Executive Advisor, futurist, and author Deborah Westphal talks with Southwestern CEO Dustin Hillis about her work with advanced weapons systems and space exploration, the mechanics of predicting the future, advice for entrepreneurs and women aspiring to power positions, the distinct eras of business and technology, humanism and leadership, “obsolete knowledge”, and more, in this wide-ranging, eye-opening conversation.
About Deborah:
Deborah Westphal is an executive advisor, futurist, author, and the former CEO and co-founder of Toffler Associates (which in 2018 was ranked in Inc Magazine‘s top 5000 fastest-growing private companies alongside Southwestern Family of Companies).
A leader in future-focused strategy, Deborah leverages her experiences working with some of the world’s most innovative business leaders, to show how the interests of people (as human beings, not customers), overlap with those of companies in ways never before seen, and to chart a path forward for those leaders―particularly in business―who seek to shift to a human-centric mental model, often integrating with a company’s core values. Simply put, to be human-centric prioritizes the success of people and redefines success for a company. She is also focused on how technology plays into this, and how to maintain the focus on people while still harnessing the power of emergent technologies and innovations.
Deborah’s career spans more than 30 years, government agencies and Fortune 100 companies, and virtually every continent. The list of organizations she has supported includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Marriott, U.S. Air Force, Baxter International, Bayer, Heinz, Microsoft, Koppers, PPG, DARPA, National Security Agency (NSA), Qwest, Verizon, and Westinghouse.
Additionally, she spent 12 years in the Air Force Civilian Service, working with small teams to innovate and engineer technology-centered solutions, and as a Deputy Director responsible for connecting the future of commercial space to that of society at large. Also worked with Loral Space Systems and NASA and was a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Air Force Studies Board.
Deborah’s latest book is “Convergence: Technology, Business, and the Human-Centric Future”.
Learn more at DeborahWestphal.com
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