Foresight, Tech and Trust: How to Plan Ahead When The Future Stops Behaving Linearly (EP 19)

🎙️Prof. Dr. Heiko von der Gracht, Professor at the University of Krems

Opening

Episode 19 of the in-between tech & trust podcast explores how organizations can make better decisions under uncertainty through foresight and scenario planning. In conversation with Heiko von der Gracht, professor at the University for Continuing Education Krems and long-standing practitioner of foresight practices, the discussion looks at how trust, technology, and perception shape what leaders think is possible. It is especially relevant for people working with strategy, innovation, or long-term planning in fast-moving environments.

🧭 Episode overview

The conversation examines foresight not as prediction, but as a practical discipline for stress-testing assumptions and improving choices when the future is unclear. Drawing on decades of research and applied work, Heiko reflects on why uncertainty feels overwhelming today, how media and digital systems influence our perception of risk, and why traditional planning often breaks down under rapid change.

The episode also looks at how trust is being reshaped by scalable, anonymous technologies, and what this means for organizations trying to act responsibly and coherently over time.

🔍 Key themes discussed

• Why foresight is about decision quality, not forecasting outcomes

• The difference between actual uncertainty and how uncertain the world feels

• How complexity and speed interact to undermine linear planning

• Trust in digital environments shaped by anonymity, scale, and weak accountability

• Knowledge overload, misinformation, and the loss of shared reality

• Scenario planning as a strategic conversation rather than an analytical exercise

• Empirical evidence that sustained foresight investment improves performance

The discussion also draws on Heiko’s involvement in global foresight and governance contexts, including work connected to the World Economic Forum and UNESCO, grounding the conversation in both research and lived practice.