Topics: futurist, sohail inayatullah

SPEAK to Sohail Inayatullah for 46 minutes, and don't be alarmed, firstly, if your head hurts.

Also, try not to be surprised by the impressive list of people and organisations he has worked with, a sort of name-dropping on humble steroids.

The Singapore Prime Minister's office, Interpol, Australian Federal Police, BUPA, Victorian Museum, Boeing, Queensland Libraries, Victoria Health, Islamic scientists in Pakistan, Gold Coast council, the Hawaii State Judiciary, a "large cola company" and the Dubai Ministry.

Who is he?

Born in Pakistan, Sohail moved countries every two years due to his parents' work, living in Geneva, Malaysia, New York, Hawaii and Brisbane. He moved to Mooloolaba in 1999, lured by beachy promises from a QUT academic who heard him deliver a speech in Finland.

He has a PhD in political science and macro history, the study of big patterns of change going back thousands of years. He is an adjunct professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is a Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation and part of the International Advisory Council of the World Future Society.

Aged 55, he has two children, a daughter in Year 12 at Mountain Creek and a son studying linguistics in Barcelona. He became a vegetarian in 1975. He travels overseas delivering speeches four months of the year, and is home in Mooloolaba for the remaining eight months.

What does he do?

It can be hard to get your head around, but the question probably should be: what doesn't he do? He travels the world running foresight workshops. He says his job is not to predict but to "help with scenarios" to create a preferred future.

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Futurist asks the right questions