Future of Work Keynote on Age

Turn age intoyour team’sadvantage.

Keynotes and workshops on age and the future of work, face-to-face or virtual. Your talent pool is shrinking, your workforce is getting older, and institutional wisdom is quietly walking out the door. Dan Pontefract’s sessions show leaders how to turn age into an asset.

Check a date See the sessions

1,000+Sessions delivered

10–200People per session

2026The Future of Work Is Grey published

BothFace-to-face & virtual

$Dan Pontefract delivering The Age Opportunity keynote$ 01Keynote $Dan Pontefract facilitating The Keys to an Age-Ready Team workshop$ 02Workshop $Dan Pontefract leading an age-ready team session$ 03Teams

$Dan Pontefract laughing mid-session$
$Dan Pontefract facilitating a leadership session$
$Dan Pontefract energizing a workshop group$
$Dan Pontefract explaining a point to a group$
$Dan Pontefract making a point during a workshop$
$Dan Pontefract in conversation with a participant$

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The framework

Stop paying Age Debt. Collect the Dividend.

Age Debt is the organizational failure to plan for and value age, resulting in capability loss and a weakened workforce. Dan Pontefract coined the term in his 2026 book The Future of Work Is Grey.

The Experience Dividend is the payoff that arrives when organizations leverage age as an asset rather than a liability.

01Career CanvasA framework for workers to develop, perform, and excel across all ages and stages.

02Wisdom WheelFormal systems for multi-directional knowledge transfer across the River, Rock, and Ruby eras.

03Longevity LensA work environment where well-being is prioritized throughout careers, well past the sixties.

04Rivers, Rocks, RubiesThree age eras of the workforce: early career, mid-career, and seasoned experts.

What is the Experience Dividend?Check a date

Pick your session

Age and future of work sessions leaders ask for.

One keynote and one workshop. Tap any one for what it covers and the full outline to share with your team. Every session is tailored to your event theme.

The Age Opportunity, the keynote

Why the Future of Work Is Grey.

Your talent pool is shrinking, your workforce is getting older, and institutional wisdom is quietly walking out the door. Most organizations treat age as a liability.

This keynote shows leaders how to stop paying Age Debt and start collecting the Experience Dividend instead, using the Career Canvas, the Wisdom Wheel, and the Longevity Lens. Based on The Future of Work Is Grey.

$Dan Pontefract leading The Age Opportunity, the keynote$ Download the outline

The Keys to an Age-Ready Team, the workshop

Turn age into your advantage.

Careers are stretching longer and workplaces hold a wider mix of ages than ever, yet most teams still operate without ever discussing it. Based on Dan Pontefract’s book, The Future of Work Is Grey, this workshop helps teams find the age debt hiding in their practices and convert it into an experience dividend.

Covers the demographic reality, where bias hides, Career Canvas versus Ladder, and Wisdom Wheel knowledge transfer, with the Age Awareness assessments completed as pre-work. See all workshops.

$Dan Pontefract leading The Keys to an Age-Ready Team, the workshop$ Download the outline

Good questions

Before you book.

What is Age Debt?

The organizational failure to plan for and value age, resulting in capability loss and a weakened workforce. Dan Pontefract coined the term in his 2026 book The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce.

What is the Experience Dividend?

The payoff that arrives when organizations leverage age as an asset rather than a liability. It is the counterpart, and the cure, to Age Debt.

What are Rivers, Rocks, and Rubies?

The three age eras of the workforce: early career (Rivers), mid-career (Rocks), and seasoned experts (Rubies). The framework replaces generational labels with a more useful way of seeing talent, and all of us pass through the three eras in our careers.

Which session suits our event?

The Age Opportunity keynote suits conferences and leadership events. The Keys to an Age-Ready Team workshop suits teams that want to work through age in their own practices. Every session is tailored to your event theme.

Is there pre-work for the workshop?

Yes. Participants complete the Age Awareness assessments as pre-work.

Does Dan Pontefract speak in the United States?

Yes. Dan is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and delivers keynotes and workshops across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as virtually anywhere in the world. To check a date, use the contact form with your event date, audience size, and theme.

Let's build age-ready teams.

Share your event date, audience, and theme. That is enough to tell you which session fits, or whether we should build one from scratch.

Check a date See all keynotes

Planning an event on culture and purpose? See the culture and purpose speaker page. Or see the leadership keynote and workshop page.

Planning an event?Keynotes and workshops on age and the future of work.Check a date →

Testimonials

Dan was incredibly collaborative, ensuring our session was tailored to meet our needs. He was both engaging and knowledgeable, using illustrative examples that showcased his expertise and providing tools for leaders to leverage immediately. Additionally, he injected a sense of fun that made the topic not only interesting but also entertaining.

Frank Monteleone, CHRO & CPO, Rexall Pharmacy Group Ltd.
Dan Pontefract delivered a powerful, thought‑provoking keynote session that resonated deeply with every attendee. His ability to blend compelling storytelling with actionable insights was nothing short of extraordinary.

Sidh NC, Director, QnA International, UAE
We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We can’t thank you enough.

Malin Björnell, Salesforce
Dan was engaging, authentic, and full of energy. His keynote connected with our audience and left them inspired. A true professional and a pleasure to work with.

Erin Whetstone, Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA)
Dan Pontefract’s keynote on the importance of workplace culture in employee engagement was excellent. Dan used his vast leadership experience to provide our conference attendees with practical strategies to build teams that are engaged and committed. His relatable, real-life examples were thought provoking, memorable and very personal, creating a connection to the audience. I would highly recommend Dan as an entertaining keynote speaker who delivers content that is relevant and actionable.

Michelle Hillyard, Director SCU
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, ‘There is no ownership without belonging.’

Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!

Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how we’re going to be leading the next generation of leaders.

Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizer’s ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.

Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.

Hermann Handa, FCT

The Age Opportunity