Digital Realities Futurist

I help organizations navigate the convergence of AI, spatial computing, and immersive tech — before it disrupts them.

Reality Shift(s), my foresight practice, has spent two years tracking these convergences in public — with dated, published forecasts you can check against what actually happened.

Book Richard to Speak Start with a Reality Check

10–12 monthstypical lead time from signal to market

20+ yearsdigital media & ad-tech — Tribune, Orbitz, CPX Interactive

Reality Shift(s)biweekly foresight newsletter, published since 2024

Receipts, not vibes

A forecast track record you can actually check

Most foresight work is unfalsifiable. Mine is dated and public — published before the fact, revisited after. Three examples:

Hit

AI comes home from the cloud

Forecast Jul 2025: processing power would move from cloud data centers back to on-device and on-premises. Reality: the edge AI market, residential GPU/battery nodes, and enterprise repatriation all followed within months.

See the receipts →

Hit + open gap

Verification moves past the one-time scan

Forecast May 2024: one-time biometric checks (like Worldcoin's Orb) wouldn't be enough. Reality, June 2026: 18M+ people verified across 160 countries — and the continuous, in-session gap I flagged is still unfilled.

See the receipts →

Playing out

Energy intelligence, not humanoid robots

Forecast Aug 2025: smart battery and energy-orchestration systems — not flashy robots — would become the backbone that makes AI infrastructure viable. Tracking this one in real time.

See the receipts →

How we work together

Four ways in, one ladder

Foresight consulting is abstract by nature. This isn't — each engagement has a plain description of what happens, who it's for, and what you walk away with.

Signal Report

A $47 intelligence brief on a single structural shift in your sector — self-serve, no call required.

Reality Check

A focused $297 strategy session applied to your organization. Entry point for a fast, credible read on convergence risk.

90-Day Pilot Accelerator

A structured sprint that takes one opportunity from idea to a working pilot inside a single quarter.

Futures Partnership

Ongoing strategic foresight — a standing advisory relationship for organizations that want a permanent outside view.

Plus Speaking Engagements and AI Days/Workshops — see the full ladder below.

See the full services ladder →

20+ years, one throughline

From ad-tech infrastructure to Digital Realities

Before the pivot to foresight, Richard spent two decades building the infrastructure of digital media and advertising — including roles at Tribune Content Agency, Orbitz Worldwide, CPX Interactive, and AdPepper. That background is the credibility base for the pivot, not a resume footnote: it's what it means to have actually built the systems now being reshaped by AI, spatial computing, and immersive tech.

Read the full story →

From Reality Shift(s)

Recent thinking, reframed for decision-makers

Jun 2026

The Orb Isn't Watching You. Your Agent Is.

Why identity verification is quietly shifting from "is this a human?" to "which agent is acting on their behalf?" — and what that means for trust infrastructure.

Read on Substack →

Jul 2025

The AI Homecoming

Why the future of AI processing isn't in the cloud — and what that means for where your organization should be investing in infrastructure right now.

Read on Substack →

Jun 2025

The Scale Moment

Why AI's next phase requires more than technology — and the human-technology bridge that separates the prepared from the disrupted.

Read on Substack →

See curated Insights →

I help organizations navigate the convergence of AI, spatial computing, and immersive tech — before it disrupts them.

A forecast track record you can actually check

AI comes home from the cloud

Verification moves past the one-time scan

Energy intelligence, not humanoid robots

Reality Shift(s) — foresight built for decision-makers

Four ways in, one ladder

Signal Report

Reality Check

90-Day Pilot Accelerator

Futures Partnership

From ad-tech infrastructure to Digital Realities

Recent thinking, reframed for decision-makers

The Orb Isn't Watching You. Your Agent Is.

The AI Homecoming

The Scale Moment

Two audiences, two clear paths