Gus Balbontin
PROFILE
BORN AND BRED IN WILD PATAGONIA, GUS NEVER ALLOWED HIS SMALL TOWN AND HUMBLE BEGINNINGS GET IN THE WAY OF HIS BIG DREAMS. A HEALTHY DISREGARD FOR THE STATUS QUO AND A SEVERE CASE OF FOMO (FEAR OF MISSING OUT) LANDED HIM IN AUSTRALIA AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 17.
By the age of 22, he had dropped out of uni, hitchhiked South America, set up his first business and landed his dream job at Lonely Planet. Fast forward a few years and he was leading the company globally and working with companies such as Google X, Nokia and Amazon on the latest technology, creative cultures and high performing teams.
Seeking a change from corporate life as Executive Director and CTO of Lonely Planet, Gus moved back to his entrepreneurial roots, becoming an investor, founder and mentor. Today you will find Gus building robots, developing AI solutions, making 3D printed wheelchairs and investing in climate change technologies.
He loves sharing a story but he loves even more knowing those stories make a difference to people.
Gus crafts a transformative experience that energizes and empowers. By connecting deeply with the audience, he ensures that the lessons learned resonate on a personal level, equipping each participant with the confidence and tools needed to turn inspiration into tangible, meaningful action.
While Gus is happy to speculate about the future, he brings into focus what you can control right now, to make you ready for any future.
Gus has inspired audiences of 10 to 10,000 around the world. He has a profound impact on businesses creating language, practical models and analogies that drive action as well as a personal impact, with people driving change in their own lives.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Pull the Future Towards You
Gus isn’t about vague predictions – he’s about preparing you for whatever the future throws your way.
As an “Alternative Futurist,” he’ll guide you through the trends that matter, with a sharp focus on what you can do now rather than later.
Gus inspires audiences to start playing with novelty to increase their tolerance to change and pull the future towards us. Waiting for it to happen is a recipe for disaster.
Stop wasting time on speculation and start taking action.
AI through the Human Lens
Gus Balbontin will help your audience understand AI in simple terms, recognise how much we already use it today and play with some examples on how it can apply to your job, business or industry. He will help you cut through the hype to focus on what the real human impact is.
The battle scars he collected over the years supporting businesses and humans through the digital revolution, perfectly apply in today’s AI context. For example, we overestimated what the internet could do short term and simultaneously underestimated what it was going to do long term. Today you can’t run your business without internet, in future you won’t be able to run your business without AI. You are probably thinking “I haven’t finished with my digital transformation and now I need to worry about AI transformation? Yes! If you are still paying the backlog of digital debt you are about to start piling up AI debt.
AI poses no danger, inaction does. The opportunity is open to those that act.
Self development - Best career insurance!
Regardless if you are in corporate or self employed, we tend to learn early on in our lives to outsource our careers and development to external parties. If its not the career coach it’s the recruiter or the learning and development team or HR or…
Let Gus help you look back, set vague goals, build the most powerful network and own your career so it doesn’t happen to you but you happen to it.
It’s uncomfortable but you learn to let go and build a portfolio of activity that will make you more relevant in your current job and every future role you ever hold.
Gus will provoke, inspire and give the practical tools to be more accountable and take control.
Cultures of Trust and Accountability
Gus dives deep into the fabric of team building, exploring how to create a culture of trust, psychological safety, and accountability. Learn how to empower individuals to take responsibility and act with autonomy, and discover the leadership traits necessary to harness the collective power of your team—even in the most uncertain circumstances and in the most complex distributed virtual offices.
Gus will guide you in understanding how self-awareness and individual behaviour shape the overall performance of your business.
Unlocking Agility & Adaptability
In the relentless pace of today’s markets, corporate momentum can be your biggest enemy. Gus challenges you to break free from outdated, repetitive processes and embrace a more agile, entrepreneurial mindset.
He’ll guide you in creating systems that support both established and emerging business models, transforming your organisation into a nimble force ready to adapt to any change.
This keynote is your blueprint for thriving in the face of disruption.
