Reid Blackman Keynote Speaker

• Rising to the Ethical Nightmare Challenge: Why Your AI Strategy Is Missing Its Most Critical Component

AI promises unprecedented transformation, but it also unleashes a cascade of new risks: privacy violations, discriminatory outputs, dangerous hallucinations, IP theft, deepfakes, and autonomous decisions that no human can track. These aren't distant possibilities—they're daily realities creating what Reid Blackman calls the "ethical nightmare challenge" that threatens not just compliance, but organizational survival. Blackman introduces his breakthrough three-question framework that has guided Fortune 500 transformations: What are your organization's specific ethical nightmares? What resources will prevent them? How will you train people to use those resources effectively? Through vivid scenarios and case studies, audiences discover why "being responsible" fails while "preventing your specific nightmare" succeeds. Attendees leave with practical frameworks for organizational alignment, role-specific training beyond compliance, and sustainable competitive advantage through ethical leadership.

Customizable for different audiences:

• Board/C-suite focus on governance and strategic oversight
• Technology leaders on implementation frameworks and technical safeguards
• Product leaders on decision-making processes and user impact
• or tailored combinations for cross-functional leadership teams.

• Understanding and Navigating the Ever-Evolving AI World

Technologists are continually inventing new kinds of AI. In just the past few years we’ve gone from narrow to generative to agentic to multi-agentic to physical to symbiotic AI. It can be overwhelming. And yet, it’s imperative for leaders to understand these changes in a way that enables them to think clearly about the opportunities and challenges these new technologies present. In this talk Reid breaks down AI into its simplest, non-tech components. With no jargon, no math, no coding, and with clear, everyday examples, Reid lifts the fog surrounding AI so that leaders can see it clearly. Leaders leave not only with an understanding of AI, but of what strategic decisions lay before them and how to make those decisions with a clear head.

• AI is Evolving. So Must AI Ethical and Reputational Risk Management

The evolution from narrow to generative to agentic AI and beyond means the AI ecosystem is becoming ever more complex. The kinds of AI on offer are increasingly powerful. They can be used in increasingly many contexts. In some cases, they can engage in a series of actions in mere seconds that would take a human hours to accomplish. There is tremendous opportunity to create business value here. At the same time, the ethical, reputational, regulatory, and legal risks must be accounted for. And as AI becomes more complex, AI risk management strategies need to keep up with the pace. In this engaging talk to executives, Reid explains the evolution of AI and how standard risk management practices must be updated so the potential of AI can be unlocked safely. Leaders leave the session with clear steps on how to assess their organization’s current AI risk posture and how to update it to meet the AI innovation imperative. In a second version of this talk, for all employees across all departments and functions, Reid addresses anyone who uses AI or or oversees people using AI within the organization. Employees leave with an understanding of the different technologies they will interact with on a daily basis and how to use those tools effectively and safely.

• Steering AI Risk Corporate Strategy in the Age of AI: Enabling the Board and C-Suite to Support AI Innovation without Putting the Brand at Risk

As AI becomes adopted, a strategy is needed to enable innovation in a way that protects the brand and the people it impacts. In this talk Reid lays out the sources of risk to organizations with a focus on what the Board and C-suite need to get their hands around. From high level strategic decisions about how to design an AI ethical risk/Responsible AI program to how a phased implementation supports innovation at scale to what they should expect of employees, Reid leaves executives with clear calls to action on how they can best proceed to scale AI safely in their organization.

• Everyone Needs to Learn to Smell AI Ethical Risk Smoke

As AI gets more complex and integrated into the workflows of all employees, more responsibility is put on the shoulders of employees to use those tools responsibly. They must use them in ways that protect the brand and the people they impact. Unfortunately, because the technology is complex, the vast majority of employees don’t know how to do this. In fact, they don’t even know how to detect whether something may be going ethically, reputationally, or legally wrong. This talk delivers, in a way free of jargon or any technical terms, what AI is, how it gives rise to ethical and reputational risks, and how every employee can smell AI ethical smoke. Learning this key skill by understanding key concepts and best practices protects both the employee and their organization.