Caroline Stokes is the author of AfterShock to 2030, a radical roadmap for leaders navigating climate collapse, AI acceleration, and economic and societal turmoil. Her groundbreaking coaching model guides CEOs and culture-first leaders to successfully recalibrate their approach toward the mega-changes defining our new era.

A former Sony executive who helped launch PlayStation, and a PCC-level, EQ 2.0?certified coach, Caroline evolved from executive headhunter to a global authority on trauma-aware, AI-integrated leadership transformation. She works with founders, boards, and leadership teams to design intelligent, sovereign, and trust-based systems that meet the complexity of our time.

A pioneer of emotionally intelligent coaching, Caroline is the author of Elephants Before Unicorns: Emotionally Intelligent HR Strategies to Save Your Company (Entrepreneur Press, 2019). She is also co-author of a chapter in the HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace (Harvard Business Review Press, 2024), and contributor to Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors (Wiley, 2022).

Caroline has spoken globally?from the World Bank in Washington, D.C., to IEEE-USA in Alaska, to innovation summits in London, Singapore, and Los Angeles. Her insights have been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Chief Executive Magazine, Success, Bulletproof Radio, and The Globe and Mail.

Her 2025 book marks a definitive break from obsolete leadership theatre, preparing a new kind of leader for the age of collapse and convergence.

Caroline lives in Vancouver, Canada, and works globally as a strategic facilitator and leadership guide.

Darrell M. West is a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and a co-editor-in-chief of TechTank. Prior to joining Brookings, he was the John Hazen White Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University. He is the author of numerous books on American politics, campaigns and elections, and technology policy. His books include The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation and Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust.