Rahaf Harfoush
New York Times Best Selling Author, and Member of UN’s Advisory Board on AI, Digital Anthropologist
Rahaf Harfoush is a New York Times best-selling author, researcher and professor focusing on the intersection of innovation, leadership, & emerging technologies.
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Rahaf Harfoush's 2025 Biography
Meet Rahaf Harfoush
Digital Anthropologist & NYT Best-Selling Author with deep insights into technology and culture.
Executive Director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture and advisor to the UN’s AI Advisory Body.
Influential Policy Voice in France, serving on the National Digital Council and President Macron’s AI & Democracy Commission.
Academic Fellow at Oxford and Cambridge, with past roles at the World Economic Forum and Sciences Po.
Rahaf Harfoush is a Strategist, Digital Anthropologist, and New York Times Best-Selling Author who focuses on the intersections between emerging technology, innovation, and digital culture.
She is the Executive Director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture. Rahaf is a member of France’s National Digital Council.
Rahaf was recently named to the United Nations High Level Advisory on Artificial Intelligence and served on President Macron’s commission on AI’s impact on democracy. In 2021 she joined The Oxford Internet Institute as a Visiting Policy Fellow and recently became a Research Affiliate at Minderoo Center for Technology and Democracy at Cambridge University.
Her third book, entitled “Hustle & Float: Reclaim Your Creativity and Thrive in a World Obsessed with Work,” was released in 2019. She has been featured by Bloomberg, The CBC, CTV, and Forbes for her work on workplace culture. It has been translated into Chinese and French.
Formerly, Rahaf was the Associate Director of the Technology Pioneer Program at the World Economic Forum in Geneva where she helped identify disruptive-startups that were improving the state of the world.
Rahaf is the co-author of “The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know your Customers”. It was published in early 2014 and was listed on both the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. It won a 2015 Gold Axiom Award for Best Business Technology Book. The Decoded Company explores how big data is providing an unprecedented opportunity for organizations to dramatically improve their decision making, increase their performance and, most importantly, intentionally create happy and vibrant work cultures.
Her first book, “Yes We Did: An Insider’s Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand,” chronicled her experiences as a member of Barack Obama’s digital media team during the 2008 Presidential elections and explored how social networking revolutionized political campaign strategy.
In 2019, the prestigious “Les Napoleons” named Rahaf as one of the most innovative women in France. She was listed as one of the top future thinkers to shape the world by the Hay Literary Festival in 2017. Rahaf was named as a Young Global Changer by the G20 Global Think Tank Summit. Rahaf has also been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Shaper, and by the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society as a Rising Talent for her thought leadership in the fields of digital culture and technology. In 2014, Rahaf was also named as a “Canadian Arab to Watch,” by the Canadian Arab Institute. She is a member of the German Marshall Network of Transatlantic Leaders.
Rahaf’s writing has been featured in HBR, Wired, The Globe and Mail, Fast Company, Monocle, The Financial Times, Techonomy, The Next Web and many more. She is a frequent commentator on France24 and the CBC. She has been speaking about Digital Culture and Technology since 2006.
In her spare time, Rahaf enjoys instagramming too many pictures of her dog Pixel, learning how to play the ukulele and working on her second novel.
Rahaf Harfoush's 2025 Talks & Topics
Mastering Hybrid Leadership Models in an Era of Disruption
The debate between generalists and specialists is over—the future of leadership requires both. In a world defined by constant disruption, multi-vector challenges, and technological acceleration, leaders must develop a new skill set that allows them to zoom out to understand large contextual narratives while also diving deep into nuanced, industry-specific challenges. This is the rise of the Ecosystemic Leader—a hybrid model that blends adaptability, strategic foresight, and deep expertise to navigate an increasingly complex landscape.
As technology evolves at an exponential pace, leadership must keep up. Today’s leaders are expected to balance changing workplace dynamics, multi-generational teams, AI-driven transformations, and shifting consumer behaviors—all while formulating a clear vision for the future. This talk explores how leadership itself is being reshaped by these forces and offers practical strategies to develop the mindset, agility, and learning practices necessary to lead with confidence in uncertain times.
Participants will leave with a practical framework for Ecosystemic Leadership, equipping them with the tools to adapt to constant change, build resilience, and develop a leadership practice that evolves with the landscape. They’ll learn how to stay ahead of emerging trends, develop a leadership identity that blends expertise with adaptability, and foster cultures of continuous learning. This keynote will provide actionable insights for navigating uncertainty, projecting confidence, and leading with clarity and empathy in an era of unprecedented complexity.
Audience:
- Executives & Senior Leaders navigating complex, rapidly shifting industries.
- High-potential professionals looking to future-proof their leadership approach.
