Work with Amy

Strategic foresight and governance insight for leaders navigating systemic change.

I work with senior leaders to anticipate and prepare for transformative change, using strategic foresight to inform decisions while meaningful choices are still available.

My work focuses on complex portfolios including emerging technologies, national and economic security, civic innovation, and long-horizon risk. Advisory work is delivered through Prescient, my foresight and governance practice.

Start a Strategic Conversation

“Amy Zalman is one of the few people I have met who can not only think with foresight about the future, but can also lead others when thinking about the future … Amy excels at peer leadership so that individually and collectively we are better reflective, critical and creative thinkers.”

— Colonel (Ret.) Jim Greer, Ph.D.

Strategic Risk & Foresight Advisory (3–6 month retainer)

Ongoing senior-level guidance for organizations that need a trusted partner to interpret the external environment and pressure-test strategic choices.

Outcomes

  • Clarity on the forces reshaping your operating environment
  • A shared view of plausible futures and risk pathways
  • Better-framed strategic choices for leadership and the board
  • Practical options for policy, investment, and partnership

What’s included

  • Executive guidance – Monthly or bi-weekly conversations with you and a small leadership group.
  • Foresight briefings – Curated intelligence on macro forces, technology, and regulatory shifts that matter to your mandate.
  • Quarterly options memo – A concise synthesis of what’s changing, why it matters, and the decisions in front of you.
  • On-call sounding board – Light, time-boxed support between meetings for emerging questions or opportunities.

Ideal for CEOs, COOs, chiefs of staff, heads of risk, strategy, or innovation; philanthropic program leads; civic and multilateral initiatives working at the edge of policy and technology.

Explore advisory work

At a glance

  • Timeframe: 3–6 months
  • Format: Retainer-based advisory with structured sessions and interim support
  • Cadence: Monthly or bi-weekly sessions
  • Partnership Model: A collaborative advisory relationship built around regular conversations, focused synthesis, and decision support.
  • Practice: Prescient (Amy Zalman’s advisory practice)

Foresight Sprints & Strategy Projects

When you need momentum more than a long report, a focused sprint can surface insights, align stakeholders, and produce concrete artifacts for decision-makers.

Examples

  • Threats & Opportunities Scan – Map the external drivers that could reshape your portfolio over the next 3–5 years.
  • Scenario & Options Lab – Develop 3–4 plausible futures, stress-test current strategy, and identify options and safeguards.
  • Governance Design Sprint – Clarify roles, responsibilities, and new forms of “ecosystem governance” for cross-sector initiatives.

Deliverables

  • A concise synthesis deck or memo
  • Working session(s) with your team
  • A short list of recommended decisions, pilots, or next steps

Typical format: 6–12 weeks, with 2–3 facilitated workshops plus interim work and synthesis.

Discuss a Foresight Sprint

Executive Workshops & Offsites

Tailored sessions for boards, executive teams, and cross-functional groups who need shared language and tools for thinking beyond the next quarter.

Core themes

  • The strategic implications of emerging technologies
  • Distributed governance: who holds power and who sets the rules
  • Long-horizon risk and resilience
  • Narrative, misinformation, and institutional trust

Formats

  • Keynote + facilitated conversation (60–90 minutes)
  • Half-day workshop – Introduction to foresight with exercises using your strategic questions.
  • Full-day offsite – Deep dive into scenarios, risk pathways, and decision options.

Outcomes

  • A shared mental model of your external environment
  • Clear framing of critical uncertainties
  • A shortlist of actions, experiments, or questions for the next planning cycle
Plan a workshop or offsite

Keynote Speaking & Moderation

I speak regularly with executive teams, boards, and public audiences on the future of governance, emerging technologies, and systemic risk.

Recent engagements include risk and resilience summits, environmental leadership retreats, and cross-sector convenings on AI, democracy, and the future of work.

View speaking topics
Check availability

How engagements work

  • Conversation first. We start with a 30-minute call to clarify your context, constraints, and what “success” would look like.
  • Right-sized scope. Never cookie-cutter. You receive one or two options—often a sprint or a focused advisory period—matched to your needs.
  • Collaborative. I design working sessions with you, designed to involve the people who will own the decisions.
  • Discretion and independence. Our work stays between us.

Common questions

  • Do you work internationally? Yes, I work with organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
  • Can we start small? Many clients begin with a sprint or a single workshop before moving into advisory work.
  • Do you collaborate with internal teams? Yes. I often partner with strategy, risk, or innovation teams as part of the work.

Ready to explore working together?

Share a few lines about your organization, your mandate, and what you’re navigating. I’ll respond with a short note and a proposed time to talk.

Start a strategic conversation