Monica Lewinsky
Anti-Bullying Activist & Cultural Commentator | Emmy-Nominated Producer | TED Speaker with 20M+ Views | Advocate for Digital Civility & Compassion
Erik Brynjolfsson
Jerry Yang & Akiko Yamazaki Professor, Stanford HAI | Director, Stanford Digital Economy Lab | NYT Bestselling Author | Co-Founder, Workhelix | Thinkers50
Erik Brynjolfsson is the economist who put numbers on the AI revolution before anyone else was asking the question. Director of Stanford's Digital Economy Lab, co-author of The Second Machine Age, and one of the world's most-cited researchers on technology and productivity, he gives leaders the evidence-based frameworks they need to turn AI investment into measurable results — and to understand what happens when organisations get it wrong.
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Erik Brynjolfsson biography
Erik Brynjolfsson is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the economics of artificial intelligence and digital technology — a Stanford professor whose research has fundamentally shaped how business leaders, policymakers, and economists understand the relationship between technology, productivity, and human prosperity. Born in Roskilde, Denmark, he trained at Harvard in applied mathematics and decision sciences before earning his doctorate in managerial economics at MIT, where he spent three decades building the discipline now known as digital economics.
AI speaker Erik Brynjolfsson is best known for pioneering the empirical measurement of how technology drives — and sometimes disappoints — economic growth. He was among the first researchers to quantify the productivity impact of IT investment and to identify why benefits often arrive later than expected, a framework he called the productivity J-curve. With more than 152,000 academic citations, he ranks among the most influential economists alive, and the Financial Times‘ Martin Wolf has written that no economist has done more to illuminate the revolutionary implications of information technology.
His books have reached global audiences and shaped executive thinking at the highest levels. The Second Machine Age, co-authored with Andrew McAfee, became a New York Times bestseller and reframed the debate around automation, skills, and inequality. Machine, Platform, Crowd followed, offering leaders a strategic map for navigating digital disruption. His most recent work, The Economics of Transformative AI, published by the University of Chicago Press, examines how AI systems capable of rapidly reshaping entire economies should be understood, governed, and deployed.
Shaping the AI Debate at Stanford and Beyond
Today, Brynjolfsson holds the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professorship at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and directs the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, where he leads research on Transformative AI — systems poised to reshape productivity, labor markets, and prosperity at unprecedented scale. He also serves as Ralph Landau Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, holds appointments at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Department of Economics, and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He co-founded the AI Index in 2016 and has testified on AI before the United States Congress, participated in AI Summits at the White House, and was named to the Thinkers50 list of the world’s top management thinkers in both 2021 and 2023. He is also co-founder of Workhelix, a company that helps organizations identify where generative AI creates the most value.
As a speaker, Erik Brynjolfsson offers what few AI voices can: the rigour of a world-class research economist combined with the clarity of a communicator who has spent decades translating frontier science into actionable insight. Audiences gain a grounded, evidence-based understanding of where AI will genuinely transform industries, where the hype outpaces reality, and — most importantly — how leaders can restructure their organizations to capture the productivity gains that AI makes possible without leaving workers or societies behind.
Erik Brynjolfsson Speaking Videos
Erik Brynjolfsson - the impact of advances in Machine Learning on the workforce
Erik Brynjolfsson: The key to growth? Race with the machines
Erik Brynjolfsson Keynote Topics
Drawing on his ongoing research at Stanford's Digital Economy Lab, Brynjolfsson cuts through the noise to examine what the data actually shows about AI's impact on productivity, labor markets, and organisational performance. He explains why AI's greatest economic effects are still ahead — and what organisations must do now to position themselves on the right side of the productivity J-curve. Audiences leave with a rigorous, evidence-grounded understanding of the AI opportunity that goes far beyond the headlines.
Technology is advancing faster than the institutions, skills, and management practices needed to harness it. In this keynote, Brynjolfsson draws on the research behind his bestselling books to show how organisations can restructure workflows, talent strategies, and decision-making processes to capture the productivity gains that AI makes possible — while avoiding the traps that cause most companies to underperform. He offers a practical roadmap for leaders who want to move from AI experimentation to AI-driven transformation.
Platforms are reshaping industries. AI is automating tasks once thought uniquely human. And the crowd — distributed networks of people and machines — is unlocking new forms of value creation that traditional hierarchies cannot replicate. Brynjolfsson examines the strategic logic behind these three forces and helps leaders understand which parts of their business face the greatest disruption risk, where their competitive moats are deepening, and how to build organisations capable of thriving as the rules of competition continue to evolve.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Erik Brynjolfsson
Why Erik Brynjolfsson?
Booking Erik Brynjolfsson for your event means bringing in one of the most credible and consequential voices in the global AI conversation — not a commentator, but the economist who has spent 35 years producing the foundational research that everyone else cites. His work on AI and productivity, the J-curve of technology adoption, and the future of work has shaped board-level strategy at leading companies and informed government policy in Washington and beyond. On stage, he translates that depth into something immediately useful: a clear-eyed, evidence-based framework for understanding which AI applications will genuinely drive value, how organisations need to restructure to capture that value, and what the risks of getting it wrong look like at scale. For events where senior audiences need more than inspiration — where they need intellectual grounding and actionable direction — Erik Brynjolfsson is one of the most valuable bookings in the world. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to discuss his availability for your event.
What is Erik Brynjolfsson best known for?
Erik Brynjolfsson is best known for his pioneering research on the economics of technology and AI, and for co-authoring The Second Machine Age with Andrew McAfee — a New York Times bestseller that reframed global understanding of automation, inequality, and the future of work. He was one of the first economists to rigorously measure how IT investment affects productivity, introducing the concept of the productivity J-curve to explain why the economic benefits of technology often arrive years after the investment. He is also known for co-founding the AI Index in 2016, for his research on generative AI's effects on workers, and for directing the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
What is the productivity J-curve and why does it matter?
The productivity J-curve is a concept developed by Erik Brynjolfsson to explain why transformative technologies — including AI — often produce a period of apparent stagnation before delivering measurable economic gains. The core insight is that new technologies require complementary investments in skills, processes, and organisational structures before their benefits appear in productivity statistics. This means that today's AI investment may not show up in GDP or company performance metrics for years — but the payoff, when organisations restructure correctly, can be enormous. Understanding the J-curve helps business leaders avoid both premature scepticism and misplaced expectations, and plan investments in AI transformation with a more realistic time horizon.
What topics does AI speaker Erik Brynjolfsson cover?
Erik Brynjolfsson speaks on the economics of artificial intelligence and its measurable impact on productivity and growth, the future of work and how AI will reshape labour markets across knowledge-intensive industries, how organisations should restructure to capture the benefits of generative AI, the gap between AI hype and evidence-based forecasting, and the policy frameworks needed to ensure that AI-driven prosperity is broadly shared. He draws on his latest research from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab to keep his presentations at the leading edge of what is actually known — not what is speculated. Aurum Speakers Bureau can help tailor his presentation to the specific strategic priorities of your event.
How to book Erik Brynjolfsson as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Erik Brynjolfsson as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Erik Brynjolfsson's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Erik Brynjolfsson or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Erik Brynjolfsson speaking fee?
Erik Brynjolfsson speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Erik Brynjolfsson to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Erik Brynjolfsson.
How can I contact Erik Brynjolfsson?
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Can I book Erik Brynjolfsson for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Erik Brynjolfsson is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Erik Brynjolfsson for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
