Manuel Serrano Ortega
Manuel Serrano Ortega looking out over a city skyline at dusk

FI / Future Intelligence

Manuel Serrano Ortega

Entrepreneur · Investor · Foresight Strategist

ANTICIPATE
THE FUTURE.

Future Intelligence for leaders.

Trusted advisor to CEOs, founders & boards navigating what comes next.

Explore

FI / 001

FUTURE
INTELLIGENCE.

The future rarely arrives without warning. It starts as a signal. A new behaviour. A technology. A regulation. A shift in expectations. A company doing something differently.

The challenge is not simply seeing those signals.

It is understanding which ones matter, what they could mean and what to do about them.

  1. Signal
  2. Foresight
  3. Meaning
  4. Decision
  5. Action

Future Intelligence is the ability to turn emerging change into better strategic decisions.

Positioning

I HELP LEADERS
SEE WHAT’S NEXT.

For almost two decades I have worked around a single question:

What comes next?

I research how markets, technology, consumers and society are changing, so leaders and organisations can move earlier.

Not to predict the future.

To be better prepared for it.

See earlier. Understand better. Decide better.

Experience / 001

EXPERIENCE
TURNED INTO FORESIGHT.

18+

Years anticipating change

500+

Companies advised

750+

Research & intelligence projects

100+

Industries explored

From emerging signals to strategic decisions.

FI / 002 — Advisory

A TRUSTED ADVISOR
FOR WHAT’S NEXT.

Two executives in a quiet working conversation across a table in a minimal room

The decisions that truly matter are rarely made with all the information.

I work alongside CEOs, founders, leadership teams and boards, bringing an outside perspective to the questions that can transform a business.

My work combines strategic foresight, Future Intelligence and business judgement to turn uncertainty into strategic options.

  • What is changing?

  • What could happen next?

  • What does it mean for us?

  • What should we do?

Strategic Foresight · Future Intelligence · Executive Advisory

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FI / Principles

ANTICIPATE.

See change before it becomes obvious.

DECIDE.

Turn intelligence into strategic choices.

ACT.

Transform opportunities into action.

Build / 001

BUILDING
WHAT’S NEXT.

I don’t only study change.

I build around it.

I create and develop companies and projects in the spaces where I see structural transformation and new opportunity.

Invest / 001

INVESTING IN
TRANSFORMATION.

I invest where structural change creates long-term opportunity.

I am drawn to the businesses, assets and projects sitting at the intersection of transformation and opportunity.

A man standing alone at a tall window of a concrete building, looking out over a wide quiet landscape

Investment Interests

  • 01Artificial Intelligence
  • 02Longevity
  • 03Education
  • 04Hospitality
  • 05Real Estate
  • 06Future of Work
  • 07New Business Models
Investment interests

FI / 003 — Research

SEE WHAT
OTHERS DON’T.

Researching the forces reshaping business and society.

Research has always been at the centre of my work. I study emerging signals, technologies, behaviours, new business models and social transformations to understand not only what is happening, but what could happen next.

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FI / 004 — Thinking

IDEAS FOR
WHAT COMES NEXT.

Ideas, analysis and perspectives on the transformations that could reshape how we live, work, invest and build.

01

Coolhunting is no longer about trends. It's about anticipating the future before the competition.

ARTICLE · Future Intelligence · 09 Mar 2026 · LinkedIn

02

Business Coolhunting: the discipline that separates companies that lead from those that react too late

ARTICLE · Strategy · 17 Dec 2025 · LinkedIn

Read the journal

Author / Selected books

IDEAS THAT
BECAME BOOKS.

More than 10 books published.

Writing has been part of my work for years. Books create the space to develop ideas beyond a project, a presentation or a conversation.

01

Design Thinking

Lead the present. Create the future.

ESIC Editorial · 2015

02

The Coolhunting White Paper

Autor-editor · 2011

03

The Future of Education

Explore books

FI / Signal

THE FUTURE DOESN'T
ARRIVE ALL AT ONCE.

IT STARTS
AS A SIGNAL.

Speak / 001

IDEAS
WORTH SHARING.

A speaker in a dark suit on a dimly lit theater stage, standing alone under a single warm light before a large audience

I speak about the transformations shaping business, leadership and society — and what leaders can do before they become obvious.

Territories of conversation

  • 01Future Intelligence
  • 02Strategic Foresight
  • 03Artificial Intelligence
  • 04Future of Business
  • 05Silver Economy
  • 06Future of Work
  • 07Consumer Transformation
  • 08Entrepreneurship
Invite Manuel to speak

Now / 2026

WHAT I’M
BUILDING NOW.

Ideas, companies and projects currently taking shape.

  1. 01

    FUTURE INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS

    Developing new ways for executives to understand change and make better strategic decisions.

  2. 02

    LONGEVITY

    Exploring one of the largest economic, social and business transformations of the coming decades.

  3. 03

    NEW VENTURES

    Turning emerging opportunities into companies, platforms and new business models.

  4. 04

    HOSPITALITY

    Creating distinctive projects at the intersection of business, culture and experience.

Person / 001

ALWAYS
LOOKING AHEAD.

Manuel Serrano Ortega seated by a window in natural light, wearing a fine-knit polo, looking away from the camera with a relaxed expression

An engineer by training and an entrepreneur by vocation, I have spent most of my career trying to understand how the world changes.

That interest in anticipating what comes next has led me to research hundreds of markets and sectors, work alongside large organisations, build companies, develop new projects and invest across different types of assets.

Today my work comes down to three verbs:

BUILD.

Creating companies, projects and ideas.

INVEST.

Backing opportunities with long-term potential.

ADVISE.

Helping decision-makers stay ahead of change.

And I keep asking the same question that has guided most of my career:

WHAT COMES NEXT?

My story

Selected Companies & Organisations

  • IKEA
  • BBVA
  • Coca-Cola
  • Nestlé
  • Leroy Merlin
  • WPP
  • Mahou
  • ESIC
  • Acciona

FI / Future Intelligence

THE FUTURE ISN’T
SOMETHING
TO WAIT FOR.

IT’S SOMETHING
TO ANTICIPATE.

Let’s talk about what’s next.

AdvisoryBusinessInvestmentSpeaking

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