Marc brings decades of experience founding, leading, and advising companies at the forefront of technology-driven transformation. He has served as CEO, Chairman, and board member for ventures spanning smartphones, web services, enterprise SaaS, climate and energy.
As co-founder and CEO of General Magic—the iconic Apple spin-off that laid the foundation for smartphones and intelligent agents—Marc helped build one of the most influential teams in Silicon Valley history.
Today, he works closely with technology leaders shaping the next wave of AI infrastructure and applications—superintelligence and agentic systems.
DISCONTINUITY
Technological revolutions take longer than expected to arrive—but once they do, their impact is faster and deeper than anyone predicted. AI is one of those revolutions. It is radically disruptive. It is a powerful discontinuity. We’re all navigating uncertainty—some anchored in dystopian fears, others convinced AI will unlock unprecedented abundance. That duality is nuanced. We will need to accept that contradictory outcomes can be simultaneously true.
PURPOSE:
Inspire, advise, comfort, teach, challenge, and collaborate. I work with very cool people, entrepreneurs, companies, and investors—to help them seize extraordinary opportunities and defend against rapidly emerging threats. Now is a first-mover moment. Falling behind could be unrecoverable.
FOCUS
– Personal AI: Intelligence that understands my life, values, and context; that helps me make decisions, learn, reflect, get expert advice, and live a better life.
– Business AI: As foundation models evolve and agents gain autonomy, the business impact will be profound. AI will create and destroy value at speed. The business imperative is to reframe vision, craft a strategy, and execute really well.
– Deep Tech AI: Advanced AI will accelerate discovery far beyond human intellect and pace. The scientific and commercial goal is to unlock breakthroughs in energy, materials, drug development, healthspan, and climate. The “big bang” happens when quantum computers and applications become commercially viable.
QUESTIONS
– Energy: By 2040, AI could consume 10–12% of U.S. electricity, triple today’s level. Power generation and the grid are not yet up to it. Our investment in new energy sources, such as micro-modular fission reactors, is inadequate. Q: how do we scale energy production to meet demand?
– Speed vs. Understanding: AI mirrors and amplifies human nature, for better and worse. It is outpacing our grasp of its consequences. Q: how do we anchor AI to the most important first principles without stifling entrepreneurial brilliance?
– Sovereignty: AI must be accessible globally, but almost all the infrastructure – GPUs, LLMs, data centers, talent and capital — are in the USA or China. Q: how important is sovereign AI & compute?
COMMITMENT
I’ve learned a lot in life. For me, relentless curiosity and vision-creation isn’t a choice, it’s how I’m wired. Above all, I’m committed to doing good things with courageous and creative leaders who are driven by passion, focus, and massively transformative purpose.
Sample Topics
Superintelligence – navigating the volatile discontinuity
AI is rewriting the rules of business, power, and survival — faster than most leaders can grasp. AI is moving at lightning speed, creating a discontinuity as profound as the Industrial Revolution. Superintelligence is around the corner – it can both create and destroy immense value.
This keynote traces the breathtaking rise of AI from narrow systems to the threshold of superintelligence—a force more capable than all of humanity combined.
- It weaves history, breakthrough moments, and exponential leaps into a narrative of paradox: abundance and extinction, prosperity and disruption, utopia and dystopia.
- It challenges audiences to confront AI’s dual edge—its ability to create new industries, cure disease, and extend human potential, while also threatening jobs, economies, and geopolitical stability.
- It explores personal AI twins, digital workforces, frontier science, and the clash of global powers racing for dominance.
- It asks the ultimate challenge: how we align this new species of intelligence with human values. And concludes with personal advice on how to thrive in the age of superintelligence
Drawing on 30+ years of founding breakthrough companies and my current advisory work with large & small companies and private equity clients, I explore the personal, economic, and geopolitical implications of superintelligence. This keynote equips leaders to identify opportunity windows, avoid risks, and build resilient and innovative strategies in a time of accelerating change.
Key Benefits & Insights
- Understand where AI is today, and where it will be in the next 3 years and beyond.
- Learn how to think about AI-driven market discontinuities and take action before competitors.
- Motivate leaders to act decisively with a fine-grained strategic framework.
general magic – dramatic story of the smartphone dream team
Some revolutions happen to you — others you help invent. As co-founder of General Magic, the Apple spinout credited with inventing the smartphone, Marc was the driving force behind one of Silicon Valley’s most incredible stories – the origin of the smartphone and intelligent agents. Today’s AI revolution mirrors those early days — massive vision, fierce competition, and the risk of brilliant teams missing the market. This talk distills lessons on timing, building, scaling, and leading innovative organizations that can deliver breakthrough products without compromising growth.
Key Benefits & Insights
- Translating moonshot vision into winning execution.
- Building hot, innovative cultures that can adapt to seismic market shifts.
- Avoiding failure modes.
underestimating ai is not a strategy – strategic & tactical advice for leaders
AI isn’t just a technology play — it’s a value creation engine. In this keynote, Marc connects vision, strategy, and tactical execution to frontier AI capabilities that deliver real financial results. Tailored for specific audiences, Marc provides real-world insights and advice on how to leverage AI to drive sustained revenue growth and cost reduction; how to build competitive moats before rivals catch up; and how to radically transform thinking and decision-making.
Key Benefits & Insights
- Integrating the highest value AI use cases with the fastest ROI.
- Injecting AI strategic thinking and tactical actions for maximum impact.
- Leading innovation and execution at scale by leveraging the latest AI.
Award- winning feature documentary about the iconic apple spinout, general magic
