About the Speaker
  • speaker photo
    Thornton May
    Futurist, Author & Professor, Named "One of the top 50 brains in technology today" by Fast Company

    Thornton is one of America’s premier executive educators, designing and delivering high impact curricula at UCLA, UC-Berkeley, Arizona State University, The Ohio State University, Harvard University, the University of Kentucky, Babson, and the Olin College of Engineering. His programs mine the knowledge of the audience delivering practical insights in an engaging and interactive manner.

    As a futurist, Thornton writes columns on technology for three leading publications, researches at four think tanks, and advises major organizations and government agencies on how to think differently about technology—all the while conducting seminal anthropological field research into technology-use behaviors of the various tribes comprising modern society.

    No stranger to the risk and infosec tribe, Thornton has written for CSO Magazine and frequently advises, lectures, and always learns from professionals in the various agencies of the American intelligence community. In a previous life, Thornton served as the Chief Awareness Officer (CAO) for one of the world’s first managed security services firm.

    Thornton brings a scholar's patience for empirical research, a second-to-none gift for storytelling, and a stand-up comedian’s sense of humor to his audiences. His recent book, "The New Know: Innovation Powered by Analytics," examines the intersection of the analytic and IT tribes.

    The editors at eWeek honored Thornton, including him on their list of Top 100 Most Influential People in IT. The editors at Fast Company labeled him "one of the top 50 brains in technology today."