12 AI Keynote Speakers Who Turn AI Hype Into a Plan

Profiles, fee ranges and how to pick the right AI speaker for your event.

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AI keynote speakers Zack Kass, Sol Rashidi, Cassie Kozyrkov and Dan Chuparkoff

Ask a room full of employees what AI means for their job and you will hear everything from excitement to dread. An AI keynote has one hour to meet all of them. The speakers who manage it share two traits: they have worked with AI directly, and they explain it without jargon or hype.

This guide covers 12 of them, grouped by the angle they bring. Some have deployed AI inside large companies. Some built or studied it. Others track where it is heading, and two specialize in the risks. Each entry lists the speaker’s in-person fee and home city from our speaker database, so you can shortlist by budget as you read.

How to choose an AI keynote speaker

Before you compare names, settle five things. Settled early, they cut a long list down to a handful.

  • Start with what changes on Monday. Decide whether people should leave ready to try new tools, rethink strategy or take risks more seriously. Each points to a different speaker.
  • Match the room’s technical level. A board wants decisions and trade-offs; an engineering team wants mechanics. Most rooms are mixed, so favor speakers known for plain explanations.
  • Choose the vantage point. Operators speak from deployments they led, researchers from how the technology works, futurists from trends across industries, and security experts from what goes wrong.
  • Ask for industry examples. Several speakers here tailor their talk by sector. Name your industry and its pressures when you check availability.
  • Set the budget and format early. In-person fees on this list run from about $20,000 to $85,000. For a virtual keynote, ask for the virtual fee when you check availability.

Operators who have deployed AI inside companies

These four have run AI programs at OpenAI, Amazon, Google and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are the strongest choice when your audience needs to act, not just understand.

Zack Kass: AI from the lab to revenue

As Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI, Zack Kass ran the sales, partnerships and customer success teams that brought the company’s research to business customers. He now advises Fortune 1,000 leadership teams, including Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley and Amgen, and has worked with executives in 124 cities across 20 countries.

His keynotes argue that the companies that win with AI will pair it with adaptability, learning and strong human skills. A second talk, drawn from his bestselling book The Next RenAIssance, asks where human value will stand out as intelligence becomes abundant.

Best for: CEO summits, board retreats and company-wide meetings that want a view from inside the industry. Less suited to rooms expecting hands-on tool training. Zack Kass’s speaking fee: $65K–$70K in person. Travels from: Santa Barbara, CA. View Zack Kass’s profile and check availability.

Sol Rashidi: scaling AI with governance

Sol Rashidi’s AI career began in 2011, when she helped IBM launch Watson. In 2016 she was appointed the world’s first Chief AI Officer. A former Amazon executive, she has led more than 200 AI deployments.

Her programs deal with what comes after the pilot. They cover redesigning the operating model to capture value, preparing a workforce where people and AI work side by side, and separating hype from what AI does today. She wrote Your AI Survival Guide and Scaling AI, a governance and security playbook for executives.

Best for: HR, operations and transformation leaders planning workforce change, and executive teams setting AI governance. Sol Rashidi’s speaking fee: $53K–$68K in person. Travels from: Miami Beach, FL. View Sol Rashidi’s profile and check availability.

Michelle K. Lee: practical AI, from AWS to Washington

Plenty of companies have AI ideas; fewer know which ones will pay off. Finding those is Michelle K. Lee’s work as Founder and CEO of Obsidian Strategies. Before that she was Vice President of the Machine Learning Solutions Lab at Amazon Web Services and an executive at Google in its formative years.

She also served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where she led more than 10,000 employees and rolled out an agency-wide AI strategy. Her keynote “AI: The Art of the Possible and Practical” gives seven lessons for implementing AI in a company.

Best for: Executive and board audiences in regulated industries, and teams that need the policy view next to the business case. Michelle K. Lee’s speaking fee: $35K–$40K in person. Travels from: San Francisco, CA. View Michelle K. Lee’s profile and check availability.

Dan Chuparkoff: AI made simple for every team

Dan Chuparkoff’s mission is to make complex technology simple and useful for everyone. He has spent more than 30 years on that problem: he led the Mobile Tools and Services team at Google, worked at McKinsey, and at Atlassian guided several acquisitions and played a key role in its $6 billion IPO.

Now CEO of Reinvention Labs, he delivers “AI and the Future of Everything,” which he can rebuild around your sector as “AI and the Future of Your Industry.” The focus is how ordinary teams can use AI to rethink their work.

Best for: All-hands meetings, sales conferences and association events with mixed technical levels. Dan Chuparkoff’s speaking fee: $25K–$30K in person; $20K–$25K virtual. Travels from: Chicago, IL. View Dan Chuparkoff’s profile and check availability.

Inventors and scientists behind the technology

Choose from this group when credibility on the technology itself matters: these speakers created products or fields that others now build on.

