Measure manufacturing readiness before accelerating AI
Manufacturing AI keynote
Measure manufacturing readiness before accelerating AI
A keynote for manufacturing leaders who need to align people, operations and execution around the decisions technological change creates.
Manufacturing · In the room
Where strategy meets operating reality.
Ian brings the leadership conversation into focus across people, sites, systems and the different speeds at which manufacturing organizations move.
Readiness across the operating organization
Manufacturing AI readiness is more than technology selection. The keynote examines leadership alignment, learning, collaboration and execution across organizations where sites or business units may be moving at different speeds.
Informed by automation research
Ian's manufacturing and industrial work is informed by the annual State of Automation report and on-camera interviews with operators and technology leaders. This research supplies context for the audience's own decisions.
Show where the organization stands
The customized Future Readiness Score captures leadership perspectives before the event. Revealed live, it directs the keynote toward the room's actual areas of confidence and uncertainty.
Build a near-term operating plan
Assessment-led engagements conclude with ranked priorities, a written intelligence report and a ninety-day plan. A facilitated workshop can extend the session for a multi-site or executive team.
Research for manufacturing leaders
State of Automation 2026
Explore current research on automation adoption, organizational readiness and the decisions shaping operational transformation.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
How much does it cost to hire an AI keynote speaker?
Fees for established AI keynote speakers typically range from $15,000 to $50,000 depending on format, location and rights. Send the manufacturing event date and budget range for a direct answer within one business day.
How far in advance should we book?
Manufacturing sessions benefit from time to understand the sites, functions and audience, then complete the survey and assessment. Enquire when the event date is known.
What is the difference between a keynote and a workshop?
The manufacturing keynote gives the wider organization a common readiness frame. A workshop gives a leadership or multi-site group more time to apply its score and rank actions.
Will the speaker tailor content to our industry?
Yes. State of Automation research, the event brief, audience survey and customized Future Readiness Score shape the manufacturing session.
What does the audience receive afterwards?
An assessment-led manufacturing engagement includes a written intelligence report and ninety-day plan reflecting the room's collective results.
Does the speaker present virtually?
Virtual manufacturing sessions can be discussed for multi-site audiences. Include participating locations, platform, shift considerations and session format in the enquiry.
Every Keynote, Delivered as an Unforgettable Intelligence Event
You can never go where you need to be without first knowing where you are. This is the mindset I bring to every keynote, at every stage, worldwide.
Executive Leadership · Strategy
Decision Velocity: How the Fastest-Deciding Organizations Win the AI Decade
The speed and quality of your decisions is now your real competitive edge. Ian shows leaders how to measure their organization’s decision velocity, expose the bottlenecks slowing them down, and build the systems that let teams decide faster without deciding worse.
Transformation · Leadership
Future-Ready: Building the Wall Against Disruption
Disruption is not the risk; being unready for it is. Using the Future Readiness Score, Ian turns transformation from a vague ambition into a measurable, benchmarked state, giving leaders a clear roadmap to make their organization resilient to whatever comes next.
AI Strategy · Operations
The Year of ROI: Turning AI Pilots Into Payoff
Everyone ran the pilots; almost no one is getting the return. Ian moves audiences past experimentation to an honest, audit-grade view of what actually blocks AI value, and the concrete moves that convert AI investment into measurable business results.
Future of Work · Operating Model
The Agentic Enterprise: Leading a Workforce of Humans and AI Agents
AI agents are joining the org chart. Ian shows leaders how work, roles, and decision-making change when autonomous agents operate alongside people, and how the organizations that redesign first will define the next decade of their industry.
Bestseller Keynote · Fortune 500
Undisrupted: The Seven Pillars of Companies That Refuse to Be Left Behind
Drawn from Ian’s USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller, this keynote lays out the seven-pillar framework that Fortune 500 teams use to stay ahead of change, giving every leader in the room a practical system to future-proof their people, culture, and strategy.
Designed for Your Audience
Custom Keynote Experience
A bespoke keynote tailored to your industry, audience, and strategic priorities, supported by pre-event stakeholder interviews and content customization.
The process
What goes into every session
Step 1
500+ on-camera executive interviews each year feeding the research base
Step 2
A pre-event call and audience survey before content is built
Step 3
A live scored Future Readiness Score assessment, so content responds to the room
Step 4
A ninety-day plan the audience leaves holding
Build an AI readiness session for manufacturing leaders
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