TEDx speaker · Keynote speaker · Author
Generative AI for business leaders
Your people have seen the demos. What your leaders need is a clear view of what AI means for your business, and what to do about it next week.
TEDx · 28 August 2026 · “The tools we build, build us back”
26 cities, 11 countries
English or Tamil, on stage or online
30+ years building technology businesses
Audiences have included Microsoft, Bharat Petroleum, Zoho, TiE, NASSCOM, FOCUS and Chalo.
Not a tools tutorial. A business conversation.
Business first
I talk about strategy, value, risk, people and decisions. Tools come up only when they help you decide.
From someone who has built
I have written software since the early 1990s and ran a global software company for close to two decades. I shipped machine learning in 2016, years before ChatGPT.
Honest about what I got wrong
In 2007 I said the iPhone would not succeed. A year later I bought one. I tell your audience where I was wrong as well as where I was right, and why that matters for AI.
“If anything in technology, you can be very sure nobody can predict it.”
Auriseg keynote, 8 Aug 2026
Talks I am asked for
Every talk is tailored to your audience and industry. These are starting points, not scripts.
Seeing what is coming — for leadership teams planning the next three years
The Future Will Not Happen To You
AI will change jobs, companies and industries, but not on its own schedule. It changes on the schedule of the people who move first. What changes by 2030, and what to start doing this year.
AI Odyssey: The Road Ahead for Business Leaders
A clear map of where Generative AI is heading: models, costs, agents and regulation. Written for leaders who need to plan, not for engineers.
Use AI as a Cycle, Not as a Car
AI should make your people stronger, not do the pedalling for them. How to adopt AI without hollowing out the skills your company depends on.
Smaller Models, Not Smaller Teams
The quiet shift to small, cheap, private models, and why it matters more for your costs and data than the next headline model.
The Tools We Build, Build Us Back (TEDx)
For thirty years I built tools to solve problems. Now, with AI, for the first time I can feel the tool building me back. What that means for every builder, and every leader.
Leading with AI — for CXOs deciding where to invest
The AI-Powered Business Leader
How leaders are using AI in their own work today: to think, write, decide and prepare. It is practical, and it is about the leader, not the org chart.
AI Without the Hype: What Actually Works
Where AI is creating value in companies right now, where it isn’t, and how to tell the difference before you spend.
Who Controls What AI Sees
Your data, your documents, your customers’ information. Who decides what the AI knows, and what that means for risk and advantage.
Growing Sales With AI, Not Only Cutting Cost
Most AI business cases are about saving money. The bigger prize is growth: finding, understanding and serving customers better.
Responsible AI: Risk, Cost and the Human Touch
AI has no built-in brakes. The guardrails leaders must put in early, and the moments that must stay human.
Founder to CEO — for founders, startup ecosystems and investors
AI for Founders: Build Your Own, Do Not Borrow One
If your product is a thin layer on someone else’s model, so is your moat. How founders build an AI advantage that is truly theirs.
The Founder’s Second Brain
Your own wiki, read by your own AI. I built one from 30 years of my own talks and writing. Here is how a founder can do the same, and why it matters.
The Real Fears Founders Carry in the Age of AI
Will my product be copied? Will my team be replaced? Will I keep up? An honest conversation about the fears founders rarely say out loud.
Turning a Technologist Into a Chief Executive
The hardest promotion in any company, drawn from my book The Founder Catalyst and from years of working with founders.
Don’t see your topic? Tell me about your audience and I will suggest an angle.
After the session
“People strategy is AI strategy. That’s a point I very much cherish.”
“The session was on AI for founders. He took us through generative AI, how AI can be used or leveraged in the respective businesses … One of the points that stayed with me was that people strategy is AI strategy. That’s a point I very much cherish … AI is opportunity.”
Murugavel Janakiraman · Founder & CEO, Matrimony.com
What your audience will experience
The shape of a session
1
Where we are
A plain-language picture of what AI can and can’t do today, with real examples from companies.
2
What it means for you
Your industry, your roles, your costs and your risks. This is where the talk is tailored.
3
What to do next
Specific decisions and actions your leaders can take the following week.
Real moments from a recent keynote
(The Future Will Not Happen To You, Auriseg, Chennai, 8 August 2026)
- An exercise to open: “Imagine you’re taking an interview in 2030”. The audience works out which of their skills will still matter.
- My wrong predictions, as well as the right ones: the 2007 iPhone call I got wrong, the 2003 mobile call I got right, and what both teach about predicting AI.
- Stories from the field: building NDTV’s election website for Microsoft in ten days in the late ’90s, with no broadband, two laptops and a conference room I had to claim for myself. It is a story about judgement and nerve, the things no AI does for you.
- An exercise to close: each person writes down where they want to be in 2026, 2030 and 2036.
“So all these stories — what they tell you is you can reinvent yourself at any point.”
Twenty-six cities, eleven countries
From boardrooms in Chennai to conference halls in Tokyo, Cologne and Seattle.
Singapore · Kuala Lumpur · Cologne · Colombo · Malé · Tokyo · Taipei · Sydney · London · Seattle · Los Angeles · and cities across India
From one talk to a few weeks together
Most organisations start with a keynote. Some want to go further — with one leadership team, a board, or a group of founders. Each format below has a fixed scope and ends with something your team keeps. None of them is tool training.
Keynote or fireside chat
What AI means for your business, in plain language, in one hour.
For
Annual conferences, leadership offsites, customer events, industry bodies
Format
30–60 minutes, including questions. On stage or online, in English or Tamil.
