Signal and Cipher

Signal and Cipher is the Future Decoded. We are an innovation and change management firm dedicated to helping the most impactful companies in the world navigate, operationalize, and monetize the impact of AI to drive the future of work.

From Hollywood studios to tech darlings and CPG, our clients are looking for ways to build the future today.

Keynote Speaker

I speak frequently on the future of work and the impact of rapid change on enterprises, employees, consumers, and the global economy.

Keynote Platforms: 
Billion Dollar Teams: The Future of an AI-Powered Workforce
Future Forward: Navigating Exponential Change
Creative Machines: AI and the Future of Creativity

Recent keynotes include Deloitte, Microsoft, Synchrony, Puig, SXSW, Adobe, Febraban, Icatu, Totvs, and Itau.

I have also given guest lectures on leadership and AI at several universities, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Loyola, DePaul, UIC, and IIT.

International Keynote Speaker

DeFiance Media

I write and produce the Future Report segment as a part of Defiance Daily on the Defiance Media Network, using Hour One's powerful synthetic media platform. Each news segment is delivered by an AI version of me - a Deepfake.
You can catch the segment at https://defiance.media or streaming on over 100MM devices and smart TVs worldwide.

AI Correspondent - Synthetic Host of "Future Report"

Coastal Spritz

Interim Fractional CMO

Update Beverage

Caffeine is obsolete. It’s time for an Update. Crush procrastination with a smart energy drink that's more advanced than caffeine. Now available at www.drinkupdate.com

* Rebuilt the brand from the ground up after two prior agencies failed to design a distinctive brand for this new beverage category
* Built a nimble team of freelancers to establish a visual identity, brand guidelines and design system, including an extensive library of 3D assets, and feature animations
* Defined core value propositions and key demographics for launch
* Lead launch strategy and execution 
* Worked with bleeding-edge tech platforms like Unreal Engine 5 and LightTwist to develop immersive brand experiences

Head Of Brand + Futurist in Residence

Cocktails For Hope

•  Successfully lobbied for the legalized sale of Cocktails-to-go in Illinois - providing bars and 
    restaurants a revenue lifeline during Covid
•  Built a team of 50+ volunteers, including some of the world's biggest names in hospitality
•  Co-wrote legislation that received overwhelming bi-partisan support 

Cocktails For Hope is an initiative that advocates for the temporary sale of pre-mixed cocktails in containers sealed by on-premise license holding establishments in the State of Illinois. Cocktails For Hope is committed to creating necessary cash flow to bars and restaurants throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic to allow them to remain in business. The initiative also seeks to create an open line of communication with lawmakers for continued conversations as the hospitality landscape evolves over time.               Visit us at: www.cocktailsforhope.org

Co-Founder

SWAPP PROTOCOL (NFT Marketplace, Decentralized Exchange, Data Monetization)

Advising Swapp on 
- Implementation of structure and process needed to scale effectively
- Marketing and communications strategy

NFT Marketing and Operations Advisor

XR Founders

We are a collective of over 15,000+ interdisciplinary voices sharing ideas to shape the future of XR. Together we explore new capabilities, diversity, ethical design, accessibility, sustainability, and social impact within the industry. 

Join us on Clubhouse every Thursday and Sunday at  5PM ET.

Cohost

Hawkeye

Epsilon agency is now part of Hawkeye!

We’re a one-of-a-kind human experience agency.

We orchestrate experiences for people across their customer journey— leveraging human insight, the world’s best data, empathic creativity and the most powerful technology available. We do all this to deliver business results for our clients and to create more meaningful connections between humans and brands.

We call these Connections Designed to Matter™.

VP, Group Director: Digital Strategy + Innovation

Epsilon

Established the Creative Technology group to explore, prototype, and deploy new technologies in service of solving client business challenges.

Digital Strategy Practice Lead
Executive Development Program Graduate

Vice President, Digital Strategy

Decoding the future of work with the technologies of tomorrow | Futurist | Speaker

I help executives (including C-Suite and NEDs), and marketing teams understand the impact of AI on their organizations and augment the power of their teams with AI and reimagined workflows. 

For over a decade I've helped companies do mind-bending things with new and emerging technologies by showing them how to create, monetize and scale with bleeding-edge tech when few best practices and instruction manuals exist. At Signal and Cipher, we're focused on decoding the future of work for our clients.

