Institute for the Future

Name

Institute for the Future

Legal name

Institute for the Future

Website

https://iftf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategic Advisory Services: Custom research, workshops, training, and strategic guidance engagements with organizations seeking to build strategic foresight capacity and navigate large-scale change.
2. Vantage Partnership Membership: Annual partnership program providing organizations with strategic intelligence access, quarterly research meetups, signals memos, Ten-Year Forecast access, and foresight training. Includes coaching on applying strategic foresight.
3. Foresight Training Programs: Fee-based training programs including Foresight Essentials (in-person and online formats) and Experiential Futures workshops, providing comprehensive tools and methods for foresight professionals.
4. Custom Research and Reports: Custom foresight research projects commissioned by government agencies, foundations, and organizations. Reports on specific sectors or topics such as Australian agriculture, California creative economy, and climate action.
5. Donations and Charitable Support: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, IFTF receives charitable donations and philanthropic support from foundations to fund research initiatives and public good work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IFTF is an independent, nonprofit futures research organization that delivers strategic foresight services to organizations, governments, and foundations. Its core offerings include the Vantage Partnership membership program providing ongoing strategic intelligence and research access, custom Strategic Advisory Services built on the Prepare-Foresight-Insight-Action framework, and fee-based Foresight Essentials and Experiential Futures training programs, supplemented by annual Ten-Year Forecast research publications.

Product overview

Institute for the Future (IFTF) is a futures research and strategic advisory organization offering a portfolio of foresight services rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include the IFTF Vantage Partnership (a membership program providing strategic intelligence, quarterly research meetups, and access to IFTF's expert network via Vantage Point and Future Factors dashboards), Strategic Advisory Services (custom research, workshops, and training built on the Prepare-Foresight-Insight-Action framework), and the annual Ten-Year Forecast showcase. Supporting products include IFTF Social Simulation workshops (immersive future scenario experiences), Foresight Essentials Training (live-online and in-person programs in Palo Alto), IFTF Climate+ Services (climate strategy workshops and engagements), and interactive research maps such as the Seeds of Disruption Map and Map of the Decade series. The organization also publishes research reports, runs the Future Now Podcast, and conducts custom projects on topics including AI scenario planning for elections, equitable enterprise, future of work, and food systems. No public API is offered; all services are delivered through advisory engagements, training programs, and web-based partner portals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IFTF Vantage Partnership Annual subscription partnership providing organizations with cutting-edge foresight research, strategic intelligence access, quarterly futures research meetups, the Ten-Year Forecast, and coaching to build organizational foresight capacity.
• Strategic Advisory Services Custom research, workshops, training, and strategic foresight guidance engagements built on the Prepare-Foresight-Insight-Action (PFIA) framework supported by over 50 years of IFTF research, delivered to organizations, governments, and foundations.
• Foresight Essentials Training Comprehensive foresight training programs delivered in-person in Palo Alto, CA and via multi-week live-online cohorts, teaching tools and methods for the complete foresight professional.
• Ten-Year Forecast IFTF's annual showcase of critical forecasts and forces shaping the coming decade, featuring in-depth research and expert presentations, included with Vantage Partnership and available to the public.
• IFTF Social Simulations Provocative, immersive scenario-based experiences that let organizations pre-experience potential futures, expand possibilities, and challenge assumptions through vivid future scenarios.
• IFTF Climate+ Services A suite of climate strategy offerings including workshops and a one-year Climate-Positive Organizational Transition Plan engagement, derived from IFTF's climate-positive forecasts to help organizations reduce carbon footprints.
• Map of the Decade Annual long-range research reports examining critical forces shaping the decade ahead across science and technology, climate, and organizational readiness.
• Future Factors Platform A web-based Vantage partner platform providing dashboards and signals sensemaking tools for tracking emerging trends and drivers of change.
• Experiential Futures Training A two-week live-online experiential training program designed to make the future come alive in the present through scenario-based learning.