You leave with
A shared view across the room of what is changing, what it means for you, and what to do next week.
Choose by what you need
| If you need… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Your whole audience to understand what AI means for them | Keynote |
| Your leaders to act on the keynote straight away | Keynote plus working session |
| Your leadership team to agree an AI direction | The leadership deep dive |
| Change that sticks, without taking a full day away | The four-week AI leadership sprint |
| Your board ready for an AI decision | The board AI briefing |
| Founders to learn from each other | The founder circle |
| Founders to grow into CEOs, together | The Founder Catalyst cohort |
| Someone beside you, month after month | Founder & CEO advisory |
Going deeper
Keynote plus working session
The keynote sets the scene. That same afternoon, a smaller group stays back and works on your own questions.
For: Organisations already planning a keynote, where the leadership team wants to act on it straight away
Format: Keynote (30–60 min) + a working session of 2–3 hours with up to 20 leaders, the same day, in person
You leave with: A shortlist of three AI opportunities worth piloting, each with an owner and a first step.
More detail
“The talk gets people thinking. The afternoon is where your leaders decide what to do about it — while the energy is still in the room.”
The leadership deep dive
One leadership team, one or two half-days, built around your business — not a generic syllabus.
For: CXO teams who need to agree an AI direction together
Format: One or two half-days, in person. Short conversations with two or three of your leaders beforehand, so the sessions start from your reality.
You leave with: A one-page AI decision memo: what to build, what to buy, what to leave alone, and what to do in the next 90 days.
More detail
“We spend the time on your numbers, your processes and your people. By the end, your team has made decisions, not just heard ideas.”
The four-week AI leadership sprint
One hour a week for four weeks, online, with a small task between sessions — so the change sticks, rather than fading by Monday.
For: Leadership teams spread across cities, or leaders who can’t give up a full day
Format: 4 × 60-minute online sessions, one a week, for up to 15 leaders. A short, practical task after each session.
You leave with: Each leader using AI in their own work every week, and a 90-day plan for the team.
More detail
“A one-off session is easy to forget. Four weeks, with something to try between each, is how new habits form.”
Week 1:
where AI stands, and where you stand
Week 2:
your own work, with AI
Week 3:
your team’s processes — what to change
Week 4:
the plan, the risks, and who owns what
The board AI briefing
A closed-door conversation for your board or top team, before a big AI decision or your annual plan.
For: Boards, promoters and top management teams
Format: 60–90 minutes, in person or online. Confidential.
You leave with: A short briefing note: what is real, what is hype, the risks to watch, and the questions your board should keep asking management.
More detail
“Your board wants an AI plan, not an AI demo. This is the conversation before the plan.”
The founder circle
Six to ten founders or CEOs in one room, talking openly about AI and growing their companies.
For: Founder networks, industry groups, or a founder who brings their peers together
Format: 2–3 hours, in person, facilitated. Held under Chatham House rules.
You leave with: One decision each founder will act on, and a group of peers facing the same questions.
More detail
“Founders learn most from other founders. My job is to keep the conversation honest and useful.”
Murugavel Janakiraman of Matrimony.com brought together founders he has known for over a decade for exactly this. “People strategy [is] AI strategy. That’s a point I very much cherish.”
The Founder Catalyst cohort
My book, The Founder Catalyst, worked through as a five-week programme — one part of the book each week.
For: Founders at a similar stage, incubator and accelerator cohorts, or a founder with their leadership team
Format: 5 weekly sessions of 90 minutes, online or in person, for up to 12 people. Copies of the book included.
You leave with: A personal founder-to-CEO plan: what you will stop doing, who you need to hire, and how you will lead differently.
More detail
“The book gives you the ideas. The cohort makes you apply them — to your own company, with others doing the same.”
Week 1:
The foundation
Week 2:
Growth
Week 3:
People
Week 4:
Execution
Week 5:
The future with AI
How these are priced
Each format is priced per programme, not per hour, so you know the full cost up front. Tell me about your team, and I’ll send a short proposal with the scope, the dates and the fee.
Not sure which fits? Tell me what you are trying to achieve, and I will suggest one — or tell you honestly if a keynote is all you need.
Watch
TEDx, 28 August 2026: “The tools we build, build us back”.
Video coming soon
Two questions people ask first
Do you teach AI tools?
No. My talks and sessions are about what AI means for your business: strategy, value, risk, people and decisions. Where a team wants to go deeper, I run deep dives and short programmes that are hands-on, but they are always about business choices, not tool training.
Can you tailor the talk to our company or industry?
Yes. That is how every talk is built. Even before we agree, I want to understand your audience: who they are, what they already know about AI, what is changing in your business or industry right now, and what you want them to leave with. Based on that, I’ll tell you honestly whether I am the right speaker, and how I would shape the talk. Once we agree, I bring in examples from your industry, and where it helps, from your own company, so the talk feels like it was written for your room. Because it was.
Booking, fees, travel, recording and more — read the full FAQ →
Who you’d be inviting
I have been in software since the early 1990s and founded Vishwak Solutions, which ran operations and technology for Microsoft Network for more than a decade. I have been an Honorary Microsoft Regional Director since 1999, shipped a machine-learning news app with a US patent filing in 2016, and spoke at TEDx in 2026. I write every week on what AI means for leaders.
Full profile → · Speaker kit for organisers
Invite me to speak
Tell me about your event. I reply personally, usually within one business day.
Email: v@thefoundercatalyst.com
WhatsApp: +91 91760 42674
Download the speaker kit
Two pages: my background, talks and advisory work. Handy to share with your team.