ACE conference to feature futurist speaker

Nikolas Badminton, futurist speaker.

Canada Automotive Conference for Executives is coming back to Toronto April 25-26.

The event will bring together industry leaders to discuss ever-changing global automotive developments while exploring practical solutions to ensure that the Canadian aftermarket is able to make sound business decisions and remain a strong industry.

Three renowned keynote speakers will be on hand to share their expertise on the future of the automotive industry. The first speaker is Nikolas Badminton, futurist, author, teacher, and researcher. Diane Francis, bestselling author and editor-at-large at The National Post, and Michael Hyatt, entrepreneur and technology visionary will also speak. A TEDx Talk will also look at 2018, the Good, the Bad & the Future.

Badminton, who will be speaking on the topic The Future of the Automotive Industry, has 20 years of research, writing, speaking, and technology implementation experience. Badminton regularly appears on networks like, BBC, CBC, CTV, Global News, Fast Company, VICE, and The Atlantic, and has written for Techcrunch, Huffington Post, Forbes, and Venturebeat. Nikolas has done speeches on various parts of the automotive industry including the impact of exponential technologies; work productivity; hospitality and travel; the sharing economy; smart cities; education; the future of AI integrated with life and business; and predictions for humanity from 2018 to 2030.

He has spent over 20 years defining business-changing strategies with technology companies globally, advising start-ups on consumer engagement and growth. He also produced Cyborg Camp YVR, which brought 150 of the world’s greatest thinkers together to ignite change and new thinking in cyborg anthropology, wearables, emotional robotics, and business evolution.

Diane Francis.

Francis – speaking on the topic Canada/US Outlook Forecasting Our Ongoing Relationship – is an expert on Silicon Valley, future technology, geopolitics, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Putin, energy, business, and white collar crime. She was named the first female editor of the Financial Post in 1991 where she stayed until 1998. She is the author of ten successful books, some of which include, ‘Merger of the Century: Why Canada and America Should Become One Country’, ‘Who Owns Canada Now?: Old Money, New Money and the Future of Canadian Business’(2008), and ‘Immigration: The Economic Case’.

Michael Hyatt.

Hyatt’s topic will look at Leading with Grit, Passion & People. The entrepreneur created his own fortune by building two successful tech firms that he sold for $500 million dollars. Hyatt was a celebrated ‘Dragon’ on CBC’s Next Gen Den. He is also a weekly business commentator on CBC’s The Business Panel. He is a founding partner at the Rotman School of Management’s Creative Destruction Lab, where he acts as a coach for venture founders to achieve gain success in business.