Henry Coutinho-Mason is obsessed with answering the biggest question in business: “what will people want next?”
Henry Coutinho-Mason is one of the world’s leading authorities on consumer trends, having spent a decade as the managing director of TrendWatching. He is the author of “Trend- Driven Innovation“ , which lays out a simple, accessible approach to anticipating customer expectations. It forms the basis of TrendWatching’s research, content & product that is used by 100,000 B2C professionals at hundreds of the world’s leading brands.
Henry’s latest book “The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work, and Thrive In The Next Decade”, is a handbook for visionaries featuring the thirty biggest ideas and instigators that will shape humanity’s next decade. It was presented at SXSW in Austin in March 2023.
Henry Coutinho-Mason lecture topics
- The Future Normal: Key emerging trends that will reshape [your industry].
Henry’s signature talk is a fast-paced dive into the key trends that will present innovation opportunities for your audience in the near future. The current versions of this keynote draw from Henry’s new book, The Future Normal (written with 3-time WSJ bestselling author Rohit Bhargava and released in early 2023).
- Thriving In The AI Era: Designing a people-first AI strategy
This year it’s AI. Last year it was the metaverse, web3 and crypto. Before that, it was social media and mobile. For over a decade, Henry’s talks on how to think about new and fast-moving technologies have been enthusiastically received by executive audiences.
Henry’s approach is a deceptively simple one – don’t only focus on what’s changing; instead identify what won’t change for your customers. What are the basic human needs and wants that your customers will still look to your organization to cater to a decade from now?
- Trend Driven Innovation: How to use cross-industry insights to anticipate emerging customer needs.
The conventional ways of knowing what your customers will want next (such as using ever bigger datasets or qualitative research) are barely fit for purpose in a world that is ever more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
This terrifies most executives, but there’s a silver lining. It is possible to understand the direction of future trends and the opportunities they present, by looking at the very disruptive startups and game-changing innovations that create such volatility. How are these new innovations changing customer expectations? And how can you get ahead of your competitors by catering to those new expectations?
Based on Henry Coutinho-Mason’s first book Trend-Driven Innovation, this talk unpacks the theory of how to become not just a trendspotter, but a trend doer. And while this theory forms the basis of TrendWatching’s research, content & products which are used by 100’000 B2C professionals at hundreds of the world’s leading brands, this is miles away from being a dry, data-driven speech. Instead, Henry brings in a unique and entertaining mix of global innovations examples to show exactly how the audience can spot what’s coming next.
- Building A Future-Proofed AI Strategy: An Executive’s Guide to Navigating Rapid Change
Format: Masterclass (available in-person, hybrid, or remote)
Generative AI is the biggest paradigm shift for a generation. Every company needs to have a clear and coherent strategy towards generative AI, or face being left behind. The big challenge is that no one knows where AI is headed (not even the people creating it!).
However, as the former Managing Director of TrendWatching, the world-renowned global consumer trend firm, Henry Coutinho-Mason has spent 10+ years helping clients understand, anticipate and act on fast-moving emerging technology trends, from the metaverse and Web3 right back to mobile and social technologies.
In this strategy masterclass, Henry shares a human-centric view of technology that will ensure you build an AI strategy that will remain relevant long into the future. And while some strategy sessions can be heavy on theory and light on tangible utility, Henry’s use of real-world examples means this workshop is inspirational and immediately actionable.
Keynote Speaker & Expert on Consumer trends & Innovation strategies
As a speaker, Henry Coutinho-Mason has given more than 100 inspiring and actionable keynotes & workshops in 30+ countries – with multiple repeat bookings from global leadership teams at J&J, Calvin Klein, Mastercard, the Tata Group, and many more. He is also a guest lecturer at HEC business school in Paris.
Based in London, his work with clients is on consumer trend & innovation strategy, typically around “The Future of X” (retail, work, digital, cities, travel, etc).
Henry Coutinho-Mason has been quoted as a trend expert in The Guardian, the FT, HBR, AdMap, The New York Times and The Economist, and has appeared on television networks such as CNBC, the BBC and Brazil’s Globo News.