Let's stop dreaming of a better world, and make one.
Dr Jordan Nguyen is a leading Australian engineer, inventor and innovator, committed to improving as many lives as possible, and becoming a driving force behind both human and technological evolution as we move into the future.
An internationally renowned engineer for humanity, Jordan designs life-changing technologies to transform the lives of people with disabilities and the elderly through his role as founder of Psykinetic, a social business committed to bringing positive, sustainable and life-altering change. He also shares his adventures through documentaries across the world. Inspired by human endeavour, Jordan has big ambitions to see our world step consciously and creatively into a better future.
Jordan is Founder and CEO of Psykinetic, a social business creating futuristic, inclusive and empowering technologies to improve independence and quality of life for disability, aged care and beyond. Dr Jordan and his team have successfully created a mind-controlled wheelchair, numerous Virtual and Augmented reality applications, inclusive gaming, an instrument that enabled a friend with cerebral palsy to perform live music with her eye movements and blinks, and devices that make it possible to control household appliances or even drive cars using only the tiny electrical signals created from eye movements.
Author of the book 'A Human's Guide to the Future', Jordan is also an award-winning documentary maker and presenter. In 2016 he collaborated with the Australian-based production company, The Feds, and the ABC Catalyst to create and present his first TV documentary Becoming Superhuman, which went on to win many prestigious awards both locally and internationally. His work is regularly featured in the media. He has since gone on to present a second ABC Catalyst documentary Meet The Avatars exploring the impacts of Virtual Reality, including creating virtual interactive avatars to preserve memories of loved ones. He has also presented numerous documentaries with Discovery Channel and National Geographic “ including Frontiers of Science, Smart China Start-up Revolutions, Vietnam: Connecting East Africa, and Tibet: Living On The Roof Of The World. He recently founded his own media company and aims to continue creating world-changing content on the intersection between technology and humanity.
Jordan is a passionate ambassador for STEAM education, adaptable mindsets and big-picture thinking, and holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, First-Class Honours, Diploma in Engineering Practice, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (Chancellors List) from the University of Technology Sydney. He has taught university engineering masters students and overseen PhDs in Artificial Intelligence design and Biomedical instrumentation and has supervised many more research students. He believes our young generations are the change-makers of tomorrow and has the potential to create solutions to the world's greatest challenges.
In November 2022, the Dr Jordan Nguyen Innovation Centre at Baulkham Hills North Public School was officially opened - named by the school's students. Jordan was a finalist for NSW in Australian of the Year in 2017, and a finalist in the AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) awards for Artificial Intelligence. He was named in the six Harper's BAZAAR Visionary Men of 2019, has made the list of Australia's Most Innovative Engineers by Create Magazine, was named twice in Onalyticas Top 100 Global Influencers on Virtual Reality, travelled on a Think Inc tour with Steve Wozniak, won the Australian Computer Society's (ACS) ˜ICT Professional of the Year Digital Disruptors Award, and has had the honour of being MC for An Evening With President Barack Obama on his last visit to Sydney.
Talking Points
Beyond Superhuman - Technology for Humanity
With today's staggering advances in technology, many new possibilities are emerging which almost seem to have come straight out of the realms of sci-fi fantasy. When we connect some of the dots between various cutting-edge fields, the innovations become even more intriguing.Beyond Superhuman - Technology for Humanity
In this presentation, Biomedical engineer Dr Jordan Nguyen will raise an incredibly interesting and perhaps confronting conversation around links drawn between the fields of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, new techniques in 3D human scanning, neuroscience, and the ideas of human consciousness.
This topic raises a number of questions about what it is to be human and what is a moral approach to the incredible things we can achieve today with the latest advancements in technology advancements that are increasingly blurring the lines between the virtual world and the real world.
The AI Trust Paradox:Human Edge in the Age of Acceleration
Many of us are hearing similar stories around AI: Adopt it or fall behind. But adopt it too heavily or in the wrong places, and you erode the most important thing that may the backbone of your business: Trust. Drawing on more than 20 years building AI and human-centred technology, Dr Jordan Nguyen reveals the invisible line between harnessing AI to strengthens relationships and levels of use that can knock them down, and shows why purpose, ethics and human judgment are rising in value as automation accelerates. Audiences leave with a practical framework for finding the trust line in their own organisation and how to innovate at pace without ending up on the wrong side.The AI Trust Paradox:Human Edge in the Age of Acceleration
Key Takeaways
• Understand the AI-Trust Paradox reshaping every industry and why racing to adopt AI without it can inadvertently cost you the clients and people core to what you do
• Identify where AI strengthens customer and employee relationships, and where it can erode them
• Recognise which decisions belong to technology and which must stay with people, and why purpose, ethics and human judgment are rising in value as automation accelerates
• Leave with a clear, practical framework for implementing AI in ways that build confidence and loyalty, amplifying your organisation's human strengths while accelerating growth… all while helping build a more trustworthy future that we all want to live in.