Cassie Kozyrkov: better decisions in the AI era

Cassie Kozyrkov founded the field of Decision Intelligence and served as Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist, where she personally trained more than 20,000 Googlers in AI and decision-making. She is now CEO of Kozyr and has spoken in more than 40 countries, on all seven continents.

Her programs range from “AI Adoption: From Buzzwords to Business Strategy,” on what is easy, what is hard and where the real opportunities sit, to “The Leader’s Survival Guide for the AI Era,” which questions what leaders lose when they hand their thinking to AI.

Best for: Leadership and strategy audiences, and analytics or data teams. She sits at the top of the fee range on this list. Cassie Kozyrkov’s speaking fee: $80K–$85K in person. Travels from: Miami, FL. View Cassie Kozyrkov’s profile and check availability.

Dag Kittlaus: the story behind Siri

Siri began at SRI, where Dag Kittlaus was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. After Apple bought the company in 2010, he led the Siri and speech recognition teams there. In 2012 he co-founded Viv, an AI company built to make AI more open and accessible.

His keynote “Artificial Intelligence: Past, Present, Future” traces how AI evolved, where it stands today and what may come next. He also speaks on building billion-dollar brands and on scaling a product for worldwide distribution.

Best for: Consumer, marketing and technology conferences that want an origin story from someone who built a product millions use. Dag Kittlaus’s speaking fee: $50K–$60K in person. Travels from: Chicago, IL. View Dag Kittlaus’s profile and check availability.

Tan Le: where the brain meets AI

Tan Le is founder and CEO of EMOTIV, which builds EEG brain-computer interfaces. A three-time TED speaker, she was named Young Australian of the Year and sits on the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Future of Neurotechnologies and Brain Science. She is the author of The NeuroGeneration.

In “Augmenting Human Potential: Where Neurotechnology Meets AI,” she shows how brain data and AI can expand focus, resilience and cognitive capability at work. She also offers a fireside chat on outsider thinking.

Best for: Healthcare, wellbeing and innovation events, and audiences curious about AI beyond chatbots. Tan Le’s speaking fee: $30K–$40K in person. Travels from: San Francisco, CA. View Tan Le’s profile and check availability.

Futurists who track where AI is heading

Futurists widen the lens. Book one when your audience needs to plan three to five years out, not just this quarter.

Steve Brown: building an AI-first company

Steve Brown was Senior Director and in-house futurist at Google DeepMind during the launch of AlphaFold, after serving as Chief Evangelist and Futurist at Intel. He advises Fortune 100 companies on AI strategy and wrote The AI Ultimatum.

His programs are practical for a futurist. “AI Agents: Building a Digital Workforce to Amplify Your People” covers deploying agents in daily operations and redesigning workflows around them, and “AI First” lays out a path from pilots to AI at the core of performance.

Best for: Strategy offsites that want to move past pilots. He also runs workshops, fireside chats and virtual programs. Steve Brown’s speaking fee: $30K–$40K in person. Travels from: Portland, OR. View Steve Brown’s profile and check availability.

Jim Carroll: AI trends for your industry

Jim Carroll has delivered more than 2,000 keynotes to over 2 million people, for clients that include NASA, Disney, Pfizer and the World Bank. He customizes each talk by sector, from manufacturing and healthcare to retail and finance.

“The AI Advantage” argues that AI becomes a growth advantage only when leaders move from hype to practical action. In “Being Unique,” based on his book of the same name, he makes the case that when AI gives everyone the same tools, difference becomes the edge.

Best for: Industry associations and annual conferences that want trends specific to their sector. Jim Carroll’s speaking fee: $32.5K–$35K in person. Travels from: Guelph, Canada. View Jim Carroll’s profile and check availability.

Charlene Li: leading through generative AI

Charlene Li is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Disruption Mindset and Groundswell. She founded Altimeter Group in 2008, later acquired by Prophet, and was a principal analyst at Forrester Research.

Her keynote “Winning with Generative AI” helps leaders decide where to start, and “Disruptive Transformation” turns on her line that growth creates disruption, not the other way around. Fast Company named her one of its Most Creative People in Business, and she holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Best for: Leadership teams planning a transformation, and marketing or customer-experience audiences who want an analyst’s read on disruption. Charlene Li’s speaking fee: $37.5K–$40K in person. Travels from: San Francisco, CA. View Charlene Li’s profile and check availability.

Protecting your company from AI threats

Every AI rollout carries risk. These two help audiences see the threats clearly and respond without panic.

Theresa Payton: AI’s promise and its perils

Theresa Payton made history as the first female White House Chief Information Officer, under President George W. Bush. Today she is CEO and chief advisor of Fortalice and advises boards on protecting key assets and handling complex digital risk.

In “AI and the Future of Us” she covers AI’s real-world impact, its emerging risks and the steps for responsible use. She is the author of Manipulated and Privacy in the Age of Big Data, and appears on network news as an expert on cybercrime, AI and privacy.

