Paco Underhill

Paco Underhill Speaker Biography

For 40 years, Paco Underhill has been an observer of how humanity’s relationship with technology and the built environment has changed. He has shared those insights on the global speaking circuit for more than 20 years. Equally comfortable in front of audiences in Moscow or Scottsdale, Paco’s speaking sessions span a wide spectrum of topics, while anchored in an understanding of human behavior.

Paco’s global talks have included two global tours for Samsung: The Future of Communication and The Internet of Things, with customization for Latin, African, European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Russian audiences (making him quite experienced working with translators). He has performed in more than 50 countries, talking to a diverse cross-section of audiences: bankers, merchants, technologists, students, hospital administrators, and industry groups. Each presentation he gives is customized to the relevant audience.

A prolific writer, Paco’s books include Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, which is still sold globally. It was released in 28 languages and is used in MBA programs and design schools. Simon & Schuster will publish Paco’s upcoming book, What We Eat, which will focus on the food and drink industry in the 21st century. He is a regular columnist for The Robin Report and Design: Retail. His articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and many national and international magazines.

Paco balances speaking and writing with serving as the CEO of Envirosell, whose clients include Fortune 50 companies in 46 countries, with work done in collaboration with Envirosell’s global offices. Paco’s experiences helping clients monetize and actively respond to social change help make his speaking content both current and provocative. From his early life teaching in the Doctoral Program in Environmental Psychology at City University in New York City to being part of the team of that re-wrote commercial zoning laws for cities across the USA, Paco’s “boots on the ground” point of view is consistently refreshing and real.

The son of a diplomat, Paco grew up traveling the world and has yet to stop. He has served on the board of a Brazilian shopping mall company, an Israeli tech firm, and the leading Japanese advertising agency. He served a three-year term on the Board of Advisors at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington and has worked with numerous cultural institutions, including Art Institute in Chicago, Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, and the Phoenix Zoo.

In addition to keynoting, Paco is willing and able to conduct workshops and lead walking tour/clinics – whether for conference sponsors or senior executive groups as a follow up to his talk.

Paco’s most popular program is The Science of Shopping – based on the profile of Paco published in The New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell. That program has been customized for industry groups: food/ grocery, fashion footwear, drug stores, the greeting card, and stationery industry, retail telecoms, mass merchants, the global beauty industry, restaurant and QSRs, consumer electronics, furniture stores, the pet care industry, and more.

Other programs include Learning from Emerging Markets (looking at what developers are doing outside North America and Europe) and The Future of Clean.

Paco’s insightful and entertaining presentations have been lauded worldwide. His years of experience across a multitude of industries and places allow him to relate to audiences of all types and sizes.

Paco lives in New York City with his Turkish wife and teenage children.