Speaking Events
For speaking inquiries, please contact Tom Neilssen at BrightSight Speakers and/or reach out to Maggie for a free consult.
Book Clubs, Maggie will be happy to make an appearance!
Select Upcoming Events
The How and Why of Skillful Unsureness: A Writer’s Tale
October 10th, 2025
Brisbane Writers Festival
The Powerhouse’s Pleasuredome
Brisbane, AU
If one thing’s for certain, it’s how uncertain the future looks. But are we better off not-knowing all the answers? One of the world’s leading thinkers on social change and how technology affects our lives, National Book Award nominee Maggie Jackson makes the case for uncertainty, exploring how skillful unsureness drives curiosity, wisdom, and creativity. Maggie will be in conversation with author Christine Jackman. Founded in 1962, the Brisbane Writers Festival --Australia’s oldest continuous writers’ festival -- brings together 15,000 readers, writers, and creatives for a weekend of inspiration and learning.
Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing (and Survival) in Times of Flux
October 13th, 2025
SXSW Sydney
International Convention Center (ICC)
Sydney, AU
Maggie takes to the stage at SXSW Sydney to explore why uncertainty is the cognitive skill we need most in this age of flux. She explores three key modes of uncertainty-in-action for 2025 and beyond, plus proven strategies for wielding this mindset to boost workflow, team performance, and personal well-being. Book-signing and Group Mentoring sessions to follow. With more than 90,000 attendees, SXSW’s sister festival Down Under is not to be missed!
Uncertainty’s Surprising Role in Sustainable Teamwork
October 21st, 2025
Healthy Teams Summit
Boston
Today, meetings and minds are fragmented. Divisions and divides hinder good work. Burnout is epidemic. That’s why high-performing teams are eagerly awakening to the critical role that not-knowing plays in fostering creativity, adaptability, and inclusiveness. Highlighting the Healthy Teams Summit, Maggie explores how to reclaim focus and harness wisdom’s uncertainty in converation with LEAD3R chief executive and team effectiveness expert Dane Groeneveld. An “unconference” that will reframe your outlook on collaboration. Register today!
Unsure AI: Rethinking Intelligence When Knowing Isn’t Enough
November 18th - 19th, 2025
Dubai Future Forum
Dubai, UAE
Maggie explores the peril and promise of a rising age of synthetic intelligence at the Dubai Future Forum, the world’s largest annual gathering of futurists with 2,600 attendees. Drawing on her award-winning book Uncertain, Maggie reveals a global movement by leading AI labs to design robots and models to be unsure of their aims, hence more honest, flexible, and human-compatible. In conversation with indigenous scholar Wakanyi Hoffman, futurist Sabrina Sullivan, and MIT’s Pat Pataranutaporn, she will share her insights into how AI-infused living is reshaping what it means to know, to care, and to be human. Register today!
Uncertain Paperback Launch Party
September 3rd, 2026
5 - 7 pm
The Yellow House
Tiverton, RI
Come celebrate the release of a new updated, expanded Uncertain in paperback! A party hosted by Yellow House bookstore in beautiful Tiverton Four Corners, Rhode Island. After a four-continent book tour, four wonderful printings, nearly half a dozen translations, and multiple "Best Books of the Year" lists, Uncertain is coming out in paperback with a new author preface and discussion guide. Drinks, signing, nibbles, mingling - free and open to all!
Pre-Order here to guarantee a copy.
The Awkwardness of AI
October 22nd - 24th, 2026
Artificiality Summit
Bend, OR
At her second appearance at this invite-only AI summit, Maggie will share her insights on how the rush to AI-itize life risks endangering our human skill in care, creativity, and independence of mind; how addressing the cringe of AI should be an urgent priority for user and developer alike; and how designing AI to be more uncertain can safeguard humanity. Contact Summit host, the Artificiality Institute, to join this path-breaking event. Other speakers include Josh Lovejoy of Amazon, David Wolpert of the Santa Fe Institute, and Savannah Konovsky of Ideo.
Calgary Futures Forum
October 26th - 27th, 2026
Calgary, Canada
Maggie will bring the wisdom of uncertainty to the main stage of the inaugural Calgary Futures Form, a select gathering of foresight thinkers, artists, entrepreneurs, and community-builders from across the globe. The Forum will inject futures thinking into the urgent work of designing a resilient, prosperous, welcoming Calgary. As this vibrant provincial capital hits 2 million people, new voices are being sought and new strategies are being tapped. Join in, and learn how cities worldwide can curate a "good tomorrow" for all.
Limited Seats available. Apply here.
The Future of Uncertainty in Precarious Times
January 6th - 11th, 2027
Congreso Futuro
Santiago, Chile
Organized by Chile's national lawmakers and the country's Future Encounters Foundation, the Congreso Futuro is one of South America's leading festivals of science and technology. Maggie will take to the main stage of the 15th annual congress to speak about her groundbreaking research on uncertainty in an era of flux and the risks and gains of handing our cognitive lives over to an unprecedented vanguard of thinking machines. Each year, the Congreso Futuro is the signature kick-off event for an annual series of talks, dialogues, and town meetings throughout Chile to examine the most pressing issues of our time.
Free and open to all.
Invite Maggie to Speak
Above: Maggie at Google’s I/O Conference
Below: Maggie at a Strand Bookstore event for Uncertain
SXSW, Sydney and Austin
Harvard Business School
Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business
The Embassy of Sweden — D.C.
CNN Town Hall
Arena Stage/Civil Dialogues in D.C.
The New York Public Library
American Association of Museums
Google's I/O Conference, as one of the first external speakers
The Atlantic-Google Summit on Humanity+Tech
Association of Art Museum Directors
Forbes Chief Marketing Officers Summit
The Local Online Advertising Conference
Business Marketing Association
As a keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist, Maggie has addressed…
…and many other organizations and gatherings worldwide.
For speaking inquiries, please contact Tom Neilssen at BrightSight Speakers
“Maggie is an amazing speaker and her talk as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series for HR leaders from some of the world's top organizations was fascinating. Drawing on her deep research and reporting, she taught listeners practical strategies for harnessing uncertainty to achieve better problem-solving, collaboration, and approaching life with a curious mindset.”
— Jennifer Fraone, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Boston College Center for Work & Family
“I know two things for sure: Uncertain is a wonderful, thought-provoking, and enlightening read, and Maggie Jackson is phenomenal and engaging as a speaker. She offers a refreshing reminder that not only is it okay to be uncertain but that uncertainty can lead to greatness.”
— Veronica Chappelle-McNair, Ellucian