Quantifiable outcome

• Participants in The Lumisphere Experience reported increased optimism, hope, and 'urgent optimism' — the belief that individuals can shape a better future
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• California Arts CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024IFTF partnered with the California Arts Council and its Creative Economy Workgroup to develop the first-ever strategic plan for California's creative economy, including Six Priority Action Areas for 2025-2035. The plan addresses workforce preparation, business scaling, cultural identity preservation, and ROI measurement.
• 1000 Friends of OregoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaborative effort with policy advocates, community members, and IFTF futurists to create Oregon 2035: Four Alternative Scenarios addressing climate-driven migration, environmental instability, affordable housing, and rural economic development.
• Brennan Center for Justice at NYU LawcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024The Brennan Center partnered with IFTF and The Elections Group to develop the AI Scenario Planner helping election officials identify, prepare for, and respond to AI threats to elections.
• The Elections GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Nonpartisan election administration consulting firm partnered with IFTF and Brennan Center to create AI Scenario Planner for election officials, drawing on lessons from Arizona tabletop exercises.
• Youth Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnered with IFTF on On the Threshold of Change report using strategic foresight to develop a vision for better outcomes for youth exiting foster care by 2035.
• AgriFutures AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2021AgriFutures Australia partnered with IFTF as part of the AgriFutures National Rural Issues Program to examine potential future opportunities, risks, and disruptions to the Australian agricultural system on a ten-year horizon.
• California Future of Work CommissionflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019IFTF worked with Governor Gavin Newsom's California Future of Work Commission to conduct research and provide recommendations to 'future-proof' California's workforce. IFTF's Equitable Futures Lab conducted research culminating in a New Social Compact for Work and Workers with five priority goals by 2030.
• California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017CSULB partnered with IFTF since 2017 to develop the Foresight Fundamentals Training program, a three-part series equipping faculty, staff, and students with strategic foresight tools for the Beach 2030 planning initiative.
• Agthentic AdvisoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced the Future Forces: A Ten-Year Horizon for Australian Agriculture report with IFTF.
• Visions2030minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator of The Lumisphere Experience, a three-dome immersive art installation. IFTF conducted research on the installation's impact on optimism and urgent optimism among participants.
• Minds Over MatterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-creator of The Lumisphere Experience immersive art installation with Visions2030. IFTF researched participant outcomes from the installation.
• Museu do AmanhãminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum in Rio de Janeiro that hosted The Lumisphere Experience as part of climate-focused programming tied to COP30.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Shaping Tomorrow: Shaping Tomorrow provides a foresight platform and advisory services for horizon scanning and scenario planning. It overlaps with IFTF's Vantage Point and Future Factors platforms as well as its advisory practice.
• Kedge (Kedge Future Thinking): Kedge is a futures consultancy offering foresight research, scenario planning, and strategic advisory services to corporate and government clients. Comparable to IFTF's Strategic Advisory and Vantage Partnership offerings in scope and customer base.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a nonprofit research institution producing long-horizon policy and strategy research for government, foundations, and enterprise. It is directly comparable to IFTF as an independent, mission-driven think tank delivering foresight and research to similar public-sector and philanthropic clients.
• Fast Future: Fast Future is a specialist foresight and scenario-planning consultancy serving governments, multilaterals, and enterprises. It is a direct competitor to IFTF's Strategic Advisory practice, particularly for custom scenario projects and foresight training.

Others

• Climate Central: Climate Central is a nonprofit research and communications organization producing climate science and impact research. Comparable as a 501(c)(3) research nonprofit serving government and media with foresight-style climate analysis, though more narrowly focused on climate than IFTF.
• World Economic Forum: The WEF publishes annual global risks reports and long-horizon foresight research that competes for enterprise and government attention alongside IFTF's Ten-Year Forecast. Not a direct commercial competitor but a comparable thought-leadership institution.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte (Insights / Center for the Edge): Deloitte's Insights and Center for the Edge publish long-form research on technology, work, and macro trends for enterprise clients. Overlaps with IFTF on foresight content and enterprise advisory but within a much broader professional services portfolio.
• McKinsey Global Institute: MGI is the research and foresight arm of McKinsey & Company, publishing long-horizon research on global economic and technology trends. It competes with IFTF for enterprise attention on strategic foresight and trend analysis but operates as part of a much larger consulting platform.
• Bain & Company (Macro Trends Group): Bain's strategy consulting practice incorporates long-horizon macro trend research and scenario work for enterprise clients. Overlaps with IFTF's custom advisory and Ten-Year Forecast-style deliverables but at much larger scale.

Regional players

• Institute for the Future (IFTF) — secondary peer: The Long Now Foundation: The Long Now Foundation is a nonprofit that promotes long-term thinking through the 10,000-year clock and long-horizon projects. Comparable to IFTF in its mission to encourage long-term thinking, though its delivery model (cultural projects, education) differs from IFTF's applied advisory and training model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iftf
• Facebookfacebook.com/InstituteForTheFuture
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/institute-for-the-future

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Institute for the Future