Scott Smith
Managing Partner, Changeist
Scott Smith has spent more than two decades designing foresight strategies, research, and tools for organizations navigating uncertainty. He founded Changeist in 2007 and leads the firm's research and strategic design engagements from Barcelona, working with governments, cultural institutions, international agencies, and global brands to build capacity for thinking about what comes next. He designs the tools, scenarios and experiential futures organizations use to explore and act on possibility.
His current work includes BEGINNINGS at MOD. Museum of Discovery in Adelaide (2025–26), where he designed the experience behind Celestial Navigation, an interactive experience that helps visitors discover how they think about the future. In 2025 he and Susan Cox-Smith brought Foom, a unique strategic simulation on AI governance in the creative sector, to FACT at ACMI in Melbourne; for FOREVER at MOD. (2023–25) he served as research and design advisor and contributed the "Future of Death" chapter to the exhibition's companion book. Earlier public work includes Encountering the Future, a commission of five speculative artefacts for Nesta (2020), and concept development for Dubai's Museum of the Future (2015–2018). He created and led the Strategic Foresight and Future Design diploma programs at Dubai Future Academy (2017–2019), teaching experiential futures design to more than twenty cohorts of senior government and private-sector leaders.
He is the author of How to Future (Kogan Page, 2020), also published in Chinese, and co-author with Susan Cox-Smith of Future Cultures (Kogan Page, 2023), also published in Polish. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Quartz, WIRED UK, and Stanford Social Innovation Review.
He’s been named a global expert in foresight design by the organizing body of a major international exposition, and his work with UNDP's Global Futures Network received an Honorable Mention in the Association of Professional Futurists' IF Award for Most Significant Futures Works (2023).
Selected engagements
Government and institutions — UNICEF, UNDP, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The Royal Society, Nesta, UK Government Office for Science, European Commission, International Women's Development Agency.
Gulf — Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Future Academy, Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development, Executive Office of Dubai, ADCB, TEO, Aldar, Khalifa Fund.
Financial and professional services — JPMorgan Chase, AXA, Comcast, ING, SWIFT.
Technology and media — Samsung, BBC, BBC R&D, The New York Times Company, X The Moonshot Factory, Google.
Architecture and cultural — Aedas, Buro Happold, Arup, Therme, MOD. Adelaide, The National Gallery X, CCCB Barcelona, ArtScience Museum Singapore.
Teaching and affiliations
Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
Inaugural SA Water Futurist-in-Residence at MOD. and Visiting Research Fellow, University of South Australia (2023)
Creator and lead instructor, IED Barcelona's first futures and innovation course (2013–2022)
Lead instructor, Strategic Foresight and Future Design diploma programs, Future Experts Program, Dubai Future Academy (2017–2019)
Instructor, Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development (2022–2023)
Co-creator, The Futures Institute, Duke University Talent Identification Program (2010–2013)
Co-leader, 10F Consortium (2025–present)
Selected speaking
Media Evolution, Malmö (2026) · The Artefacts of Prediction opening keynote, Manchester Museum (2025) · FACT at ACMI, Melbourne (2025) · Marató DHub, Disseny Hub Barcelona (2024) · Alan Turing Institute, London (2024) · Sitra, Helsinki (2023) · Futures Week, ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2023) · UNDP Futures Series (2023) · Dubai Future Forum (2022) · Unfinished, NYC (2022) · CPH:DOX, Copenhagen (2021) · Ars Electronica (2020) and earlier appearances at Dubai Design Week, IaaC Barcelona, Parsons School of Design, Sónar+D Barcelona, Architectural Association London, JPL Pasadena, SXSW, Oxford Futures Forum, Sibos, FutureFest London, and Open State Adelaide.
Contact
To discuss a project, email Scott at ssmith@changeist.com or see what we do.