Intro

After winning the prestigious New York Digital Award in 2024 Redefining AI returns with an electrifying Season Four!

Join your host Lauren Hawker Zafer, on behalf of Squirro, the Enterprise Gen AI Platform, as we embark on another season of groundbreaking conversations.

In this episode of Redefining AI, host Lauren Hawker Zafer sits down with Dr. Ja-Naé Duane and Steve Fisher.

For over 20 years, behavioral scientist ⁠Dr. Ja-Naé Duane⁠ dedicated herself to one mission: Make life better for one billion people. This award-winning innovator and expert on global systems focuses on helping corporations, governments, and universities understand and develop systems of the future using emerging technology such as VR/AR, AI, and blockchain.

Ja-Nae guides companies forward, helping them get out of their own way to create exponential innovation and future forecasting. She has had the pleasure of working with companies such as PWC, Saudi Aramco, Yum Brands, Samsonite, Natixis, AIG, and Deloitte.

A top-rated speaker within the Singularity University community and the author of the bestseller, “The Startup Equation,” Ja-Nae is helping both startups and multinational firms identify new business models and pathways for global scale.

Over the years, her work has caught the attention of The Associated Press, NPR, The Boston Globe, and BusinessWeek. Ja-Nae holds degrees from Brown University, I.E. Business School, Northeastern University, Carnegie University, Bentley University, and Boston University. Ja-Nae is a member of the Loomis Council at the Stimson Center, collaborator with the National Institute of Health, and holds appointments at Brown University and MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research.

 ⁠Steven Fisher⁠ is a visionary futurist, innovation leader, and design strategist with over 30 years of experience driving transformational change. Passionate about reimagining business models, he leverages cutting-edge advancements—especially Generative AI—to empower organizations across industries to navigate complexity and seize future opportunities. As a leader in foresight and innovation, Steven has consistently spearheaded high-impact initiatives at renowned organizations. At McKinsey & Company, he co-founded the Futures Practice, integrating strategic foresight and speculative design to help businesses anticipate and adapt to an uncertain future. At FTI Consulting, he led the adoption of Generative AI for business model transformation, pioneering new AI-driven solutions that delivered measurable impact across industries.

Beyond corporate leadership, Steven is the Managing Partner of Revolution Factory, a global innovation firm that fosters cutting-edge solutions through AI, strategic foresight, and design thinking. He also serves as Chief Futurist at the Human Frontier Institute (HFI), where he explores emerging trends, conducts research on future-oriented challenges, and mentors leaders in strategic foresight.

A prolific thought leader and author, Steven co-authored the best-selling The Startup Equation (McGraw Hill, 2016) and is currently developing two new books—SuperShifts (2025) and Designing the Future (2026)—which delve into the future of business, technology, and human adaptation. He shares his insights through keynotes, industry publications, and his podcasts—the Think Forward Show and Off World Podcast—which explore the intersection of innovation, AI, and humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

Committed to democratizing futures thinking, Steven believes that understanding human history and patterns of change is essential to building resilient, future-ready organizations. His expertise in Generative AI, strategic foresight, and design-led innovation enables him to help organizations anticipate challenges and seize opportunities with confidence.

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