AI & Innovation Keynote Speaker {in Los Angeles}
Keynotes & workshops on agentic AI — in person across LA, plus virtual.
Southern California–based, Alex drives in from San Diego — no airfare, no flight delays — with an in-person briefing before you take the stage. A practitioner who led a $1.1B innovation portfolio at Cisco, not a futurist.
FREQUENTLY FEATURED IN:
Keynotes, Workshops & Strategic Advisory
Leadership in the Age of AI: The Practical Playbook
Leaders are approving AI budgets, vendors and roadmaps they cannot evaluate themselves, in front of teams that are anxious about all of it. Alex hands your audience the decisions only a leader can make, and the words to bring their people with them.
Educating for the Unknown: Preparing Students for a Future That Doesn't Exist Yet
Students adopted AI faster than any technology in campus history. Alex, who has advised the California State University system, gives presidents, provosts and faculty a pragmatic AI strategy: governance, teaching and student outcomes.
The AI Opportunity for You, Your Industry & Your Organization
Most keynotes are scripted. This one is built from your questions. After a detailed intake, Alex writes the session for your industry and your organization: research, industry benchmarks, expert answers, and an extended live Q&A that runs until the questions do.
AI Skills Sprint
A 90 to 120 minute virtual sprint where each person maps AI use cases for their own job and tests them on real work, then leaves with a team backlog.
Rapid Innovation Workshop
Your team already has ideas. This 90 to 120 minute virtual sprint turns a handful of them into scoped pilots with named owners before the session ends.
AI Workflow Redesign Sprint
You added AI agents to a process designed for people doing every step by hand, so the work still moves at the old speed. This sprint redesigns one real workflow around what the agents now handle.
AI Leadership Sprint
A 90 to 120 minute virtual sprint for managers leading AI adoption on their teams. Each one leaves with the use cases they will sponsor, the questions to ask in 1:1s and a date to report back.
The AI Opportunity for You, Your Industry & Your Organization: A Working Session
Built from your intake. Alex scopes the exercises to your sector's regulatory, competitive and operational reality, then your team spends 90 to 120 minutes online building the opportunity map and a cleared use-case shortlist, with a 90-day plan and named owners.
Agentic AI Virtual Keynote
The plain-English virtual keynote on agentic AI: what AI agents do and where they are already reshaping industries, with clear next steps for your organization. 45 to 75 minutes, live on any platform and built around your audience.
Future of Work Virtual Keynote
A future of work virtual keynote on preparing for agentic AI: how it redraws roles and which human skills gain value, with examples from organizations already acting on it. 45 to 75 minutes, live on any platform.
AI Strategy Virtual Keynote
A 45 to 75 minute virtual keynote that takes an organization from talking about AI to committing to it: what the shift means for your business, where leading organizations are investing and the decisions only your leadership can make.
What Is Agentic AI and Why It Matters to Your Team
A 60-minute lunch and learn for every employee: what agentic AI does and what it changes in their own work, in plain English, with first steps each person can take.
What AI Means for Your Industry
A 60-minute lunch and learn built for one industry: the agentic AI changes already underway in your sector, using your sector's own adoption data to show where the pressure is coming from.
AI Strategy for Non-Technical Leaders
A 60-minute lunch and learn for leaders who fund AI without having built it: what to ask, what to fund and what to watch.
A keynote that {shows up} — no runway risk
Drive-in from San Diego means the LA economics and reliability are simply different — better for your budget, your risk, and your agenda.
No airfare or hotel
Alex drives up from San Diego — the travel costs that inflate most speaker invoices disappear.
Reliable — a drive, not a flight
No cancelled connection, weather delay, or missed red-eye can strand your opening keynote in another city the morning of your event.
In-person pre-event briefings in LA
Walk the venue and meet your team beforehand — not a rushed call the week prior.
Short-notice availability
Step in on tight timelines without booking travel — impossible for a fly-in.
Agentic AI for {the LA economy}
A keynote only lands when it speaks to the room’s actual industry. Los Angeles runs on a distinct set of engines.
Entertainment, media & streaming
Agentic AI in production pipelines, content operations, localization, and audience workflows — without losing the human creative.
