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Caffeine is obsolete.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

Identity

Head of Strategy and Innovation

Creative Strategist

World Metaverse Council

Art and Design Committee

Surreality

As the Co-founder and Creative Technologist at Surreality, I lead a dynamic start-up team and spearheaded revenue generation while delivering immersive video experiences in the VR/AR/XR/MR industry. With a strong focus on UX and UI design, I successfully collaborated with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders, resulting in award nominations and international recognition.
Key Contributions:
• Designed and developed a groundbreaking virtual-virtual production studio in VRChat, enabling live mixing of multiple cameras within a VR headset.
• Through User Research, redesigned a minimalistic, user-friendly UX and UI for VR car showrooms in Volkswagen (VW) branches, enhancing customer experiences for first-time VR users.
• Drew in a brand-new youth market segment for a luxury perfume brand through in interactive AR filter on Instagram, working with world-renowned Pixel Chefs
• Drove awareness for Netflix South Africa, engaging new audiences on TikTok with show-based AR camera effect.
• Created compelling short-form content for cross-segment clients in our proprietary VR studio.
• Drove brand-awareness and engagement through an immersive advertising video for Lama
Technologies for their web3 bank launch using cutting-edge realtime 3D rendering
• Interviewed thought-leaders in the XR, futurism and design communities on "The Soft Machine Metacast," the world’s first talk show filmed in the metaverse
• Reinvigorated SkillUP’s value proposition in the immersive learning landscape by strategically repositioning their offer, and dramatically simplifying client and user on-boarding through UX and UI improvements
• Out-performed client expectations by driving awareness of the brand launch through the innovative use of an avatar brand representative and corporate world-building using Unity, motion capture, and real-time rendering.

Creative Technologist and Co-Founder

ARuVR® (formerly VRtuoso)

As an Immersive Learning Technologist at ARuVR, I played a pivotal role in designing and developing VR-based learning experiences for esteemed corporate clients, including NEOM, PwC, and Coca-Cola.
Key Contributions:
• Engaged thousands of employees across companies like Coca-Cola, NEOM, and PwC, by leveraging my expertise in distilling client briefs, storyboarding 360° VR experiences, and overseeing production teams to create immersive learning experiences in VR.
• Drilled down to understand clients’ needs alongside business developers, client service and account managers, to direct video, photography, and 360° content teams to deliver projects that exceeded client expectations.
• Harnessed Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, VRtuoso's proprietary online authoring platform, Final Cut Pro, and Insta360 software suite to design and develop immersive learning experiences.
• Refined the UX and UI of ARuVR's platform, to enhance its user-friendliness for clients and facilitating the seamless creation and deployment of their own VR experiences.
• Through user research and usability testing, I was able to significantly improve the design and functionality of the platform, driving an increase in usage by existing clients.
• Successfully tackled complex learning outcomes by leveraging VR experience building and narrative journeys, ensuring optimal learning experiences for users.
Technical Skills:
Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, VRtuoso's proprietary online authoring platform, Final Cut Pro, Insta360 software suite, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint.
Notable Achievements:
Deployed multiple VR learning experiences for multinational clients, driving engagement and learning outcomes.
Challenges Overcome:
Translating complex learning objectives into immersive VR experiences, utilising creative problem- solving and narrative journeys. Additionally, designed user-friendly VR experiences tailored to new users.

Immersive Learning Technologist

Crossover for Work

As a UX/UI Design Lead at Trilogy, I played a key role in driving the design and user experience for key projects for schools and business acquisition platforms.
Key Contributions:
• Led the UX and UI design efforts to successfully deploy the ESW Data Room as a web app, collaborating closely with the SVP of Product and overseeing the integration between front- end and back-end development teams.
• Led the development of an internal Figma design library, adhering to Google's Material design and Atomic design principles, promoting design consistency and efficiency.
• Utilised Adobe Creative Suite, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Figma as primary tools for UX/UI design.
• Led a team of four designers and six developers, providing guidance on major UI design decisions, creating Atomic design assets, and overseeing design quality control.
• Conducted user research and usability testing throughout the design process to gather valuable insights and iteratively enhance the user experience.
• Overcame challenges related to loading speeds and information display in the ESW Data Room, implementing smart design decisions to optimise load times and improve perceived wait times.
• Led the product launch of the ESW Data Room and contributed to iterations of the Alpha Schools dashboard.
Technical Skills:
Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Google Docs, and Google Sheets.
Notable Achievements:
Successful launch of the ESW Data Room, driving significant business growth through acquisitions of high-value companies.

