Michael Housman
- Brings 17 years of experience building and deploying AI across multiple industries.
- Wharton Ph.D., Harvard graduate, and UT Austin business educator.
- Author of Future Proof with 243 keynotes and workshops delivered across 27 countries.
Michael Housman Speaker Biography
Dr. Michael Housman helps leaders cut through the hype and put AI to work. He is the Founder of AI Performance Lab, which helps leadership teams make their organizations AI-native, and author of Future Proof: Transform Your Business with AI (or Get Left Behind), an Amazon #1 Best Seller.
Over a 15-year career, Michael has built and deployed AI platforms that changed how companies hire, communicate with customers, detect fraud and transact real estate. He has led data and AI teams at high-growth startups and worked with the Fortune 500, and he still builds hands-on. That practitioner’s view is what sets his talks apart: every session is built around live demonstrations, tailored to the industries in the room, rather than slides about AI.
Michael has delivered keynotes and workshops in more than 20 countries for organizations including American Express, PepsiCo, Aramco, Walmart and IBM, as well as YPO and EO chapters on four continents. His signature workshop, AI-Powered Business Launch, takes teams from concept to a working prototype and investor pitch in a single session.
He serves on the faculty of Texas Executive Education at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, EY Tech University and Singularity University. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The Atlantic.
Michael holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and Managerial Science from the Wharton School and an A.B. from Harvard. He is based in Austin, Texas and speaks in person worldwide and virtually.
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Featured Videos
Speech Topics
Creating an AI-Native Organization: Transforming How You Lead, Rebuilding How You Work
Executive teams · leadership retreats · conference main stage
AI no longer just answers questions. It acts. Agents now run multi-step work, and org charts are being redrawn around people and machines working side by side. The bottleneck is rarely the technology; it is leaders too busy running the business to redesign it.
→ Takeaway: a blank-sheet method for rebuilding workflows around AI instead of bolting it onto old processes.
AI 101
From Sci-Fi to Strategy: Navigating the AI Explosion
Mixed and non-technical audiences
What today’s models can really do, and how leading companies use them to compress timelines and build an unfair advantage. Technology moves exponentially; adoption moves linearly. That gap is both the risk and the opportunity.
→ Takeaway: a practical roadmap for future-proofing the business, incrementally and transformationally.
AI 201
AI and the Next Frontier: Mastering Advanced AI for Real-World Impact Audiences past the basics
Retrieval-augmented generation, multimodal and agentic AI, and the hard parts of scaling: measuring ROI, overcoming resistance to adoption and building an AI-first culture, told through real-world case studies.
→ Takeaway: the frameworks leaders need to move from pilots to measurable business impact.
CULTURE & CHANGE
Developing an AI-First Mindset: Driving Adoption and Usage
All-hands · sales kickoffs · L&D summits
Tools are the easy part. This talk covers the toolset, skillset and mindset that decide whether AI takes hold across a company, and how leaders model the way instead of waiting for permission.
→ Takeaway: a playbook for getting a whole team using AI every day.
Workshops
Hands-on and team-based · 90 minutes to a full day · 10 to 150+ participants · pairs with any keynote
MOST BOOKED
AI-Powered Business Launch: From Concept to Pitch in 90 Minutes
Learn about the power of AI and revolutionize your approach to business development with this immersive workshop that harnesses the power of AI to compress months of work into mere hours. Participants will leverage cutting-edge LLM-based tools to analyze provided datasets, craft comprehensive business plans, and create compelling VC pitch decks. The experience culminates in the rapid production of a professional-grade teaser video and a fully functional website, complete with embedded media. This hands-on session demonstrates how AI can dramatically accelerate the business creation process, accomplishing in just 90 minutes what traditionally required substantial time and financial investment.
AGENTS
Automate, Innovate, Accelerate: Build Your First Agent in 90 Minutes
What if the repetitive tasks that eat your week didn’t need you at all? This high-velocity, high-impact workshop challenges participants to go from a recurring task to a working AI agent — in just 90 minutes. Participants will use cutting-edge AI to scope a real workflow, build a custom agent, connect it to the tools they already use, and pressure-test and refine it until it runs reliably — on demand or on an automatic schedule. Whether you’re an executive, an operator, or a team leader buried in busywork, this immersive experience will show you how to harness AI to delegate the work that doesn’t need you.
PROTOTYPING
Build, Brand, & Launch in 90 Minutes: The Prompt-to-Prototype Experience
What if launching a startup or product idea didn’t take weeks or months but could happen in just 90 minutes? This high-velocity, high-impact workshop challenges participants to go from idea to prototype using the power of generative AI. Teams will use cutting-edge tools to generate product concepts, design visual assets, build landing pages, and craft compelling narratives all through well-crafted prompts. Whether you’re a founder, marketer, or product innovator, this immersive experience will show you how to harness AI to rapidly move from concept to launch.
