Daniel G. Faggella, M.A.
Daniel G. Faggella, M.A. is the Founder and Strategic Advisor of Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, Founder of The Trajectory podcast, and an AI Futures Group Member at OECD.AI, with over a decade of experience in artificial intelligence market research, enterprise AI strategy, and AGI policy.
He is an internationally recognized speaker on the business applications and long-term implications of artificial intelligence, regularly called upon by organizations including the United Nations, INTERPOL, the World Bank, and the OECD to address AI’s near-term and existential risks.
Daniel is known for his unbiased voice covering the applications and implications of artificial intelligence in industry and society, serving over 1.5 million enterprise readers and listeners annually through Emerj’s media platforms. As Founder Emeritus and Strategic Advisor at Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research, Daniel continues to guide the company’s leadership team in expanding research and editorial coverage while working with major marketing services clients across Big Tech, global consulting firms, and unicorn startups.
He founded Emerj (originally TechEmergence) in 2012 as a market research and publishing firm focused on the business return on investment of AI. Under his leadership as CEO and Head of Research from 2018 to 2025, Emerj connected leading AI vendors to Fortune 500 AI leaders through educative content, demand generation, and executive introductions. The company’s media and publishing operations in B2B AI attract over 1.5 million readers and listeners per year. Listen to The AI in Business Podcast.
Daniel hosts the AI in Business Podcast, which has accumulated over 6 million lifetime downloads since launching in 2013. The podcast features interviews with top AI executives from Fortune 500 firms and unicorn startups, including the Head of Core Machine Learning at Facebook, the former Head of AI at HSBC, and the Head of AI at Raytheon, as well as leading AI researchers such as Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell.
In April 2024, Daniel founded The Trajectory, a podcast and newsletter focused on the realpolitik of artificial general intelligence and the posthuman transition. The Trajectory explores AGI governance, bringing together leading thinkers in policy, academia, and business to discuss where humanity is headed and what should be done about it. Past guests include Stuart Russell, Ben Goertzel, Craig Mundie, and other prominent voices in AI safety and governance. Listen to The Trajectory on Spotify.
Since 2019, Daniel has served as an AI Futures Group Member at OECD.AI, focusing on AI future scenarios, risks and opportunities of advanced AI systems, and related policy considerations within international policy settings. He joined the OECD’s AI One group around the time it was founded and has been with the AI Futures group since its inception.
Daniel has presented on AI and emerging technologies at multiple TEDx events, including the presentations Can AI Make The World a Better Place? at Cal Poly, What will we do when the robots can feel? at Amoskeag Millyard, Tinkering with consciousness at Springfield, and Job Security in the Age of Artificial Intelligence at TEDxURI.
He has also given presentations at nearly all the Ivy League universities, including Yale, Brown, and Harvard, as well as some of the largest artificial intelligence events globally. His speaking engagements have addressed audiences at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on deepfakes and AI’s security implications, INTERPOL World 2019 in Singapore on programmatically generated content, the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and the World Bank on AI in healthcare. Read Can Abuse of AI Agents Shape The Future of Human Computer Interaction?
Daniel’s AI predictions and research have been featured in TechCrunch, Inc, Forbes, Xconomy, and more. His research is referenced in Harvard Business Review, the World Economic Forum, MIT Technology Review, and the Pew Research Center. He has written for and been featured in publications including HuffPost, VICE, VentureBeat, TechRadar, and Futurism.
Between January 2014 and January 2019, Daniel founded and served as CEO of Science of Skill, an Inc. 5000 online education and e-commerce company developed from his thesis research at the University of Pennsylvania. The company focused on self-defense and self-protection training, achieving $2 million in revenues in 2016 with a 1,100% cumulative growth rate over three years. Daniel sold Science of Skill for over $1 million in February 2017 to fund TechEmergence (later Emerj), demonstrating his commitment to self-funding his AI research venture rather than relying on institutional investors. Read Tech Emergence Founder Dan Fagella Announces The Sale Of Science Of Skill.
Daniel earned his Master’s degree in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011, studying under Martin Seligman, with his thesis focusing on skill development and skill acquisition. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2010, where he received the 10 Under 10 Alumni Award in 2018 recognizing his professional achievements.
After completing his master’s degree, Daniel attended MIT Sloan classes to pursue his passion for the ethical concerns and societal impact of artificial intelligence. Daniel is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt who won the title of 2011 national champion at the IBJJF No-Gi Pan American Games. He won gold in nearly a dozen national and international Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions and is best known for defeating larger opponents, including his 12-second victory over 220-pound UFC fighter Pat Walsh. Watch Dan Faggella Versus The Giant.
Originally from Wakefield, Rhode Island, Daniel now lives in Austin, Texas. His life purpose since the age of 24 has been to influence and encourage a global conversation around AI and neurotechnology policy and innovation, with a focus on guiding the developments of technology and policy that may guide life beyond humanity. His work explores the concept of creating a “worthy successor” to humanity through responsible AI development. Read The International Governance of AI – We Unite or We Fight. Watch 80: Daniel Faggella – Neohuman, Options for the future of the global governance of AI, and Dan Faggella on the Race to AGI.
Read Can Artificial Intelligence Make the World a Better Place? and Artificial General Intelligence — Finding the Good is Better Than Doing Good.
Listen to Defining Artificial Intelligence with Daniel Faggella.
Visit his LinkedIn profile, Personal Homepage, MarketingProfs, and OECD.AI profile. Follow him on X, YouTube, Vimeo, and SlideShare.