5 Minutes With… is a monthly spotlight on the visionaries shaping culture, business, and impact offering candid, story-rich moments that reveal not just what they’ve built, but why it matters.
This month, I sit down with Brian David Johnson, a futurist whose work quietly shapes the world most of us haven’t even imagined yet. From advising Fortune 500 giants to conducting top-secret projects for U.S. intelligence agencies, Brian’s career sits at the crossroads of emerging technology, human behavior, and strategic foresight. As Intel’s first Chief Futurist, he didn’t just predict change, he engineered it. Now a professor at ASU and a Fellow at the Institute for the Future, Brian is helping a new generation design a future worth living in... one that protects what matters while pushing boundaries few dare to approach.
JM: If you had five minutes and a cosmic lie detector to ask anyone three brutally honest questions—who are you choosing, and what are you asking?
BDJ: I would like to talk to the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
What was it like at the very moment when you came up with the model of the universe?
What was he doing when the idea first came into his brain?
What did he think would be the effect of his new vision?
JM: When it comes to AI, what should smart people focus on and what should they stop Googling at 2am?
BDJ: People should understand that AI is just software. It's software that is built by humans and trained on data to perform tasks. Don't imbue it with too much power. Focus on the people or companies that are building it and using it. In the end, the good and bad powers of AI are based on the humans that are using it.
JM: You blend sci-fi, foresight, and national security. What’s one moment your storytelling short-circuited the room and changed how people saw the future instantly?
BDJ: We produced an animation for city managers and politicians that showed how an enemy or criminal could use an integrated attack on critical infrastructure like water, power and emergency services during a heat wave to harm the population. It was so scary and plausible that the entire room was stunned, silent and worried. Then we started talking about what they could do to prevent it.
JM: You advise leaders at the highest level. How do you get them to stop firefighting and start thinking like futurists?
BDJ: It's always different. I am generally brought in to help these people solve problems that others can't solve - usually having to do with the future. I start by understanding their problems then give them a range of possible and potential futures or threats - then talk about what it means to them and their organizations.
JM: You’ve worked with the military, Silicon Valley, and unnamed agencies… Why does threatcasting and futures thinking really matter to you?
BDJ: Yes, the work that I do can be dark, but I tell people we have to go into these dark futures so that we can then actively work to prevent them.
We have to define the future so that we can defend it.
Ultimately, I want to empower people to make their lives and our country safer.
Buy BDJ’s book on Amazon, What You Need to Know About AI: A beginner’s guide to what the future holds: a.co/d/9pPdbqG
Jason Monczka is a columnist for PVCL and a principal at Pomeroy Group, where he helps mid-market companies cut through complexity in commercial and group health insurance. A former construction executive, Jason built and led companies where trust wasn’t a value- it was a survival skill. He is also the founder of Visionary Voices, a private series that brings together some of the most respected minds in business, entertainment, and culture for bold conversations that don’t happen anywhere else. His network runs deep. His approach is personal. And his focus is always on what really matters. pomeroygroup.com