Best for: Boards, risk and compliance teams, and financial services or government audiences. Theresa Payton’s speaking fee: $20K–$30K in person. Travels from: Charlotte, NC. View Theresa Payton’s profile and check availability.

Eric O’Neill: spotting deepfakes and AI scams

As an FBI counterintelligence operative, Eric O’Neill helped catch Robert Hanssen, a case later told in the film Breach. He went on to found The Georgetown Group, a security services firm, and wrote Gray Day and Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime.

“Secrets from a Legendary Spyhunter: Decoding AI Deepfakes, Extortion and More” shows how AI-generated voices, texts and images are used in scams, and how to spot and stop them. His second program, “Cybersecurity: Spies, Lies, Cybercrime, and You,” teaches audiences to think like a spy hunter.

Best for: All-employee security awareness events and finance or IT audiences. Eric O’Neill’s speaking fee: $23K–$28K in person. Travels from: Washington, DC. View Eric O’Neill’s profile and check availability.

These 12 are a starting point. Our directory of artificial intelligence speakers lists everyone we represent on the topic, with fees and home cities.

AI speaker fees by price range

AI speakers on our roster run from about $16,500 to $85,000 for an in-person keynote, and half start at $30,000 or less.

  • Under $25,000: smaller budgets have options here; Theresa Payton and Eric O’Neill both start in this band.
  • $25,000 to $39,999: the most common starting band, among them Dan Chuparkoff, Tan Le, Steve Brown, Jim Carroll, Michelle K. Lee and Charlene Li.
  • $40,000 to $59,999: the band between the mid-market and the headliners, where Dag Kittlaus and Sol Rashidi start.
  • $60,000 and up: Zack Kass and Cassie Kozyrkov, who carry the highest fees in this guide.

The final fee depends on your date, location, format and the scope of the appearance, and travel is usually extra for in-person events.

Fees from the Mollie Plotkin Group speaker database as of October 21, 2026.

Matching a speaker to your event

  • Board or CEO retreat: start with Zack Kass or Michelle K. Lee, senior operators who speak to strategy and governance.
  • Company-wide meeting: Dan Chuparkoff or Cassie Kozyrkov explain AI clearly for mixed technical levels.
  • HR or workforce planning: Sol Rashidi’s programs are built around people and AI working together.
  • Industry conference: Jim Carroll customizes his talk to your sector.
  • Strategy offsite with a workshop: Steve Brown offers workshops alongside his keynotes.
  • Risk, compliance or security event: Theresa Payton or Eric O’Neill cover threats, privacy and responsible use.
  • Marketing or consumer event: Dag Kittlaus or Charlene Li bring product and brand lessons from AI.
  • Healthcare or wellbeing event: Tan Le connects AI with neurotechnology at work.

Why these 12 made the list

We started from our AI roster and kept those whose keynotes center on AI, who list a current fee, and whose profiles show direct experience building, deploying, studying or securing it. We grouped them by angle instead of ranking them, because the right pick depends on your audience.

Questions planners ask about AI speakers

What do AI keynote speakers charge?

Most AI keynote speakers charge $25,000 to $40,000 for an in-person keynote, and the full range runs from about $16,500 to $85,000. Speakers who led AI work at companies like OpenAI or Google sit at the top. Your final fee depends on the date, location, format and how much tailoring you want, and travel is usually extra.

What does an AI keynote usually cover?

Most cover three things: what AI can do today, what it means for your audience’s work, and what to do next. Some speakers lead with strategy and adoption, others with the long-term future, and others with risks such as privacy, security and deepfakes. Tell your agent which matters most to your audience, and they can shortlist speakers who lead with it.

How far in advance should we book an AI speaker?

Book as soon as your date is set. Popular speakers fill their calendars months out, and an early request leaves you more options and room for a planning call. If your date is close, ask anyway, since schedules change. Send your date, location and audience size when you check availability so your agent can confirm options quickly.

Will the speaker adapt the talk to our industry?

Usually, yes. Many AI speakers adapt their examples to your sector, and some, such as Jim Carroll, build each keynote around a specific industry. When you check availability, share your industry, who will be in the room and the decisions they face. Ask whether a planning call is included, since that’s where most tailoring happens.

Can AI speakers present virtually?

Many can, and a virtual keynote often costs less than an in-person one. Inquire about the virtual fee when you check availability. Some speakers also offer workshops or fireside chats, which work well online and give your audience time for questions.

From shortlist to a confirmed date

The best AI keynote leaves people with a clear next step rather than a list of predictions. Pick the angle your audience needs most, check the fee against your budget and shortlist two or three names.

Then open each profile and select Check Availability with your date, location and event details. Your MPG agent will come back with availability, the confirmed fee and travel. If AI is one part of a wider theme for your event, our futurist speakers, innovation speakers, technology speakers and cyber security speakers cover the neighboring ground.