Speaking

I'll tell your room the truth about AI.

I build these systems for a living, and I've explained them to people who had never typed a prompt. Your audience gets both: what works, said so that everyone in the room can follow it.

Invite me to speak

Keynote

Use AI Without Losing Your Mind

What these tools are good at, where they fall on their face, and how to use them without giving away your own judgment. Based on the book. No slides full of logos.

For anyone, including people who have never typed a prompt

Keynote

Why AI Projects Stall

I've watched good AI projects die in conference rooms, and the model was rarely the cause. A talk about what happens between the demo and the day people use the thing.

For executives and leadership teams

Keynote

The Quiet Work

A hospital runs on trucks that arrive when they should. What freight and schedules taught me about where AI earns its keep, and why the patient never sees it.

For healthcare and operations audiences

Workshop

The FIGHT Framework

A working session. Five moves from the book, practiced on your team's own work until they stick.

For teams of any size

Where I've been speaking

  • Northbrook Public LibraryWriting with AI
  • Corporate AI summit, Fortune 200 healthcare companyProduct presentation
  • Chicago Public Library branchesPublic talks
  • Civic organizations across ChicagoCommunity talks
  • P.E.O. International chapterApril 2027

I also do corporate workshops, faculty talks, bookstore signings, and book club Q&As.

In the room

From library stages to leadership summits.

A public talk at Northbrook Public Library, a corporate AI summit, and a working session on AI and data foundations.

Ryan J. Smith on stage at Northbrook Public Library, gesturing toward a slide that reads Unlocking Your Writing Potential with AI
Ryan presenting a supply chain AI product with a colleague at a corporate AI summit
A full room at a corporate AI summit, watching a leadership panel
Ryan leading a working session in front of a slide titled AI Hierarchy of Needs, with participants at tables

What people leave with

  • A straight account of what AI does well and where it fails.
  • Examples from work I've done, with the embarrassing parts left in.
  • Five moves they can try the next morning.
  • Fewer reasons to be afraid of the thing, and better questions to ask about it.

I rewrite every talk for the room. A leadership offsite and a Tuesday night at the library need different stories.

Download the one-sheet (PDF)

One minute

Hear how I sound.

A minute of me on why I wrote the book. If you're deciding whether to put me in front of your people, this is the fastest way to find out.

The framework

Five moves, and they spell a word.

The book is built on five moves. I teach them in the workshop because people can still recall them on a bad Tuesday.

  1. Form your stanceYou can't outrun chaos if you don't know your center. Root down. Breathe deep. Begin from the truth.
  2. Iterate with leverageDon't chase every edge. Refine your rhythm. Build with tools, but shape with taste.
  3. Guard your focusAttention is currency. Protect it like it's sacred, because it is.
  4. Harness your teamMove like you've got backup, even when you're solo. Assign the machine. Keep the signal.
  5. Transmit your signalWhen the noise is loud, clarity is rebellion. Say it sharp. Say it real. Let it echo.

“The thing you fear losing is the thing you value most.”

From What Fear Teaches Me About AI
Speaking inquiries

Tell me about your room.

Who will be there, what they're worried about, and what you want them to walk out with. I read every note and I answer them myself.

ryanjeffreysmith@gmail.com