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Paul Zikopoulos

VP of Skills Vitality at IBM, Author, and Future Trends Expert

Paul Zikopoulos
  • Published author of 22 books on Data and AI, trusted for turning complexity into clarity
  • Entertaining, high-energy speaker who makes technology engaging and practical
  • Translates AI advancements into actionable insights and strategic frameworks for smarter growth
  • Inspires audiences with real-world case studies and storytelling that show how to turn disruption into opportunity
Fees
Fees Start at £16,025
Location/Travels From: Ontario
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“Every day, we walk by solvable problems, leaving opportunities untapped.” This quote from future trends expert Paul Zikopoulos perfectly encapsulates his work at IBM and his inspiring talks on AI, big data, innovation, and leadership. An energetic, easy to follow, and effortlessly engaging speaker, Paul uses stunning visuals and real-time demos to captivate audiences with the sheer potential of AI and digital transformation.

Paul leads from the front as VP of Skills Vitality at IBM, driving real outcomes with strategic learning and upskilling initiatives. His successful, hands-on expertise equips audiences with the knowledge to anticipate disruptions and leverage technology for success. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, he unveils the gambit of game-changing technology trends shaping our world right now and customizes insights for industries.

Paul has been featured on 60 Minutes and published over 360 articles and 22 books, including AI Value Creators and The AI Ladder. Recognizing his authority in the field, Paul was invited to speak to NATO leadership on AI and data strategies for next-generation command and control. He has also appeared on multiple “Top AI and Big Data Influencers” lists, including Analytics Insight’s “Top 100 Global AI and Big Data Influencers.” In addition, Paul serves on the board of “Coding for Veterans”, helping military personnel transition from deployment to employment, and is a board member for Queen’s University’s prestigious Masters of Management Analytics and AI program.

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Video Gallery

Paul Zikopoulos Speaker Reel

Paul Zikopoulos: Generative AI with Humans in the Loop

Paul Zikopoulos: Ethics, Bias and Things That Go Bump in an AI Night

Paul Zikopoulos: Excelling in Times of Rapid Change

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Paul Zikopoulos Speaker Reel

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Paul Zikopoulos: Generative AI with Humans in the Loop

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Paul Zikopoulos: Ethics, Bias and Things That Go Bump in an AI Night

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Paul Zikopoulos: Excelling in Times of Rapid Change

Speech Topics

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The AI conversation has outgrown chatbots and prompts. It’s now time to talk about agentic AI, which are systems that respond and act. These intelligent agents are already transforming how work gets done, from resolving IT tickets to managing supply chains and processing insurance claims. They orchestrate workflows across systems, reason about priorities, and improve over time, keeping business operations moving without constant human nudging. This keynote explores how agentic AI is reshaping productivity, emphasizing both its transformative power and the need for strong governance and trust. Generative AI showed us what machines can write; agentic AI shows us what they can do—automating busywork so humans can focus on the thinking that drives growth.

This introductory keynote takes you from what many might know about AI—personal use through ChatGPT—and shifts you into the AI-for-business mindset to create a whole new art of the possible. This visually captivating talk is fast, funny, and packed with real business demos—workflows turbo-boosted by AI for cutting-edge efficiency. It’s also tuned for your industry, with examples and applications that make the lessons directly relevant to your world. You’ll learn how to spot the good uses of AI that supercharge your business, the bad habits that waste time, and the questions to ask yourself before betting on a use case.

An unfortunate truth: every day, employees walk by problems that could be solved—or at least improved—with technology. But do they even know those problems are solvable? What would a business look like if everyone was empowered to act because they knew solutions were within reach? That’s the opportunity AI is opening up.

In this high-octane, customized for your industry demo-rich keynote, Paul Zikopoulos—award-winning author, speaker, and global thought leader on Data and AI—shows audiences what comes next. Known for awe-inspiring imagery, thought-provoking insights, and even making IT topics funny, Paul delivers the future of AI in a way that both entertains and informs.

This isn’t AI 101. It’s a front-row seat where execution, strategy, and humor collide. And perhaps the most important shift: the knowledge you need to move from +AI (where AI is bolted onto existing workflows) to AI+ (where workflows are re-designed with AI at the core). That’s how organizations change the curve. This talk shows exactly how to make that leap.

AI represents a 10 to 20 trillion-dollar productivity unlock over the next decade. The value is there, but as Thomas Edison put it, “Vision without execution is hallucination.” And as Paul will tell you, there are a lot of people (and AI models, for that matter) hallucinating. In this AI moment, execution means two things: having the skills to pick the right use cases and empowering people with the skills to bring them to life.

Paul is doing this today at IBM, where he leads its enterprise-wide reskilling and upskilling programs and helps clients transform their businesses. He stresses that that real impact comes when skills are democratized across the many and tied directly to impactful use cases. With years of experience and trusted leadership, Paul’s talk gives audiences a portfolio of use cases, a skills plan that leaders can take to their teams to implement immediately, and a clear path to move from dabbling with AI to embedding it into the DNA of your business.

I want to thank you again for joining us yesterday and for all the work you put into tailoring your presentation to HARMAN, the audience, and the event. I’ve heard so much positive feedback—it was a huge hit. You even managed to steal the show from our Shark [Tank] speaker!

Harman

Rare to see such a high-quality keynote. Watching him deliver live practical Gen AI demos while keeping the audience engaged was next-level.

PROMAT 2025

Absolutely blown away by Paul Z’s stellar keynote on the “Data Effect”, where he revealed how harnessing #Al can ignite innovation, elevate enterprise #efficiency, and expand our knowledge. We can’t wait to translate these game-changing ideas into tangible strategies that keep pushing the boundaries of industrial engineering.