My mission as a futurist and speaker is to inspire people to take ownership of their role in shaping the future, participate in building the world they want to see, be the wrong person asking the right questions, and approach the future with wonder, curiosity, and hope, not fear and confusion. The future is ours to shape, but you don't win by being as a spectator. 


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Considered one of the top voices in AI and the future of work, Ian is a trusted advisor to the world's most innovative companies. His firm Signal and Cipher transforms companies into AI-ready organizations with training, workforce reengineering, design, and development, resulting in meaningful routes to innovation that impact the bottom line, inspire cultural change, and create new products and ways of working.

Previously responsible for P&Ls and innovation departments at the largest agencies in the world, Ian is known for making bleeding-edge technology understandable and monetizable. Brands he has advised over the last decade include Samsung, Intel, Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and dozens more.

Ian has pioneered a digitally immersive presentation style that brings artificial intelligence and extended reality to life so audiences can understand the future of technology in actionable ways. Ian is also the co-owner of a production studio designing virtual worlds and the first person ever to host a news segment as a synthetic human, streaming to over 100 million devices around the world.

A classically trained musician, Ian understands the magnitude of AI's coming impact on human creativity. As a strategist and speaker, he strives to educate stakeholders on the real-world implications of emerging technologies so they can make informed decisions that positively shape our world and advance humanity. In a rapidly evolving world that some consider dystopian, Ian remains a steadfast optimist and offers what everyone needs now: hope.

Specialties:  AI • Machine Vision • Emerging Technology • Digital Strategy • Process Engineering • Prototyping • Systems Thinking • Team Leadership

Ian Beacraft

Inspire Medical Systems

Sr. Product Owner, Marketing Automation & Insights

Cargill

Partner with businesses and functions to drive and support digital marketing initiatives as well as customer insights, tied to performance measurement outcomes. Cargill award winner, including Cargill Breakthrough Award Winner Finalist 2019 and Cargill Data Challenge Finalist 2023.

• Finalist in Cargill’s Data Challenge 2023, Trendspotting in Human Health with Consumer Search Data, working with three individuals across Human Health, Social Media and the Data Team to develop a business case for a new consumer trend data product

• Leveraged Google Search, Amazon Search and social media mentions to discover leading indicator trends for Human Health, then verified market activity with existing data sources such as Nielsen and Innova

• Using search data and business data, estimated a potential $55M-$170M sales value in strategic growth categories

• Working in partnership with Data Scientists to develop Machine Learning and AI via Google and Amazon API data while also exploring data consumption from other consumer sources, such as social media sites and ChatGPT

• Support multiple businesses across Cargill on digital marketing and KPI and Measurement strategies, understanding key personas for targeted data delivery and storytelling.

• 
• Former product owner for development of myCargill.com, partnering with the Business, Global IT and consultants to drive a scalable customer portal that would allow customers to learn more about Cargill ingredients as well as serve-serve on business-specific account information.

• Pitched a Digital Business pilot which would leverage Salesforce data to drive 1:1 email journey communication with the goals of providing more relevant product and ingredient opportunities to Cargill customers

Tools: Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, TESSA, Salsify, Amazon, Brandwatch, CaliberMind, PowerBI,Microsoft Suite, Form Assembly

Digital Business Advisor

Managed digital marketing strategy, execution, analytics and content for Food Ingredients NA on the Cargill.com website. Work with three food business groups to develop and execute their online marketing strategy for customer engagement and lead generation, including paid and organic search, email, and content marketing. Created B2B conversion metrics, developed new tracking for deeper analytics, and initiated reports that guide budget decisions for each of the businesses. Work with corporate marketing to ensure brand consistency with the Cargill.com website.

• Managed team of two, with focus on digital marketing strategy and execution for North American food ingredient businesses, including email marketing / customer journeys with Salesforce Marketing Cloud; consumer insights analysis in social media; website landing pages and execution; paid marketing strategies and execution, including paid search, banner advertising, remarketing
• Collaborated with cross-functional team on digital strategy made up of IT, Business Marketers, User Experience and BRMs to help guide and lead the enterprise digital roadmap while delivering against specific business needs
• Guide the cross-business digital marketing conversation to sell-in the need for investment and focus on our digital foundation
• Chaired a small cross-functional stakeholder group to assess digital initiatives against trends, scope, regional impact and existing tools with goal of reducing duplication across global portfolio
• Led the strategy and execution for a global Food Ingredients LinkedIn Showcase page with a focus on delivering our stories to customers with themes of Innovation, Sustainability, Nutrition and Partnership
• Nominated for prestigious Commercial Excellence Award, Heart of Leadership
• Managed the strategy for a customer social media analysis report that resulted in ingredient insights by social media sentiment and a cost savings of $40K+

Digital Marketing Manager

WaterFilters.NET

Digital Marketing Lead

Northern Brewer

Responsible for leading online marketing initiatives for ecommerce retailer with a focus on driving ROI and making data-driven decisions to enhance customer segmentation and increase online market share.

