Featured Session: Actionable Ikigai: Career Planning in the age of AI

Event ID: PP1148496

Mon, Mar 16, 2026 | 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Venue: Hilton Grand Ballroom (Salon HJK) (Hilton Austin Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

Most career advice stinks. Why? Because we can’t manage what we don’t measure, and most of us are flying blind. Join futurist and three-time SXSW fan favorite Mike Bechtel as he turns his foresight toolkit inward and demystifies the future of career planning in the age of AI with a flight-tested dashboard he’s used himself for the past 20 years. Over the course of this session, Mike will offer the audience tips, techniques, and even take-home-tech to help them determine their "reason-for-being“, plot a practical path to get there, and critically, know when to make course corrections. Tuned towards early to mid-stage professionals, with relevance to students and senior leaders seeking a recalibration, this fast, story-rich session blends personality with practicality, giving today’s audience the mindset and toolset to design more intentional futures.

Contributors

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