Trending Keynote Speakers
The speakers everyone is asking about right now: AI insiders, new bestsellers, breakout media stars, and the voices behind this year's headlines.
Every season a handful of speakers dominate the request lists, and this page tracks them. Right now that means AI insiders like Zack Kass, OpenAI's former Head of Go-To-Market, and the authors behind the books everyone is reading, from James Clear's Atomic Habits to Emma Heming Willis's instant bestseller The Unexpected Journey. It means the commentators framing the news cycle, like geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan and NYU's Scott Galloway, and pure pop-culture wattage like Snoop Dogg, whose Olympics coverage made him NBC's breakout star. A trending name buys attention before the speaker says a word: higher registration, fuller ballrooms, and a program people talk about afterward. The catch is that hot speakers book out fast, and fit still matters more than fame. Tell us your audience, your date, and your goal, and we will tell you which of these names actually belongs in your room.
Riding the AI Wave
Voices of the generative AI moment, from OpenAI alum Zack Kass to Stanford's Jerry Kaplan and health futurist Daniel Kraft, M.D.
Zack Kass
Former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI, the company at the center of the AI conversation. He left to help leaders make sense of what generative AI actually changes, and he is booked constantly right now because he pairs insider credibility with a grounded, optimistic view of where work goes next.
Jerry Kaplan
Serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Stanford AI researcher, and author of Generative Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know, published just as ChatGPT made the question urgent. Gives boards and executive teams the technical and historical grounding behind this AI moment without the hype.
Nell Watson
AI ethics engineer and futurist whose book Taming the Machine arrived right as companies scrambled to govern generative AI. She advises standards bodies on machine ethics and is in demand now because every leadership team needs someone who can explain both the capability curve and the guardrails.
Patrick Schwerdtfeger
Business futurist whose AI and disruptive innovation keynotes have surged with the generative AI boom. He translates the latest model releases and automation headlines into concrete playbooks for sales, operations, and strategy teams, which is exactly what event programs are asking for this season.
Daniel Kraft, M.D.
Physician, scientist, and founder of the Exponential Medicine community, now one of the most requested voices on AI's collision with healthcare. Trending because every health system, payer, and life-science company wants a credible clinician to map what AI diagnostics and longevity science mean next.
Bestsellers Everyone Is Reading
The authors on every nightstand right now: James Clear, Jay Shetty, and instant NYT bestseller Emma Heming Willis.
James Clear
Author of Atomic Habits, the #1 New York Times bestseller that still sits on airport shelves and corporate reading lists years after release, with millions of copies sold. He remains the single most requested habits and performance keynote in the business, and demand keeps climbing.
Emma Heming Willis
Instant New York Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Journey and the public face of caregiving after Bruce Willis's dementia diagnosis. One of the most talked-about new voices on the circuit, bringing a timely, deeply human conversation on caregiving, resilience, and wellness to the mainstage.
Jay Shetty
Host of On Purpose, one of the world's biggest podcasts, and global bestselling author of Think Like a Monk and 8 Rules of Love. A genuine mainstream celebrity of the wellness moment whose purpose and mindfulness message fills arenas as easily as company all-hands meetings.
Ben Nemtin
New York Times bestselling author whose Buried Life bucket-list story keeps resurfacing across social feeds and morning shows. Trending with planners because his what-do-you-want-to-do-before-you-die framework turns the current wellbeing and purpose conversation into an interactive, feel-good keynote experience.
Kindra Hall
Bestselling author of Stories That Stick and a leading voice on strategic storytelling in business. Trending as brands fight for attention in a flood of AI-generated content; her case for human stories as the last unfair advantage lands even harder now than when the book debuted.
Voices Behind the Headlines
The commentators shaping this quarter's business conversation: Peter Zeihan, Scott Galloway, and The Economist's Zanny Minton Beddoes.
Peter Zeihan
Geopolitical strategist and bestselling author of The End of the World Is Just the Beginning, with a massive online following that has made him one of the most requested speakers in America. Boards book him to navigate tariffs, deglobalization, and supply-chain realignment as it happens.
