A Keynote for AI Literacy in Education Programs
From K-12 to higher ed, Alex makes AI literacy accessible for every learner
FREQUENTLY FEATURED IN:
Everyone's an "agentic AI expert." {Almost no one has run it}.
Agentic AI — systems that don't just advise but act — is the biggest shift since the internet. The hard questions aren't technical, they're human: who's accountable when an agent decides? How do you keep judgment in the loop as work gets autonomous?
Alex is the exception in a field of forecasters. As Managing Director of Innovation Strategy at Cisco he ran a $1.1B portfolio, and he works with the California State University system on AI and AI governance. Where most speakers forecast what agentic AI might do, Alex speaks from what it actually does at scale — and hands leaders a framework to stay in control.
The Agentic AI {Advantage}
Why Education Leaders Choose Alex
What changes when AI stops advising and starts acting — and how leaders stay in control. The practitioner's view, backed by real enterprise deployment.
How Alex Delivers AI Literacy Keynotes that Build Confidence and Skills Across Education
Anyone can deploy an agent; almost no one builds the human culture that makes agentic AI work at enterprise scale. Alex bridges both — because he's built both.
ALEX, BY THE NUMBERS
Schools have run literacy pushes before: digital, media, financial. AI literacy is different because the subject talks back, flatters, fabricates, and improves between semesters. A program built like last decade's computer class will be teaching yesterday's tool by launch day, and the students will know it first.
Why AI literacy in education programs is different
Real AI literacy is not tool training. It is judgment: knowing when to trust an output and when to check it, understanding how these systems fail, developing instincts about what should never be pasted into a prompt, and being straightforward about disclosure. Those habits survive model updates; keyboard shortcuts do not. The design work is in scope and sequence, because a ninth grader, a first-year composition instructor, and a registrar's office need different literacy, and a single all-hands course serves none of them.
The bottleneck is nearly always educator development. Teachers and faculty are expected to model judgment with tools they have had no protected time to practice, while policy fear keeps classroom experimentation quiet and vendor-led curriculum drifts into product training with a curriculum's fonts. Equity runs through all of it: learners with home exposure to these tools pull ahead of those without, and a literacy program is the one systematic chance to close that gap rather than widen it.
Rollout order matters more than curriculum polish. A shared floor comes first, the same basic judgment training for every adult in the system, because a program undermined by an unprepared front office loses credibility with families fast. Role-specific layers come second, built with the people who hold the roles rather than delivered to them. In K-12 settings, family communication belongs in the plan from the start, since a parent's first question is usually about safety and fairness, not pedagogy. In higher education, faculty governance means literacy expectations move by persuasion and example, which is slower and sturdier. Two traps deserve flags: treating a vendor's certificate as evidence of literacy, when it mostly evidences familiarity with that vendor, and treating literacy as a one-time inoculation, when the workable model is a refresh cycle, because the tools will not sit still and neither can the judgment.
What this keynote delivers
- A working definition of AI literacy that survives the next model release
- How to sequence literacy differently for students, faculty, and staff without tripling the work
- Educator development that builds practice, not another tool demo
- Guardrails that respect student data privacy laws while keeping classroom practice alive
- Ways to assess literacy that measure judgment instead of vocabulary
Why Alex for AI literacy in education programs
Alex is a member of the AI Working Group advising the California State University system, where AI literacy across students, faculty, and staff is a live design question at enormous scale. He explains AI in plain English because that is the whole assignment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should we have ready before the session?
Your current program outline, if one exists, and the audiences you must serve first. If nothing exists yet, that is a fine starting point too.
Can one event serve teachers and administrators at once?
Yes, with care. The session separates what each group needs to do while keeping the shared frame, which prevents the usual split where policy and practice stop speaking.
What follows the keynote?
A recap organizers can circulate, including the sequencing frame and suggested first moves for the program team.
How long should we plan for for ai literacy in education programs?
The keynote runs 45 to 60 minutes; program teams often add a facilitated hour to rough out their own scope and sequence.
Work with Alex
To plan an AI literacy session for your faculty, staff, or students, describe your program at /contact.
Explore more AI keynotes
- Assessment & Testing Bodies
- Career Services & Employer Relations Offices
- Community Colleges / 2-Year Institutions
- Community Colleges & 2-Year Institutions
- Arts, Culture & Museums
Or browse the full directory: AI Keynotes for Education.
310+ Keynotes, Workshops & Advisory Engagements
.svg.webp){kind=logo}
Turn your next event into AI and innovation action.