Best for: Executive forums, leadership summits and industry conferences shaping AI strategy, especially in trust-dependent sectors like finance, health and medical, professional services and government.
Enter the Future: Technology for Humanity
Where is technology really taking us? Biomedical engineer, inventor and documentary presenter Dr Jordan Nguyen has spent the past few decades at the frontier, where AI, robotics, extended reality and human augmentation are converging and the line between science fiction and reality is dissolving. Through breathtaking real footage from his adventures around the world, and joined on stage by Koobo, the companion robot he built inspired by his grandmother, Jordan shows what happens when technology is built to care for life. Audiences leave seeing technology less as a threat to our humanity, and more as one of our most powerful forces to enrich it.Enter the Future: Technology for Humanity
Key Takeaways
• Journey to the cutting edge of converging technologies: AI, robotics, health and medical, inclusive technology, extended reality, human augmentation and beyond
• See how these breakthroughs are transforming inclusion, health, disability and aged care, and what innovation that cares about life looks like in practice
• Understand the ethical questions that decide whether emerging technology helps or harms
• Leave with a hopeful, human-first lens on the future and a new perspective on how you’ll help shape it for the better
Best for: Conference openers and closers, and all-audience events seeking frontier-of-technology inspiration. A natural fit for health, disability and aged care, inclusive tech, education and purpose-driven events.
The Courage to Explore: Inside the Innovation Mindset
Technology is evolving at the fastest rate we’ve ever seen, but it may be the slowest we’ll ever see again. So what separates organisations that thrive from those that stagnate in the face of change? The key is a braver mindset. Drawing on a career of world-first inventions and global adventure to witness many others around the world, Dr Jordan Nguyen reveals how breakthroughs actually happen, what sparks the greatest ideas, and what it takes for leaders to bring their whole team into the unknown with them. Interactive, funny and packed with stunning real-life footage from his documentaries, this keynote leaves audiences energised, resilient and ready to explore what's possible.The Courage to Explore: Inside the Innovation Mindset
Key Takeaways
• Understand the mindset behind breakthrough innovation: curiosity, courage, and the willingness to leave your comfort zone
• Build teams and cultures that adapt and explore over resisting change
• Discover how world-first ideas move from wild (sometimes seemingly nonsensical) idea to real-world impact
• Leave energised and equipped to lead your people through the storms of change with optimism and resilience
Best for: Organisations undertaking transformation: team days, kickoffs, innovation summits and leadership offsites building cultures that want explore instead of resisting change.
Superhuman Generationz
What does the 'future human' look like? How do future humans act, what do they value and fundamentally how will the future human mould politics, business and education. Children of the new era (Gen Z and beyond) are living in a vastly different place to the world we grew up in. They are digital natives, collaboration natives and are adept at existing in two realities. The real world and the virtual one.Superhuman Generationz
In this presentation, audiences will explore case studies highlighting the extraordinary intelligence and design capability of the future human. They will gain insights into the shifting values and expectations of this new generation, exploring specifically how the future human will redesign that manner in which we live and work. Whilst change is inevitable; never before has there been a generation that will completely remould the world as we know it.
Custom Keynotes
All talks are customised to the event and audience based on briefings, but Jordan can also create a completely customised keynote, drawing on his extensive experience bringing magical creativity to the stage, working with digital and event creatives, and making the most of the staging available. Popular tailored themes include the future of health and care, the future of work, and inspiring the next generation.Custom Keynotes
Unlike any speaker you’ve seen, Dr Jordan Nguyen brings a wealth of knowledge, first-hand stories as both an inventor and innovator from biomedical and AI engineering, and unique adventures through presenting numerous documentaries across ABC and Discovery Channel. Tailoring his talks to your audience, Jordan brings vast, beautiful, real footage (no generated content here!) and creative personality, allowing these presentations to blend being entertaining, funny and interactive, intellectual yet inclusive, and emotionally human… all whilst exploring our ever-evolving intersections between technology and humanity.