Scott Galloway
NYU Stern professor, host of the Pivot and Prof G podcasts, and bestselling author whose recent The Algebra of Wealth hit #1 on the New York Times list. One of the most quoted voices in business media right now on AI, big tech, and where the economy goes next.
Zanny Minton Beddoes
Editor-in-Chief of The Economist and the first woman to hold the role, steering the world's most influential weekly through an era of trade wars, AI disruption, and electoral upheaval. For rooms that want this quarter's global economic outlook from the person who shapes it.
Robert Safian
Former Fast Company Editor-in-Chief and host of the Rapid Response podcast, where he interviews the CEOs making this week's headlines. Trending as the moderator and keynoter of choice for leaders who want the freshest thinking on innovation and navigating constant change.
Straight From Pop Culture
Stars audiences already follow, led by Snoop Dogg, Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran, and daytime TV improv favorite Jonathan Mangum.
Snoop Dogg
Global rap icon turned mainstream media mainstay, from breakout star of NBC's Paris Olympics coverage to a coach's chair on The Voice. At the peak of his cultural ubiquity, he pairs unmatched marquee power with a genuinely sharp entrepreneurial story for flagship events.
Jonathan Mangum
Improv virtuoso from Whose Line Is It Anyway and Wayne Brady's longtime sidekick on Let's Make a Deal, on television screens daily. Booked hot by events that want recognizable comedy right now; his interactive improv turns a general session into appointment viewing.
Jimmy Yeary
Nashville hitmaker who has written chart-topping songs for country's biggest stars, including the CMA Song of the Year I Drive Your Truck. Trending as planners chase the songwriter-storyteller format; he builds a song live on stage to show how teams create something bigger than themselves.
The Way We Work Now
Fresh takes on work and customers this year, from Lindsey Pollak on Gen Z to Jay Baer on speed and Susan Salgado on culture.
Lindsey Pollak
New York Times bestselling author of The Remix and the go-to authority on multigenerational workplaces just as Gen Z becomes the fastest-growing cohort at work. Trending because every HR and leadership program this year is wrestling with four generations, hybrid norms, and new expectations.
Jay Baer
Customer experience researcher and author of The Time to Win, whose data on responsiveness as the new battleground for customer loyalty is the stat deck CX and marketing teams are quoting right now. A certified tequila sommelier too, which makes for an unforgettable stage presence.
Ryan Estis
Hyper-growth entrepreneur, best-selling author, and former ad-agency chief revenue officer. His Prepare for Impact message on growth through disruption is resonating right now with sales kickoffs navigating AI-assisted selling, tighter budgets, and more skeptical buyers.
Susan Salgado
Helped build the legendary culture of Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, the organization that spawned Shake Shack. Trending as hospitality-as-strategy dominates leadership thinking; she shows how enlightened culture drives measurable results in retention-strapped, hybrid-era organizations.
Explore All Trending Speakers
Barbara Corcoran
Burned on 100 percent of his body at age nine, John O'Leary wrote the #1 national bestseller On Fire and the follow-up In Awe. His memoir moves audiences before he takes the stage; live, it becomes a masterclass in gratitude and resilience.
The trending roster spans every reason a speaker catches fire. Some are riding the AI wave, like Zack Kass, Jerry Kaplan, and Nell Watson. Some wrote the bestsellers on every nightstand, like James Clear, Jay Shetty, and Emma Heming Willis. Others own the news cycle, like Peter Zeihan, Scott Galloway, and Zanny Minton Beddoes, or bring pop-culture pull, like Snoop Dogg, Barbara Corcoran, and Jonathan Mangum, while Lindsey Pollak, Jay Baer, and Susan Salgado headline what is changing at work right now.
Trending speakers earn their keep wherever you need buzz: an opening keynote that spikes registration, a closing session people stay for, a sales kickoff, a company all-hands, a leadership offsite, or an industry congress that wants a name on the marquee. Booking through Rave Speakers gets you straight answers on availability, realistic fees, and honest guidance on whether the speaker of the moment is right for your audience.
Call (310) 614-8653 or email [email protected] to check availability and fees.
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