Chet W. Sisk
Futurist • Founder, Universal Basic Resources
Helping Leaders See What's Next — and What to Do About It.
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Biography
About Chet
Sisk, the founder of Universal Basic Resources, a change management company and Co-Lead International, a non-profit think tank on change leadership, says we've lost our way with this moment of change we are in. "Funny how some of us thought the Jetsons cartoon series was a cool representation of life in the future. Now that we're here, we're frightened by it."
Chet's focus is on helping organizations adapt to the newly emerging reality around us. He believes the AI evolution, climate change, political disruption and other powerful trends presents an opportunity for businesses, professionals and society to finally decide who we want to be when we grow up. "Opportunities exist only if we see them. Challenges exist only if we don't."
To assist his speaking and consulting foresight keynotes and consultation, Chet has created a human-centered strategy and scenario planning platform called SEER by UBR. It's designed to simplify foresight and scenario planning while adding human-centered insight, nuance, "vibes" and vision.
A world traveler, former CEO of a local advertising agency and author of 6 books, Chet has presented at The United Nations, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Alpha Graphics, The University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban South Africa, The National Council of State Legislators and hundreds of other organizations on change and transformation.
Born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa, Chet's education background includes a degree in Journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, a Certificate in Communication Management from the Walter Kaitz Foundation and a recent student of the Oxford University Judge School of Business Circular Economy program. He is also a preferred partner with NVIDIA.
Humor, stories from his global travels to 45 different countries, insight, clarity of thought, a vision forward with scenario planning sessions through SEER by UBR are all part of Chet's keynotes, presentations and workshops.
Industries Served
- Corporate Leadership
- Government & Public Sector
- Technology & AI
- Financial Services
- Healthcare
- Higher Education
- Nonprofit & Social Impact
Most Requested
Signature Messages
Foresight Is A Super Power.
This keynote gives leaders a practical framework to anticipate change, how to pair AI with human-centered skills for better decisions, and transform uncertainty into a lasting competitive advantage.
- ✓Learn how to recognize the early signals of disruption before competitors do.
- ✓Discover the Future Advantage framework for making confident decisions in uncertain times.
- ✓Understand how AI and human-centered intelligence work together to improve leadership.
- ✓Build organizational resilience in the face of rapid change.
- ✓Leave with practical actions that can be implemented immediately.
It's Good To Be Human: Winning in a World Where AI Knows More Than We Do
Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, but our greatest competitive advantage has never been technology — it's our humanity. This keynote shows leaders how to combine AI with uniquely human capabilities to make smarter decisions, build stronger organizations, and create lasting future advantage.
- ✓Learn why human-centered skills are becoming the most valuable asset in an AI-powered economy.
- ✓The skill set professionals need now.
- ✓Making foresight your mother tongue.
- ✓In a trust recession, trust must now become our new currency.
- ✓Drinking in tech courage like a daily cup of coffee.
Seeing Around Corners: The Power of Signal Watching for Strategic Success.
The future rarely arrives without warning — it leaves clues. In this keynote, Chet W. Sisk reveals how leaders can identify emerging signals, separate noise from opportunity, and use the SEER by UBR Future Advantage System™ to make better decisions before disruption becomes reality.
- ✓Learn how to identify the weak signals that point to tomorrow's biggest opportunities and risks.
- ✓Discover how to transform information overload into clear, actionable intelligence.
- ✓Build a proactive organization that anticipates change instead of reacting to it.
- ✓Walk away with a practical framework for creating sustainable Future Advantage in an unpredictable world.
Value Delivered
What Your Audience Will Gain
Gain practical tools to anticipate disruption and make better decisions in rapidly changing environments.
Learn how to combine AI with human-centered leadership to create a lasting competitive advantage.
Develop a future-ready mindset that transforms uncertainty into opportunity rather than risk.
Leave with actionable strategies that can be implemented immediately to strengthen leadership, innovation, and organizational resilience.
Cognitive Surrender: When your people surrender decision making to Claude, ChatGPT, etc.
Augmentation: Leveraging tech tools to expand your people's super powers.
Ethical Drift: When we start compromising our company ethics due to the efficiency of automation.
Reassignments: What do we do with our talent once they're freed from repetitive tasks?
Empathy Reduction: Automation can move us away from our ability to see our clients as other humans.
The Right Mix: Finding the perfect balance between people and machines.
The Psychological Reduction of Human Agency: The long term effect could be human separation from decision-making.
Becoming a Level 1 Civilization: Leveraging the new tech tools to solve old human problems.
Innovation Plateau: Automation is good at running things but not good at innovation and creativity.
Level Up: How to help the "Luddites" on your team see the opportunities ahead.
Skill Decay: Relying too much on the tech can reduce reading, writing and reasoning skills.
On Stage
Presentation Style
Chet uses a lot of humor, compelling stories from his world travels, and engaging exercises with his audiences — keeping every room energized and leaning in.
A live demonstration of the SEER by UBR platform gives audiences a hands-on look at how foresight and scenario planning work in real time.
Chet's top job is to inspire his audience and help them reclaim their agency in a world that is waiting for them to fill the leadership vacuum.
On Stage
Watch Chet in Action
What People Are Saying
Testimonials
"Chet's message was not only inspiring, engaging, and informative — it challenged our audience to take notice and prepare for the major shift taking place in the marketplace. Many business owners left inspired to position their businesses for the opportunities ahead."
"Chet provides the best analysis of the future of work and how our students can prepare to survive and succeed in it that I have heard. Invaluable!"
"Chet has a unique ability to present a completely different way of thinking about the future. His perspective on emerging trends is something every organization should experience as they prepare for what's next."
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