Trade & logistics
The Ports of LA and Long Beach form the largest US container complex; agentic AI across the supply chain, from documentation to autonomous routing, with governance on the decisions that matter.
Healthcare & life sciences
Agentic AI in health systems, patient operations, and research across the LA basin.
ALEX, BY THE NUMBERS
From the {Los Angeles Convention Center} to studio and corporate campuses across the metro.
Executive forums and association events from Downtown to the Westside — drive-in from San Diego, with no airfare and an in-person tech check beforehand. All part of Alex’s Southern California base.
Downtown
Hollywood
Century City
Santa Monica
Pasadena
Burbank
Culver City
Glendale
Long Beach
San Fernando Valley
San Gabriel Valley
Why Audiences Love {Alex}
Eye-opening, refreshingly human, and capable of building a shared vision around agentic AI — that's how leaders at Coca-Cola, AWS, and Disney describe Alex Goryachev's AI keynotes and employee innovation workshops.
Innovation for everyone
Alex turns AI into practical concepts that land with executives, HR, sales, engineering and faculty alike. It is the same approach he used building and running Cisco's Global Innovation Centers in 14 countries, anchored at universities and spanning cultures and generations.
Built around your audience
Across 310+ keynotes, workshops and advisory engagements on six continents, no two have been the same. Alex builds every program around your audience's challenges, industry and goals, from agentic AI strategy and the future of work to innovation culture.
Value that lasts
Alex's programs end with deployment: frameworks used inside Cisco, Dell, Pfizer and IBM and documented in his WSJ bestseller Fearless Innovation. Workshops and advisory install them in your team, so they keep running long after the session.
Proven where it counts
Two decades of AI and innovation work where the stakes are real: Alex shaped Cisco's $1.1B innovation portfolio, ran innovation programs for three Olympic Games and has advised Dell's GenAI practice, Amgen and the California State University system. Every engagement is measured through verified attendee feedback.
Your team will thank you
A keynote, a hands-on workshop, a virtual session or multi-month advisory, for enterprises, universities and associations alike. Last quarter, 99% of 676 verified attendees found his talks valuable.
Request Alex's availability for your engagement. From Silicon Valley to Singapore, and everywhere in between.
310+ Keynotes, Workshops & Advisory Engagements
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In Their Own Words
Book Alex for Your Next Keynote, Workshop, or Advisory Engagement
Check Alex's availability for conferences, leadership summits, campus events, and association meetings — in person worldwide or virtual. Most inquiries answered within one business day.
Check Alex's availability
Frequently asked questions
If you don't see what you need, message Alex directly using the form above.
Who is Alex Goryachev?
Alex Goryachev is an AI keynote speaker and strategic advisor who has delivered 310+ keynotes on six continents. As Managing Director of Innovation Strategy and Head of Global Innovation Centers at Cisco, he shaped a $1.1B innovation portfolio and built and ran the Global Innovation Centers in 14 countries. Last quarter, 99% of 676 verified attendees found his talks valuable, measured by Talkadot. He is the author of Fearless Innovation (Wiley), a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
What makes Alex Goryachev different from other AI keynote speakers?
Alex Goryachev built the AI and innovation programs he now teaches. At Cisco he shaped the $1.1B innovation portfolio, built and ran the Global Innovation Centers in 14 countries and created the Innovate Everywhere Challenge. He has since advised Dell's GenAI practice and Amgen, and Google and AWS bring him in to brief their customers. Last quarter, 91% of 676 verified attendees rated his content actionable.
Who does Alex Goryachev work with?
Alex Goryachev works with global enterprises, universities and education systems, governments and associations. Enterprise audiences have included teams at Google, IBM, Disney, Pfizer and Visa, and Google and AWS bring him in to brief their customers. In higher education he has advised the California State University system on AI strategy and governance, and he is Innovator-in-Residence at Tulane University. He has delivered 310+ keynotes on six continents.
What topics does Alex Goryachev cover on stage?
