Birgit Gebhardt is one of Germany's most sought-after trend researchers and keynote speakers on trends and futurology. As a "woman from the future," she takes a look back at the present in her captivating keynotes. Gebhardt started her professional career in 1989 in the distribution department of Volkswagen (VAG France). After graduating with a degree in interior design (FH), she worked in architecture studios in Paris and Tokyo until 1996 and then spent five years as an editor at Design Report magazine. In 2001, she became a senior consultant at Prof. Peter Wippermann's Trendbüro, where she applied the methods of qualitative trend research to various issues and developed cross-industry product and communication strategies for clients such as Audi, Procter & Gamble and stilwerk. In 2007 she was appointed managing director of the consulting firm for social change and since 2012 she has been working for well-known and new clients under her own name. She tracks social change, visits pioneers and events on site, interviews experts from science and industry, and analyzes trend developments across industries and countries. Gebhardt considers insights gained together with parallel developments in a larger context and evaluates them for their potential by means of extensive media and study research. A transdisciplinary network, as well as active committee work support Birgit Gebhardt's multi-perspective. Birgit Gebhardt has been a member of the expert commission of the Bertelsmann Foundation from 2012-2015, focusing on "Work and Life Perspectives in Germany", she is a member of the "New Work" idea lab of XING and is part of the scientific advisory board of the Liechtenstein Foundation 'Zukunft.li'. "Discovering the new, making connections, recognizing opportunities" - that is Birgit Gebhardt's working motto. She is one of the most experienced speakers in trend and future research. Her diverse customer experiences, which she shares with her audience, make her an esteemed speaker. The stage-experienced expert is also an eloquent and experienced researcher in the field of new business models.