Video
Dr Jordan Nguyen | AI, Robotics & the Future of Humanity | Saxton Speakers
Engineer, inventor, television presenter, and one of Australia's most distinctive voices on artificial intelligence and emerging technology. Dr Jordan Nguyen brings deep expertise to the stage with warmth, curiosity, and a genuine belief that meaningful progress is still within reach. If your audience needs to understand where technology is headed and why it matters, this is where to start.Technology Is Reinventing Humanity | Jordan Nguyen | TEDxSydney
As advances in augmented and virtual technology reinvent our relationship with 'reality', we are continually confronted with ever-more complex ethical and philosophical dilemmas. Making virtual interactive copies of human beings is now more than just a possibility. But once we open that door, how do we deal with the quandaries that lie inside? Dr Jordan Nguyen's mission in life is to improve the lives of as many people as possible and to be a driving force behind positive human and technological evolution into the future. He believes the relationship between humanity and technology is constantly changing and its role in our lives is becoming more integrated, leading us to a future that is 'Beyond Superhuman'.TEDxSydney Adventures - Jordan Nguyen on Technology
Throughout 2016 and 2017, we're taking a field trip with some of our 2016 alumni speakers as part of the new TEDxSydney Adventures series, presented by Toyota Prius. Dr Jordan Nguyen, is one of Australia's most innovative engineers, who is committed to improving the lives of as many people as possible, and to help become a driving force behind both human and technological evolution as we move into the future.Jordan was a fantastic keynote speaker - he was so easy to work with and tailored his speech based on our brief. He stayed at the event to interact with guests and really brought the energy ... keep reading KPMG
Dr Jordan Nguyen delivered a truly inspiring and thought-provoking session, challenging the audience to re-imagine what’s possible — particularly in the context of AI and emerging technology. Early post-event survey feedback shows Jordan’s session resonated strongly with attendees, with manyhighlighting the practical impact and future-focused perspective he brought to the conversation. The impact of his presentation was immediate, with attendees lining up for conversations (and even selfies!)as soon as he stepped off stage.
Jordan was excellent. He is a very engaging speaker. Both the content and delivery were outstanding. We would love to have him back.
Dr Jordan Nguyen was an opening keynote speaker at the Women in Focus conference, and completely wowed the audience with his warmth, wisdom and humour. Jordan doesn't just impart knowledge on the scientific advances and trends in artificial intelligence, he brings humanity to our understanding of science and engineering and the important role it plays in enabling a life of freedom of movement and mindset for those with physical disabilities. His personal stories are both moving and wondrous as the audience is taken on a journey of the marvels of modern technology and its application for humane purpose. A theme of our conference was collaboration and conversation in a disruptive world, and the importance of bringing purpose to life, business and community; and I couldn't think of a better speaker to help set this scene than Jordan.
Jordan was very engaging and the material he presented was new and interesting for our audience. He injected much of his own story and personality into the presentations which also resonated well with our delegates.
Jordan was fantastic and the feedback has been hugely positive. He injected a lot of energy and excitement into our Conference as the opening keynote and was able to professionally facilitate the leadership panel and maintain engagement.
Jordan is one of the most unique, empathetic and hardworking people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He has spoken at 2 Wired for Wonder events (and counting) and several CommBank leadership events and the feedback is always nothing short of outstanding. Jordan takes time to understand what we want the audience to take away and always dreams up the most inspiring and original keynotes with so much goodness packed in the audience walks away with a mix of personal insights, technology learnings and so much brain food to munch through. Jordan can speak to a variety of topics and is extremely creative and original so my advice is that you simply don't hesitate in booking him for your next event!
Dr Jordan was extremely flexible to a brief that had changed a few times. He adapted his content to fit the client's needs and was always happy to do so. Dr Jordan was a dream to work with, always being open and approachable. We are very thankful he was able to present at our event and we can't wait to engage him for speaking opportunities in the future.
Dr Jordan was so engaging, he was friendly and was very knowledgeable. There was not a dry eye in the room when Jordan spoke about his stories and background. We found him to be well worth our time and money. We can't wait to invite him back to one of our conferences again.
If you're looking for an inspiring and engaging speaker, look no further! Jordan is incredible, genuine and kind.
Jordan's presentation was absolutely brilliant. He had the audience in the palm of his hand and left them wanting to hear more. Not only does Jordan have the intelligence and creativity to solve current problems and needs using current technologies, his focus on helping people and placing humanity at the centre is truly remarkable and inspiring. Students need to hear from him!