Industrial Engineer.ai

A week later and I’m still talking about how incredible and personable Paul Z is! I think 2025 may be the best year yet for Huntsville/Madison County ever.

Huntsville Madison County Chamber

Your keynote at Staffing World in Charlotte was extremely engaging, and your message was perfect. You were by far the best keynote of the event!

Staffing World SW 23

A major highlight was hearing Paul Zikopoulos’ presentation on “Disruption, Data, and all things AI” followed by a leaders-only discussion forum ACHE offered to continue the conversation. Paul’s insights on AI tools (including demos!), history, future outlook, and risks in this space were impressive and presented in an engaging & approachable way.

American College of Healthcare Executives

An attendee sitting beside me said Paul’s presentation alone would have justified the conference cost, and I couldn’t agree more. The whole week was amazing, but this was so good and relevant!

American College of Healthcare Executives

We had a chance to attend a phenomenal session at ACHE Congress 2025 by Paul Zikopoulos—and wow, talk about energizing

American College of Healthcare Executives

Hi Paul, just wanted to say thanks so much for the outstanding keynote you delivered for our Annual Membership Meeting today! Everyone really enjoyed it and is buzzing with ideas now! You did an outstanding job!

Huntsville Madison County Chamber

So delighted you were able to speak at our event… you were fabulous! Thank you!

Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals

You were fantastic Paul! The feedback from our members was outstanding! Your energy, personality, & of course, content, was extremely engaging and entertaining!

Personal Care Products Council

I want to thank you for your keynote. Your energy and thought-provoking content were amazing & I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from our members.

Cutter Associates

I wanted to reach out to you to personally thank you again for speaking at our event last week … I’ve received some really great feedback and appreciate you taking the time to educate us

Alvarez & Marsal

Awesome job with your presentation at today’s Emerging Tech webinar! Honestly one of the best presentations, virtual or non-virtual, I’ve ever seen! Super engaging and informative.

WEtech Alliance

I absolutely LOVED your discussion on AI in supply chain this morning for the corporate sponsors. You have a great way of engaging everyone, even though we’re not all in person.

Saint Joseph's University

I attended this event and came out with several amazing tips on managing work in a COVID era as well as working from home to make life better. A big thanks to the speaker for engaging us so well and leaving us with lots of ideas to change how we work & engage.

FutureLab

Paul. Thanks for coming to New Orleans! You were tremendous! We need to explain this relationship for the entire profession, I believe this has started that process.

American Institute of CPAs

I received post positive and negative feedback. The positive was that your session was great. The negative was that I should have booked you for longer. Certainly a mistake on my part … thanks for everything.

Chartered Institute for Accounting & Auditing

Thank you again for participating at the Global Forum last week! Your presentation was very well received and the real highlight of our event for attendees.

Global Forum

Thank you again for a wonderful presentation at our Annual Conference … The audience LOVED it.

The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business

You did a great job. The buzz for the rest of the day around your talk was perfect – we couldn’t have asked for a better speaker or message. The audience loved and was intrigued by every piece of your talk.

Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce

Your presentation was best described as “mind blowing” and has sparked new ways of thinking. The highest rated component of our Director program, your talk has helped with a cultural shift … and our thinking around Big Data.

Centene Corporation

Thanks for an outstanding presentation. It was a great & energetic way to kick off our virtual conference. Your presentation was extremely insightful & really got our members thinking about what AI means for their companies.

Laboratory Products Association

Paul’s energy and thought-provoking content was amazing and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from our members!

Cutter Associates

Thank you for the amazing keynote speech today. Our members were extremely impressed and pleased with your content & style. Very well received.

ATMIA

Everyone loved your presentation and they are still buzzing about it. Will be in touch and hopefully we can have you join us again sometime soon!

International Association for Healthcare Textile Management

Thanks SO much for such a dynamic & invigorating glimpse into what’s happening & what’s coming around the corner. You helped anchor it in a way our brains need to ‘get it’. People are still talking about you!

Canadian Councelling and Psychotherapy Association

We’re getting rave reviews from your talk. I appreciate you so much!

TEXPO Treasury & Financial Conference

Not only has Paul been hands-down the best keynote speaker at our #EmergingTech events, but Paul has offered invaluable guidance and advice to our team!

Invest Windsor Essex

I saw you present on Big Data at the CompTIA event several years ago, and it remains the most interesting and well delivered industry presentation I have ever seen.

CGS

Thank you for such an amazing presentation, it was mesmerizing. The audience felt it was a home run with lots of compliments. Thanks for delivering way beyond expectations. With gratitude…

Council for Responsible Nutrition

The feedback & compliments from your talk far exceeded any other speaker we had at our conference. As we took note of the positive results we got from the conference, many people noted they now understand AI.

The City of Windsor

The whole health department is a buzz! The Doctors & our Directors can’t stop talking about you and I just heard staff in the washroom talking about your presentation – do you know how hard it is to inspire and engage front line staff?? Amazing!

Niagara Region Public Health

You were a big hit at our meeting. We look forward to working with you in the future.

Association of Edison Illuminating Companies

Heard “Best talk of the Day” from many of the attendees. We really appreciated your energy and insight.

Stadium Managers Association

It was such a pleasure meeting you in person and listening to you speak at our event. The feedback was amazing & everyone that I spoke to, loved your session. A couple of the credit unions wanted to know more about you and may reach out to arrange sessions of their own for their boards.

AdvantEdge Analytics

You were amazing! Our staff were completely engaged (which is rare) and the feedback has been nothing but positive.

Niagara Region Public Health

I was part of the CPA conference & was amazed by your presentation. I’m hoping you would be inclined to join my CEO & I for lunch to share some insights and ideas.

Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario

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