- Organizations & teams seeking to cultivate adaptability, resilience, and continuous learning in leadership.
From Information Overload to Intentional Mastery in the Age of A.I.
We live in an age of infinite information, where the sheer volume of podcasts, news, social media, and AI-generated content has reshaped how we consume knowledge. Yet, while we are consuming more than ever, few people are actively cultivating a practice that allows them to process, integrate, and apply what they learn in a meaningful way.
As AI-driven tools become more powerful, the ability to engage in critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and deep learning is becoming a competitive advantage. However, if we are not intentional about how we engage with these technologies, we risk passively accepting AI-generated outputs rather than developing the skills to challenge, refine, and build upon them.
Rahaf explores how individuals and organizations can build an Adaptive Knowledge Practice—a structured approach to learning that ensures curiosity, critical thinking, and strategic knowledge application remain at the core of professional development. She delves into the cognitive shifts needed to transition from passive consumption to active mastery, offering insights on how leaders can foster a culture of deliberate learning and intellectual agility.
Participants will walk away with a clear framework for transforming information overload into actionable intelligence. They’ll learn how to create personal systems that make learning intentional and effective, ensuring they don’t just consume knowledge but apply it in ways that drive performance, innovation, and expertise. This talk provides concrete strategies for enhancing critical thinking, improving decision-making, and staying ahead in an AI-driven world. By the end, attendees will have the tools to future-proof their thinking, build intellectual resilience, and cultivate a learning mindset that thrives amid constant change.
Audience:
- Leaders & executives looking to develop a future-ready learning culture.
- Professionals who want to level up their expertise and thinking skills.
- Teams & innovators seeking to integrate AI while maintaining creativity and independent thought.
The Body Keeps the (Online) Score
For too long, we’ve treated the internet as something separate from the “real world,” but the truth is, there is no clear divide. The bridge between these two worlds is our body. Every notification, Zoom call, email, and endless scroll isn’t just a cognitive experience—it’s a physiological one. Our nervous system absorbs and responds to our digital lives in ways we don’t always recognize, shaping our emotions, energy levels, and overall well-being.
In this keynote, Rahaf unpacks the hidden somatic impact of our digital behaviors—from the way social media manipulates dopamine and adrenaline to how digital contagion influences our moods and mental health. She explores the science behind digital addiction, the nervous system’s response to online interactions, and the subtle but profound ways our bodies react to digital stress.
Participants will leave with a deeper awareness of how their digital habits shape their physical and emotional well-being. They’ll gain practical tools to counteract digital exhaustion, prevent burnout, and design a healthier relationship with technology. This talk provides strategies for creating psychological safety in online spaces, regulating the nervous system amid digital demands, and reclaiming control over their digital experience to foster calm, clarity, and confidence.
Audience:
- Leaders & teams navigating the demands of digital collaboration and remote work.
- Professionals looking to optimize focus, energy, and mental well-being.
- Organizations interested in fostering healthier digital work environments.
Our modern day working life is in a state of crisis. As the global economy continues to shift towards knowledge work, the days of standardized tasks are long gone, replaced by the mounting pressure to come up with endless ideas to stay ahead of the competition. Companies are facing immediate challenges in recruiting and retaining highly skilled creatives, an essential part of thriving in today’s hyper competitive business landscape. In addition to the pressure of being connected 24/7, employees are struggling to be both constantly creative and constantly productive to keep up with the never-ending demands of their jobs – and it’s not working.
We’re now seeing the rise of the world’s first global digital culture—a place where ideas and cultures mix seamlessly, unrestricted by geography or borders. We now enjoy new ways of coming together, forming geo-agnostic communities united by an Internet connection and a common interest.
In a world where there seems to be new gadgets, apps, and digital tools released daily (if not hourly), it’s easy to get lost in the flood of new technology and overlook how quickly, and profoundly our world is changing. In this unique talk, Rahaf explores how technology is weaving itself into the social fabric of our lives and influencing everything from how we make friends and date to how we work and parent. Welcome to the age of unprecedented technological intimacy.
Should we tax robots? What if my child’s best friend is a chat bot? What does an algorithm ethicist do? Do smart machines need therapy?
We are on the verge of one of the biggest technological disruptions our species has ever faced. As automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence continue to advance at an exponential rate, technology is rewriting the rules of our society that have served us for decades. In this talk, Rahaf explores what it means to be human in world where the features that differentiated us are now being replicated by machines.
Will Web3 live up to the hype?
Artists selling NFTs of their work for millions of dollars. People pooling their resources together to try and buy a copy of the US constitution. Metaverses being touted as the next frontier for connection and entertainment.
The web is abuzz with the promise and potential of Web3, new applications of technologies built on the blockchain.
But beyond the headlines, what’s really going on?
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