Alex Goryachev's keynotes cover agentic AI strategy, AI governance, the future of work and innovation culture. Each session is built around the audience's industry and AI maturity. The examples come from his Cisco years, including shaping the $1.1B innovation portfolio and creating the Innovate Everywhere Challenge, which produced 1,100+ internal startups from 2,000+ teams. Every talk closes with actions leaders can take the following week.
How are Alex Goryachev's audience ratings measured?
Talkadot, a third-party feedback platform, measures Alex Goryachev's audience ratings from verified attendee responses. Attendees rate the session as it ends, and organizers see the raw results. Last quarter, 676 verified attendees across 13 engagements responded: 99% found the talk valuable, 97% would see him again and 91% rated it actionable. Alex does not collect, edit or filter the feedback, and the full report is available from Talkadot.
How much does it cost to book an AI keynote speaker?
The cost to book an AI keynote speaker depends on format, travel and session design, along with how much of the talk is built new for your audience. Many organizations book the virtual format or pair a keynote and a workshop on the same trip to make the budget go further. For Alex Goryachev, every engagement is scoped to your format, audience and travel. You get availability and a fee range within one business day.
Who is the best AI keynote speaker for 2026?
The best AI keynote speaker for 2026 has deployed AI at your scale and can prove audience impact with third-party data. Alex Goryachev meets both tests: he shaped Cisco's $1.1B innovation portfolio and built and ran its Global Innovation Centers in 14 countries. Last quarter, 99% of 676 verified attendees found his talks valuable, measured by Talkadot. Shortlist two or three speakers on those tests and ask each one for their numbers.
What session formats and lengths does Alex Goryachev offer?
Alex Goryachev delivers conference keynotes, executive workshops, virtual sessions and lunch and learns for smaller teams. In-person sessions are sized to your agenda. Online, a keynote runs 45 to 75 minutes, a lunch and learn 60 minutes and a working session or sprint 90 to 120 minutes. Content is rebuilt for each audience whatever the format, so a workshop gets the same tailoring as a main-stage keynote. His in-person dates have reached audiences on six continents.
What does it cost to book Alex Goryachev?
The cost to book Alex Goryachev depends on format, audience and travel, and every engagement is scoped to all three. You get availability and a fee range within one business day. A booking covers more than stage time: a briefing with the organizer, audience research, a customized talk and audience feedback collected afterward through Talkadot. Travel and workshop days are scoped separately. Send your date, audience and format through the contact page.
Where is Alex based, and does he travel?
Home base for Alex Goryachev is the West Coast of the United States, and he travels for events worldwide. West Coast and Southern California dates are simple to schedule, and he has delivered 310+ keynotes on 6 continents. International travel is quoted with the event, following the organizer's travel policy. Virtual delivery covers audiences in other time zones. Send a city and date through the contact page to check availability.
Does Alex Goryachev do advisory work beyond keynotes?
Alex Goryachev takes on advisory work alongside keynotes, including multi-month engagements, AI leadership programs and executive workshops on putting AI into production. He has advised Dell's GenAI practice, Amgen and the California State University system on AI strategy and governance. Google and AWS bring him in to brief their customers. Most engagements open with a short conversation to map the organization's AI maturity, then get scoped from there.
How do I book Alex Goryachev as an AI keynote speaker?
To book Alex Goryachev, send the date, audience and goals through the contact page. You get availability and a fee range within one business day. A booked engagement includes a planning call where he maps the audience's AI maturity and picks examples to match. Dates are held once the contract is signed. Delivery is available in person worldwide or virtually.
Will AI take my job?
AI will take some jobs, and entry-level hiring is where the effect shows up first. The more useful question is whether your organization plans to relearn you or replace you. Alex Goryachev, who measures how fast people and organizations relearn, treats relearning speed as the decisive skill of the agentic AI era. Employees who can rebuild their own work around new tools are the hardest to replace, and employers that train for it keep the experience they already paid for.
Is it too late to start with AI?
No, it is not too late to start with AI, because most of your peers are further behind than their press releases suggest. Public announcements tend to describe pilots, and far fewer organizations have changed how work actually gets done. Alex Goryachev, who tracks how fast organizations relearn, points out that a later start lets leaders skip the failed experiments others already ran. The organizations that pull ahead from here will be the ones that relearn fastest, starting with one team and one real process.
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