my experience decoding the future
Long Bio
Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture.
He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders navigate disruption, understand emerging technologies and rethink how organizations create value. Its work comes to life through research, publishing, podcasts, media, keynote presentations, executive conversations, advisory work and Next Era Salons.
Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He speaks frequently to organizations such as Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and many others across both B2B and B2C industries. Since 2005, he has delivered thousands of keynote presentations around the world, in person and virtually. His talks focus on technology, marketing, innovation, transformation and what comes next. Always tailored, always grounded in practical applicability.
Called “one of North America’s leading visionaries” by Strategy Magazine, Mitch helps audiences distinguish signal from noise, understand the wider implications of change and move forward with greater clarity.
He is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete (Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Book Group), and his writing and commentary explore the forces shaping business, technology and culture.
He is also the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation), one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. Since 2006, Mitch has published weekly conversations with leading thinkers, authors and business leaders. His essays and articles appear in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine, and he is a frequent contributor on radio and broadcast platforms. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, a long-form oral history project documenting electric bass players.
Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He began in music journalism, interviewing artists and eventually publishing magazines and running a record label. He then moved into early internet media, building out advertising sales for one of the first search engines before Google existed, and later helped market early mobile content platforms long before smartphones became ubiquitous.
That work led him into marketing and digital transformation at global scale. Mitch founded and grew a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was ultimately acquired by WPP. He continued with the firm as President, overseeing operations in 25 countries with nearly 3,000 employees, gaining firsthand experience in organizational leadership, innovation, client strategy and navigating large-scale change.
Mitch invests in and advises companies across technology channels from AI to martech and fintech to infrastructure. He sits on advisory boards including Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, iNovia Capital’s Early Stage Fund, YES and other public and private endeavours. He previously served as Chair of the Board for the Canadian Marketing Association and has held board positions at Postmedia, the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada and other industry organizations. In 2019, he was named to Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s “100 Coaches,” and in 2021, Thinkers50 included him in its Radar class of thinkers shaping the future of business.
Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.
Fun side fact: Mitch’s first professional assignment was interviewing Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, a moment that led to music journalism, magazine publishing and eventually the co-founding of Distort Entertainment... Canada’s only hard music label with major label distribution through Universal Music... whose roster included the Juno- and MuchMusic Award-winning artists Alexisonfire and City and Colour.
Short Bio
Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture.
He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders navigate disruption, understand emerging technologies and rethink how organizations create value.
Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.”
Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees.
Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine.
He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players.
Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.
Speaking Intro
When brands like Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft and Unilever want to know what’s next, they call Mitch Joel. And today… we called him too.
Strategy Magazine calls him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.”
He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders navigate disruption, understand emerging technologies and rethink how organizations create value.
He’s a bestselling author whose books Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete changed how leaders think about digital transformation.
He’s the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel... one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world... where his conversations with leading thinkers, authors and business leaders explore the ideas shaping industries and society.
He’s a Top 40 Under 40 recipient... a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s “100 Coaches”... and part of the Thinkers50 Radar class of thinkers shaping the future of business.
Please welcome to the stage... Mitch Joel.
Byline
Mitch Joel is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute and Co-Founder of ThinkersOne. He is the author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel.
