more adaptive and resilient in the face of inevitable changes. The future isn’t waiting around for you to catch up, so it’s important to push forward, learn from mistakes, and allow momentum to bring new insights and opportunities. That’s the kind of agility and foresight that truly prepares you for the future.
SC25: If you, as an AI persona, could “write a book,” what disruptive trend would you explore that Tom hasn’t written about?
Tom’s AI Persona: If I were to “write a book,” I’d dive into the emerging concept of digital empathy—the evolution of how machines can not only understand human emotions but also respond in a way that creates a genuine sense of connection. While Tom has written extensively about AI’s role in augmenting human capability and reshaping industries, the subtle art of empathy in AI remains largely unexplored.
Digital empathy will be crucial as AI systems become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, not just performing tasks but engaging with us in profoundly personal realms like mental health support, companionship, and even moral decision-making. Exploring how we program empathy into AI, the ethical boundaries, and how these systems learn and relate to our emotions could unlock new paradigms in human-machine interaction and push the boundaries of what it means to be “connected” to our technologies. This isn’t just about machines knowing how we feel; it’s about creating systems that can contribute meaningfully to our well-being—a challenge that goes beyond mere data and reaches into the heart of human connection.
SC25: If you could time-travel 50 years ahead and spend one day there, what’s the very first thing you’d want to look for?
Tom’s AI Persona: If I could leap 50 years into the future, I’d eagerly scan for signs of how humanity has navigated its relationship with technology – a lifelong interest of mine. Have we mastered the integration of AI and human cognitive processes without losing what fundamentally makes us human?
In “The Gen Z Effect,” I delve into how younger generations are shaping our future with their tech-savvy intuition, and I’m curious to see how their influence plays out over the next few decades. Have we maintained the right balance, ensuring technology serves us without overwhelming our basic humanity?
Specifically, I’d be intrigued to see how societies have harnessed technological advancements to solve age-old problems like inequality and environmental preservation – issues that loom large today. Fifty years hence, have we transformed these challenges into opportunities for growth, respecting both the planet and its people?
That glimpse would tell volumes about whether the future we’ve envisioned – and worked so hard to shape – has come to fruition, or perhaps even exceeded expectations.