Director of Online Marketing

Marketing Outfitters

Oversaw digital marketing strategies and deliverables for CPG client, managing account communication and directing project teams and process.

Digital Marketing & Account Director

Arc Worldwide | Leo Burnett USA

Drove digital innovation strategies for Fortune 200 CPG Company, to provide best-in-class digital thought leadership in digital technologies, emerging trends, and channels to both internal and external clients

• Conducted gap analyses, ROI, and cost / benefit analyses to establish feasibility and readiness for emerging technologies and provide a POV to achieve business goals
• Authored technology trends, POV and best practices papers, including such subject areas as search, loyalty, mobile, interactive retail, shopper marketing and emerging technologies
• Collaborated with a cross-functional project teams to develop innovative ideas into engagement driven solutions for web, email, mobile, search, social media, augmented reality, online customer service, and digital media
• Determined infrastructure build efficiencies and streamline processes in cooperation with site engineers

Director of Digital Strategy

Leapfrog Online

Directed cross-functional team for launch of multiple promotion websites, including creative production, content, SEO, SEM, online media, technical applications, product fulfillment, analytics, and reporting
							
• Drove 11,000% growth in credit card applications and 15,000% growth in new accounts for a major financial services company utilizing SEO, SEM, and affiliate marketing
• Reduced program CPA by 90% and eCPA by 78%
• Developed audience segmentation through analytics data to target consumer audience by demographics 
• Conducted multivariate landing page tests to optimize landing pages using Memetrics

Director of New Product Development

Oversaw all digital direct marketing display advertising programs for Leapfrog Online’s financial, telecommunications, and automotive clients

• Managed 640% growth in applications and 530% increase in acquisitions for client 
• Reduced eCPA of $1MM online advertising campaign by 98%, increasing conversation rates 33% through rigorous testing and optimization
• Researched new media opportunities, develop relationships with media vendors, and conduct media buys averaging $300K /month

Director of Portals & Content / Partner Marketing

Open World USA, Inc

Directed international online marketing initiatives for company's global portfolio of travel websites as well as their hotel client websites, including Peninsula, Pan Pacific, Rocco Forte, and SLH

• Managed company relationships with Google, Yahoo/Overture, and MSN, advising of latest online marketing strategies
• Implemented strategic email marketing program, with emphasis on such strategies as list testing, segmented mailings, and re-emailing based on analytical results of clickstream data
• Analyzed multiple web reports and conversion statistics to provide ROI of various marketing techniques
• Managed three online marketing managers on different continents who were responsible for global marketing programs in Asia and the Americas

Mobil Travel Guide

Drove new memberships online through search engine marketing and online promotions

• Managed Google Adwords campaign to drive free membership product and build opt-in email database, resulting in avg CTR of 15% and conversion rate of 35%, accounting for 77% of acquired membership base
• Grew website traffic to 180% growth in unique visitors and 228% growth in search engine visitors
• Devised online promotions and content driven communications to build free membership database to initiate future sales

Director of Web Marketing

EXPERIENCED B2B / B2C DIGITAL PROFESSIONAL
Digital Product Owner / Analytics / Digital Commerce & Marketing / Performance Measurement

Highly successful in taking diverse data pools and creating actionable insights to drive defined, measurable insights for digital products, campaigns, consumer insights and trends.

Seasoned digital marketing and analytics professional with diverse experience and proven results in performance measurement, data analysis, consumer insights, digital product development, ecommerce, digital advertising, online brand marketing, and emerging technologies. Specialized in delivering persona-based strategies to drive cross-channel participation, engagement, and defined transactions / metrics. Academic background includes an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird, Garvin School of International Management.

Core Competencies:
				
Data & Trend Analysis | Cross Functional Leadership | Digital Experience | Cost Benefit & ROI Analysis |  Client / Project Management | Email Journeys & Marketing | Campaign Optimization | SEO / SEM Advertising | Audience Segmentation | Digital Product Build & Optimization | Social Strategy & Purpose | Critical Thinking / Context

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Ian Beacraft

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