02 Sep Best AI Keynote Speakers for 2027 Events
The best AI keynote speakers for 2027 events are the ones who talk about decisions, not tools. Collaborative Agency Group books four who do that consistently: Mike Walsh, Crystal Washington, Brian Solis, and Sam Richter. This post covers what each one actually delivers, which audience each fits, and what a room should walk out able to do.
What Separates Good AI Keynote Speakers From Bad Ones
Most AI keynotes fail the same way. The speaker demonstrates the technology, the room is impressed for ninety minutes, and nothing changes. The reason is that the constraint on AI adoption is almost never the tools. It is the decision-making architecture underneath them: who is allowed to decide what, how fast, and on what evidence.
So the screening question is simple. Ask the speaker what a director-level attendee should do differently on Monday. If the answer is a list of software, keep looking. Speaker fees in this category typically run $20,000 to $100,000 and up, which is real money for a session nobody acts on.
Mike Walsh: The Algorithmic Leader
Mike Walsh is a futurist, CEO of the innovation research lab Tomorrow, and bestselling author of The Algorithmic Leader. He has delivered more than 1,000 keynotes across six continents, and his core argument is about leadership structure rather than technology. Audiences leave with a way to audit their own processes: which decisions should be automated, which augmented, and which stay firmly human.
Best fit: executive summits and annual leadership meetings where the team is early in its AI conversation and not yet aligned. Profile: cagspeakers.com/mike-walsh/.
Crystal Washington: AI That a General Audience Can Use
Crystal Washington is a technology strategist and futurist who has been hired by Google, Microsoft, and GE, and has worked with organizations across North America, Africa, and Europe. Her programs, including Generative AI for Leaders and Future-Proof Yourself, take complex material and make it usable by a room that is not technical.
Best fit: association annual meetings and mixed-seniority audiences where the goal is to leave people less anxious and more capable, not more impressed. Planners who have booked her consistently flag how well she reads a nontechnical room. Profile: cagspeakers.com/crystal-washington/.
Brian Solis: Mindshift and the Post-Digital Organization
Brian Solis is a digital anthropologist, nine-time bestselling author, and Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow. He previously held the same role at Salesforce and serves as a special advisor to the United Nations global innovation team. His latest book, Mindshift, argues that the urgent problem is cognitive rather than technological — the willingness to challenge the status quo before the market forces it.
Best fit: boards, C-suites, and transformation conferences where the audience has already bought the technology and has not yet changed how it thinks. Profile: cagspeakers.com/brian-solis/.
Sam Richter: AI Applied to Revenue
Sam Richter is the practical one on this list. He is an authority on sales intelligence and AI-powered prospecting, a member of the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame, and the creator of several AI sales intelligence platforms. His program Embrace It: AI, ChatGPT, and Your Future is built for sellers who need to use the tools this quarter.
Best fit: sales kickoffs and revenue organizations. If the goal is pipeline rather than perspective, this is the booking. Profile: cagspeakers.com/sam-richter/.
Matching the Speaker to the Room
Executives who are not aligned: Mike Walsh. A broad or nontechnical membership: Crystal Washington. A leadership team that already invested and stalled: Brian Solis. A sales floor: Sam Richter. Booking the wrong one of these four is the most common mistake we see, and it is entirely avoidable. More options are on the technology speakers and futurist speakers pages, and our guide on how to book a speaker covers the process.
The Bottom Line
The best AI keynote speakers for 2027 events explain how decisions change, not which software to buy. Mike Walsh, Crystal Washington, Brian Solis, and Sam Richter each do that for a different audience. Collaborative Agency Group can check 2027 availability and current fees for any of them.
Not sure which of the four fits your audience? Tell us who is in the room and what you want them to do differently afterward, and we will recommend the right fit. No obligation.