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
Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing Opening Day Solo Talk at SXSW
March 7th, 2025
4:00 pm
Marriot Austin Downtown
304 E Cesar Chavez St
Austin, TX
Maggie takes the stage on the opening day of the renowned SXSW conference and festival to present "Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing (and Survival) in an Age of Flux". She will explore 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. Humanity stands on the cusp of a seismic shift in its approach to not-knowing. It's not outrageous - and increasingly it's necessary - to envision a future in which uncertainty can save humanity. With more than 300,000 attendees in-person and online, SXSW is an event not to be missed!
World 50 Presents: Uncertainy’s Wisdom for CSOs
March 26th, 2025
Brooklyn Winery
Brooklyn, NY
Chief sustainability officers operate at the epicenter of workplace change, from tensions over where and how to work to the strains of doing business in a shifting climate. Drawing on cutting-edge science and vivid case studies, Maggie reveals why productive uncertainty fuels exceptional performance in times of flux. She takes us inside "our brain on uncertainty" and the ingenious teamwork that put the Rovers on Mars. She brings us into top operating rooms to learn why the best experts "inhabit the question" to succeed in a crisis. The lessons are clear: uncertainty is not weakness, but the skill that sets the best talent apart today.
Uncertain Book Launch in China
April 8th, 2025
7:00 - 8:30 pm
CITIC Press Bookstore
To celebrate Uncertain's release across China, Maggie Jackson will be in conversation with the host of "Hello Reader," a popular online show produced by the country's largest publisher CITIC Press. Drawing on her global reporting and research, Maggie will reveal the scientific discoveries upending our outdated notions of unsureness as weakness, and discuss how people from varying cultures worldwide can harness this critical cognitive tool in an age of flux.
Lost in the Instant: Reclaiming Focus in an Age of Distraction
August 8th, 2025
The International Interior Design Association’s Leadership Breakfast
Houston, TX
In this interactive keynote to the designers, manufacturers, educators and architects of the nation’s largest commercial interior design association, Maggie explores the steep costs of fragmenting our attention in a tech-centric world. She discusses the historic roots of distraction, the impact of this way of living on our brains and lives, and how we can reclaim our focus as a path to thriving in an age of flux. Book-signing to follow.
Harnessing Uncertainty for Good in an Age of Tumult
August 27th, 2025
Meals on Wheels America International Conference and Expo
San Antonio, TX
At a time of funding cuts and rising precarity, uncertainty seems anathema to non-profits that are under increasing siege. But in this main keynote to Meals on Wheels’ annual conference, Maggie reveals the power of skillful unsureness in driving adaptability and resilience in times of flux. She offers practical lessons in harnessing our uncertainty to foster excellence in teamwork, crisis decision-making, and innovation in moments of upheaval. There’s no better time to be unsure.
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!
Uncertainty in an AI-Infused World
October 23rd - 25th, 2025
Artificiality Summit
The Artificiality Institute
Bend, OR
Maggie will join a diverse group of creators and innovators who will gather to explore the future of human experience at the rapidly shifting borderlands between the synthetic and the organic. In Uncertain, Maggie reported on the global push by dozens of AI laboratories to design robots and models that are unsure of their aims, hence more honest, flexible, and human-compatible. At the Artificiality Summit, she will share her findings and further insights into how today's information landscape is reshaping what it means to be human, what it means to care, and what it means to be "smart". Apply to the Institute to join this path-breaking summit. Other speakers include Josh Lovejoy of Amazon, John Passmore of Latimer.ai, and Ellie Pavlick of Brown University and Google DeepMind.
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!
The Wisdom and Wonder of Uncertainty
March 26th, 2026
Bridgewater College Endowed Lecture
Cole Hall
Bridgewater, VA
Why is not-knowing essential to learning as well as a driver of curiosity? How does uncertainty fuel resilience in an age of volatility? In this endowed lecture, Maggie offers students, faculty, staff, and community members a path to thriving in an age of flux. She reveals the secrets to being skillfully unsure; why the unease of being unsure is actually good stress; and how the best experts decide when and how to keep their minds open. All welcome. Book-signing to follow.
Invite Maggie to Speak
Above: Maggie at Google’s I/O Conference
Below: Maggie at a Strand Bookstore event for Uncertain
SXSW 2025
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