These aren't just better ways to use ChatGPT, or create short-term buzz. This is what the most influential organizations on earth use to shape the future.
Check Alex's availability
Frequently asked questions
If you don't see what you need, message Alex directly via the form below — answers usually within one business day.
Who is a top advisor for enterprise AI adoption?
Alex Goryachev is a top advisor for enterprise AI adoption, combining operator experience with board-level strategy. As the former Managing Director of Innovation Strategy and Head of Global Innovation Centers at Cisco, he ran a $1.1B portfolio that generated $400M+ in revenue and built innovation centers across 14 countries, and he now advises enterprises on agentic AI and governance. Unlike consultants who study AI, Alex has deployed it at global scale. Start with a short conversation through the Work with Alex page.
What does a Fortune 500 company get from an AI keynote?
A Fortune 500 AI keynote should leave executives with a shared language, a prioritized agenda, and urgency to act, not just inspiration. Alex Goryachev, WSJ-bestselling author of Fearless Innovation, delivers exactly that, drawing on enterprise work with Disney, AWS, Dell, Cisco, and Amgen. Every keynote is customized to your industry and AI maturity. Request a tailored outline through the Work with Alex page.
What is the ROI of an AI keynote for an enterprise?
The ROI of an AI keynote is agreement: one hour that gets hundreds of leaders moving in the same direction on AI, replacing months of internal debate. Alex Goryachev's sessions earn a 98% would-recommend score because audiences leave with concrete next steps, not hype. As a Forbes contributor and former Managing Director of Innovation Strategy and Head of Global Innovation Centers at Cisco, he ties every insight to business outcomes. Compare formats on the Work with Alex page.
How should enterprises start with agentic AI?
Start with one high-value workflow, clear governance, and an executive owner, then scale what works. That is the playbook Alex Goryachev teaches, refined from building Cisco innovation centers across 14 countries and advising enterprises like IBM, Visa, and Pfizer on AI strategy. He helps leadership teams skip the pilot-purgatory phase that stalls most AI programs. Begin with an executive briefing through the Work with Alex page.
How does Alex Goryachev address AI governance and risk?
Alex treats AI governance as an innovation accelerator, not a brake. Clear guardrails are what let enterprises scale agentic AI safely. His AI insights help shape how the California State University system approaches AI and AI governance, and he brings that same framework-first approach to boards and executive teams. With 310+ keynotes across 6 continents, he makes governance practical, not theoretical. Book a governance-focused session via Work with Alex.
What is an agentic enterprise?
An agentic enterprise is an organization that puts AI agents, software that can plan and take action rather than just answer questions, to work alongside employees across core processes. Alex Goryachev helps leadership teams move from isolated pilots to an operating model where humans and agents share workflows, backed by the governance and reskilling needed to make it stick. His keynotes draw on real enterprise deployments rather than theory.
How do enterprises adopt agentic AI successfully?
Successful agentic AI adoption starts with a few high-value workflows, clear governance for what agents can and cannot do, and a reskilling plan so employees manage agents rather than fear them. Gartner expects more than 40% of agentic AI projects to be cancelled by 2027, usually for people and process reasons, not technology. Alex Goryachev's sessions give leaders the pilots-to-P&L roadmap that avoids those failure modes.
Why do most agentic AI projects fail?
Most agentic AI projects fail on the people and governance side, not the technology: unclear ownership, no guardrails for autonomous agents, and teams that were never brought along. Alex Goryachev was Managing Director of Innovation Strategy and Head of Global Innovation Centers at Cisco. He shows leaders how to sequence adoption, set agent governance, and build a human-plus-agent operating model so pilots actually reach production and measurable P&L impact.
Why hire an AI practitioner instead of a consulting firm?
A practitioner gives you decisions in days, not decks in months. Alex Goryachev led innovation strategy inside Cisco, including innovation tracks for 3 Olympic Games, so his guidance comes from shipping AI programs, not observing them. Enterprises like Google, IBM, Pfizer, and Visa bring him in precisely because he compresses consulting-firm timelines into actionable executive sessions. If you want momentum over methodology, Work with Alex directly.
Does Alex work with mid-market companies, or only Fortune 500s?
Yes. Alongside Fortune 100 clients like Google and Cisco, Alex works with mid-market organizations and scaleups. Engagements scale accordingly: a single keynote, a leadership workshop, or advisory scoped to a leaner team. The playbooks are the same, sized to your organization.
.svg)