UX Design Lead

Clearwater

As a Creative Director at Clearwater, I played a pivotal role in creating immersive experiences and driving innovation in the AR/VR/MR/XR industries. Collaborating with teams of different disciplines, clients, and external vendors, I set out to create magical VR experiences and interactive personalised videos that surprised and delighted.
Key Contributions:
• Designed and developed immersive VR experiences for corporate clients, ensuring optimal user experiences through UX and UI design.
• Led the creative direction of promotional videos, leveraging storytelling and visual aesthetics to captivate audiences through personalised video
• Spearheaded the establishment of the immersive learning division, researching and developing VR applications in healthcare, including content creation and UX design.
• Collaborated with creative directors, editors, developers, production crews, and talent such as actors and voice-over artists to deliver high-quality video experiences.
• Conducted 360° VR livestreaming of sports events for Supersport
•  Guided clients in transitioning conferences and summits to virtual events, ensuring engaging and immersive experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic

Creative Director

EDEN

As a Creative Technologist at Eden, I played a pivotal role in creating immersive experiences and driving innovation in the AR/VR/MR/XR industries. Collaborating with teams of different disciplines, clients, and external vendors, I set out to create magical VR experiences that surprised and delighted.
Key Contributions:
• Designed and developed immersive VR experiences for corporate clients, ensuring optimal user experiences through UX and UI design.
• Spearheaded the establishment of the immersive learning division, researching and developing VR applications in healthcare, including content creation and UX design.
• Conceptualised and launched an immersive digital gallery, curating and designing user experiences that showcased virtual art installations.
• Collaborated with creative directors, editors, developers, production crews, and talent such as actors and voice-over artists to deliver high-quality immersive experiences.
• Successfully launched the AR/VR Invisible Exhibition, conducted 360° VR livestreaming of sports events for Supersport, and filmed and produced William Kentridge's first VR art film.
• Curated and designed the UX for the Reach For a Dream VR experience, bringing joy and immersive moments to terminally ill children.
• Managed a creative team consisting of graphic designers, broadcast design animators, and developers, both in-house and external contractors.
• Conducted user research and employed innovative techniques to refine and improve the design of VR experiences, contributing to new product development.
• Overcame technical challenges, including live-streaming 360° content in real-time from remote locations and addressing VR motion sickness in children's experiences.
• Achieved significant milestones such as the launch of the Snacker VR system and the integration of the DreamRoom VR experience for Reach for a Dream.
• Keynote speaker on immersive VR art and featured in national news broadcasts.

Creative Technologist

Unreal Industries

BLQ (BLAQUE LIFE QUARTERLY)

South African Music Awards

I led brand strategy, art direction, logo and graphic toolkit design, stage design, music performance direction, and sponsorship activations to a live audience of 18 million+ viewers.

Malcolm is an award-winning Creative Strategist and TEDx speaker with over 20 years of experience leading creative teams across events, broadcast television, advertising, and metaverse projects. His broad expertise across creative disciplines allows him to bridge gaps between creative and execution, consistently placing people at the centre of the experience. Malcolm pushes limits on what storytelling can achieve by harnessing emerging technologies like algorithmic video, XR, and the metaverse to produce tangible, award-winning work for global brands. Currently researching towards a Masters degree in Design Philosophy, Malcolm strives to redefine innovation with deep understanding across physical, digital, and Web3 landscapes, having played a pivotal role in developing compelling experiences.

taplio

The Battle

Ian Beacraft

Malcolm Ché

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