David Roberts
Most organisations can name the technologies disrupting their sector. Few have leadership frameworks capable of responding at the speed those technologies actually move. The gap is not strategic awareness – it is the absence of a decision-making model built for exponential change rather than incremental adjustment. Organisations that cannot distinguish truly disruptive technologies from merely revolutionary ones will continue making that call by instinct – and that instinct was calibrated for a slower world.
Leadership models built for linear change break down when technology accelerates exponentially – David Roberts, who coined the term Exponential Leadership and served as Vice President of Singularity University, gives senior teams a practical framework for the speed they are actually operating at.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with David Roberts
- His Exponential Leadership framework draws a hard diagnostic line between revolutionary and truly disruptive technology – giving senior teams a structured method for a decision most organisations currently make by instinct.
- He holds an MIT degree in Artificial Intelligence alongside a Harvard MBA, and built ventures backed by Kleiner Perkins, Vinod Khosla, and In-Q-Tel – his understanding of technology disruption is operational, not theoretical.
- As Vice President and two-time Director of Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program, he has stress-tested these frameworks with senior leaders across sectors and geographies at scale.
- His background spans classified U.S. government programs – satellite systems, drone development, intelligence fusion centers – giving him credibility on high-stakes technological complexity that most innovation speakers cannot claim.
- Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley Business Schools have written and taught case studies on his leadership and decision-making – a level of academic scrutiny that validates the substance of the framework, not just its presentation.
Biography highlights
- MIT B.S. Computer Science and Engineering, Distinguished Graduate, majored in Artificial Intelligence and Bio-Computer Engineering
- Harvard MBA
- Vice President and two-time Director of Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program; Distinguished Faculty member
- Coined the term Exponential Leadership in 2010; founder of Exponential Leadership organisation
- Co-founder and President of FireDrop and Zaplet, acquired by MetricStream; ventures backed by Kleiner Perkins, Vinod Khosla, Cisco, Oracle, Accenture, and In-Q-Tel
- Chairman of 1QBit, one of the world’s first quantum computing software companies
- Career U.S. government officer: Air Force officer, decorated Special Agent; led development of satellite programs and the U.S. Drone Program; received personal citation from the Director of the FBI
- Media coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, and CNN
Biography
Roberts studied AI at MIT before the term had reached the boardroom – under the guidance of Joseph Weizenbaum, creator of ELIZA and one of the discipline’s founding figures. That technical grounding was followed by a Goldman Sachs M&A posting and then a career in the U.S. government, where he led the development of satellite systems and the U.S. Drone Program across multiple national agencies. By the time he entered Silicon Valley, he had spent years building the technologies that other people were still learning to name.
His venture career – FireDrop and Zaplet, backed by Kleiner Perkins and In-Q-Tel and ultimately acquired by MetricStream – gave him a second operational lens: what it takes to build and fund companies around genuinely disruptive technology, not merely competitive ones. That distinction became the foundation of his intellectual contribution. In 2010, working in a government context, he coined the term Exponential Leadership – a framework built on a single, testable claim: that the leadership models most organisations rely on were engineered for incremental change, and that they structurally fail when technologies start compressing competitive timelines from decades to years.
Roberts went on to serve as Vice President and two-time Director of Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program, reaching senior leaders across sectors with that framework. His talks do not stop at diagnosing the gap between technology speed and leadership capability – they give organisations a structured method for distinguishing truly disruptive technologies from merely revolutionary ones, and a leadership model calibrated to act on that distinction.
Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley Business Schools have used his leadership and decision-making as the basis for case studies. His technology ventures have been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and CNN.
Key speaking topics
- Exponential Leadership
- Technology disruption and disruptive innovation theory
- Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies
- Quantum computing and advanced technology platforms
- Entrepreneurship and high-growth venture strategy
- Strategic decision-making in exponential environments
- Leadership development for technology-driven organisations
Ideal for
- C-suite and senior leadership teams navigating technology-driven transformation
- Strategy and innovation leaders in sectors facing accelerating competitive disruption
- Corporate leadership development programmes seeking a framework for exponential change
- Boards and executive committees assessing long-term technology risk and strategic positioning
Audience outcomes
- A working distinction between revolutionary and genuinely disruptive technology, with a framework for applying it to current strategic decisions
- Understanding of why traditional leadership models underperform in exponentially changing environments, and what a more effective model looks like in practice
- Clearer organisational language for discussing exponential change – moving beyond general awareness to specific, actionable diagnostic categories
- Exposure to emerging technologies – including AI, quantum computing, synthetic biology, and autonomous systems – framed through their leadership and strategic implications
- A practical foundation for aligning leadership behaviour and decision-making with the actual pace of technology change
Talks
Explores the distinction between classical disruptive innovation theory and modern technology disruption, giving leaders concrete criteria to identify truly disruptive technologies and build organisations capable of responding before the window closes.
Key takeaways:
- A grounded understanding of disruptive innovation theory and how its application has evolved in the current technology environment
- A working framework for distinguishing between revolutionary and genuinely disruptive technologies or business models
- The leadership capabilities required to act on that distinction and create durable organisational impact
Examines why conventional leadership frameworks fail in exponential environments, and defines the specific attributes and decision-making patterns that Exponential Leadership requires in practice.
Key takeaways:
- A reframed understanding of technology disruption and its direct implications for how leaders make decisions
- Analysis of why traditional leadership models structurally underperform when technology is accelerating, not incrementing
- The critical attributes leaders must develop to operate effectively – and create impact – in an exponential environment
A fast-paced overview of exponential technologies and disruptive innovation, using concrete examples to build an exponential mindset and frame technology’s potential to reshape global systems.
Key takeaways:
- Practical understanding of disruptive innovation theory through current, applied examples
- Exposure to emerging technologies including AI, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, exponential medicine, and synthetic biology
- A perspective on how exponential technologies are reshaping global systems, competitive structures, and leadership opportunity
A framework-led session on identifying disruptive versus revolutionary innovation, with additional insight into exponential technology’s relationship with longevity and the leadership implications of long-term systemic change.
Key takeaways:
- A structured method for assessing whether an innovation is disruptive or merely revolutionary – applied to current investment and strategy decisions
- Insight into how exponential technologies are reshaping the longevity landscape and its implications for organisational planning
- The leadership considerations required to sustain meaningful impact across a longer and more uncertain strategic horizon