Keynote 01
AI and the Future of Work
How AI changes jobs, careers, management, and the structure of work.
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Introduction — for your emcee
Our next speaker studies what happens after a company buys AI and discovers that the software was the easy part. He is an Associate Professor at Washington and Lee University, an advisor to executives, founders, and private equity teams, and the author of AI Will Take Your Job. Please welcome Jeff Schatten. (Pronounced SHAT-en.)
Short bio — 50 words
Jeff Schatten is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Washington and Lee University and author of AI Will Take Your Job (and It's for the Best) (Emerald, 2025). He advises executives, founders, and private equity teams on the organizational side of AI adoption. His writing appears in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The LA Times.
Full bio — 150 words
Jeff Schatten is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Washington and Lee University, where his research and consulting explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, organizational behavior, and leadership. His consulting and speaking engagements guide executives and private equity firms through the cultural and operational challenges of AI adoption. He is the author of AI Will Take Your Job (and It's for the Best) (Emerald Publishing, 2025), written during a year in Barcelona. His academic work appears in journals including Leadership Quarterly and Negotiation Journal and has earned the Southern Management Association's Best Paper in Organizational Behavior; his thought leadership has been published in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The LA Times. He hosts the Demystifying Organizations podcast and teaches "Leading Teams," which pairs students with incarcerated individuals to explore leadership in extreme contexts.
Keynote descriptions
Six keynotes, all working the same seam: which workflows AI truly changes, where the organization resists, and what to redesign first. Each is rebuilt for the room.
Keynote 02
The AI-Native Company
What organizations look like when AI is built into how the company operates.
Keynote 03
From Copilots to Agents
How AI moves from assisting employees to actually performing and coordinating work.
Keynote 04
What Are Humans For?
What leadership, judgment, expertise, and human contribution mean in an AI world.
Keynote 05 · For security companies
AI Has Left the Camera
How AI is reshaping the security industry far beyond surveillance.
For decades, security systems created value by preventing loss. AI is pushing those same cameras and sensors deeper into the business, revealing where demand is building, how staff and space are being used, and where revenue can grow. But a security company cannot sell intelligence while continuing to run on memory, manual handoffs, and disconnected systems.
- Where existing sensor data can become a higher-value service
- The operating-model constraints preventing that transition
- Reframing sales and monitoring around intelligence, not equipment
Keynote 06 · For HVAC and field service
The Intelligence Layer
How AI can make expertise transferable across HVAC, field service, and frontline operations.
These industries are not constrained by demand. They are constrained by how slowly expertise travels. AI creates an intelligence layer from what customers report, what past visits reveal, and increasingly what equipment signals. Technicians arrive better prepared, and each job strengthens the next.
- Why the real constraint is expertise transfer, not lead generation
- How each service call can compound into institutional knowledge
- What changes for training, dispatch, and the veteran tech's role
Audiences
Who these have been built for
Founders and entrepreneurs · Private equity and portfolio companies · CEOs of small and mid-size companies · Sales organizations · Marketing and creative agencies · Industry associations and conferences · Security and monitoring · HVAC and field service · Senior living · Logistics and distribution
Engagement formats
Signature Keynote
45–60 minutes for an opening, closing, or general session.
Keynote + Executive Session
Add a 60–90 minute working session for senior leaders to apply the ideas to their organization.
Leadership Offsite
A half- or full-day session for leadership teams going deeper on AI, strategy, and organizational change.
Every engagement is built for the room, with an organizer briefing, pre-event research, and industry-specific customization. Fees are quoted per engagement, based on format, location, and scope.