Barbara Busse is a globally recognized futurologist, innovation strategist, and the founder of the FUTURE+YOU agency.
Barbara Busse offers a fresh outlook on change, combining scientific rigor, strategic insight, and an inspiring vision of future possibilities. With more than 20 years of experience at the crossroads of technology, human factors, and entrepreneurship, she motivates us to actively shape the future in a fact-based, creative, and forward-thinking manner.
Barbara Busse’s Lecture Topics
- Future Positivity – transforming risks into opportunities
This lecture delivers a compelling message about how positive future visions drive resilience, innovation, and leadership. Barbara Busse explains why optimistic future scenarios are strategic advantages rather than naive hopes.
- The future begins now! Future thinking and backcasting
Barbara Busse outlines specific future visions up to the year 2036 and demonstrates how organizations can apply future thinking and backcasting to craft focused strategies for innovation and change.
- Green innovation – evolving from niche to core strategy
This topic explores how sustainability is shifting from an idealistic goal to an economic imperative, highlighting why green innovation is essential for competitiveness and social impact.
- Dual use & future security – innovation bridging civil society and defense
A forward-looking presentation on the significance of dual-use technologies and cross-sector innovation in enhancing European resilience, sovereignty, and security.
Superpower Future Positivity
Barbara Busse studied product design in Cologne, where her thesis involved creating future scenarios that later materialized. She has worked internationally with brands like Google, Vodafone, Hermès, and Dior, boasting a strong record of commercially successful innovations. At Deutsche Telekom, she was instrumental in developing the first Android smartphone and the Europe-wide sustainability strategy.
Currently, she is the founder and managing director of FUTURE+YOU, a future and innovation agency that supports companies in managing change and developing resilient, future-proof strategies. She also teaches design thinking and future thinking, serves as spokesperson for the board of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Managerkreis NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia Managers’ Circle), and participates in the SPD’s Economic Forum.
With her concept ‘Future Positivity,’ Barbara Busse has created a practical and visionary leadership tool for navigating multiple crises. Her presentations are not only well-researched but also energizing, inspiring, and motivating.
Book Barbara Busse for keynotes and workshops on innovation, future strategies, and sustainable transformation!
