Best AI Keynote Speakers for Marketing Conferences (2026): Who Fits Which Slot

The names are Paul Roetzer, Mike Kaput, Christopher S. Penn, Scott Brinker and Shama Hyder, plus me. Everything I say about the other five comes from their own pages, as of Nov 2026: their bios, their speaking pages and the talks they list. It's a shortlist, not a ranking. I haven't said where anyone is based, because their pages don't say, and I haven't said anyone's free on your date, because only they can tell you that.

Most marketing conference organisers I talk to don't struggle to find an AI speaker. They struggle to find the right one for a particular slot. A day-one opener and a breakout for the ops team are different jobs, and a speaker who's brilliant at one can fall flat in the other. So I've sorted this list by the role the talk plays on your agenda, not by fame.

Match the conference slot to the speaker

The slot	What the room needs from it	Who fits on this shortlist
Day-one opener on AI for marketing teams	A clear picture of where AI is heading for marketers, and why it matters this year	Paul Roetzer, Mike Kaput
Martech and marketing operations track	How the tools, platforms and ops teams fit together once AI is in the stack	Scott Brinker
Data, prompts and live demos	Watching someone do it on stage, then copying it on Monday	Christopher S. Penn
Brand, customer and growth keynote	A big-idea talk on AI, customers and loyalty that lands with a mixed room	Shama Hyder
Practical workflows and getting found by AI	What to hand to AI first, and how AI assistants pick which businesses to recommend	Me, Lilach Bullock

The opener: AI for marketing teams, made approachable

Paul Roetzer. His Marketing AI Institute bio lists him as founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and SmarterX. It says he co-wrote the book Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing and the Future of Business, hosts The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast, and created the Marketing AI Conference, MAICON. His bio says that as a speaker he focuses on making AI approachable and actionable for marketers and business leaders, and that he previously founded and ran the digital marketing agency PR 20/20.

Who he suits: a conference that wants its opening session to set the frame for the whole day. The trade-off is that a frame-setting talk is wide by design, so if your audience wants step-by-step instructions, pair him with a hands-on breakout later. The real pro is the agency background. Someone who's run a marketing agency tends to talk about AI in terms a marketing room recognises.

Mike Kaput. His Marketing AI Institute bio says he's Chief Content Officer there, that he previously held a marketing leadership role at HubSpot's first partner agency, and that he co-wrote Marketing Artificial Intelligence and wrote Bitcoin in Plain English. His bio lists a speaking section and says he's published hundreds of articles on the Marketing AI Institute blog.

Who he suits: an event that wants the same Marketing AI Institute thinking with a content lens, which makes him a natural fit for a content marketing track. The trade-off is overlap: if Paul Roetzer's already on your bill, booking both from the same institute may give you two takes on one point of view. The real pro is that a content chief writing that much has to keep up with what's changed, and that shows in a talk.

The martech strategy slot for ops and platform leaders

Scott Brinker. His chiefmartec site describes him as a martech analyst, advisor and author who's written the chiefmartec publication since 2008. His speaking page says he speaks on martech, AI in marketing, marketing operations and platform ecosystem strategy, and that he co-founded the MarTech Conference in 2014, serving as its program chair and opening keynote speaker through 2021. His site says he wrote the book Hacking Marketing.

Who he suits: marketing operations leaders, CMOs and anyone deciding how AI sits inside a stack of platforms that already exists. The trade-off is the audience. A room of small business owners who've never heard the word martech may find it pitched above them. The real pro is the long view: he's been writing about marketing technology since long before generative AI turned up, so he can tell your audience which parts are new and which are the same old integration problem with a new label.

The hands-on session: data, prompts and live demos

Christopher S. Penn. The Trust Insights speakers page lists him as Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder, with a specialisation in AI in marketing, technical translation and application development. It lists recent keynotes titled Never Think Alone: Embracing Your AI Superpowers and The Intelligence Revolution, and says he wrote the book Almost Timeless: 48 Foundation Principles of Generative AI. The page says his presentations combine research insights with tactics, often demonstrated live on stage.

Who he suits: an audience that wants to see the work happen, not hear about it. Analysts, performance marketers and anyone who'll open a prompt window the moment the session ends. The trade-off is that live demos lean technical, so check with him how far to pitch it if half your room is brand and comms people. The real pro is the demo itself. People remember what they watched being built far longer than a slide that says it can be done.

The brand and customer keynote with a big idea

Shama Hyder. Her site describes her as an AI keynote speaker and Professor of Practice. It lists three signature keynotes plus one workshop, covering applied AI across people, process and personalisation, strategic urgency and customer loyalty. Her site says keynotes run 25, 45 or 60 minutes, in person or virtual, tailored to the audience through a pre-event discovery process, and that she writes a weekly memo on AI, customer experience and business growth.

Who she suits: a main-stage slot where the room is mixed, with brand people, sales leaders and founders, and you want a talk about customers and growth with AI running through it. The trade-off is that a big-idea keynote won't give the ops team a workflow to copy. The real pro is the format choice. A 25 minute option is useful when your agenda's tight and you'd rather have a short, sharp keynote than cut someone else.

Practical AI workflows and AI visibility, which is where I come in

Me, Lilach Bullock. I wrote this list and I'm on it, so read this entry knowing that. I'm a British AI implementation consultant, trainer, speaker and fractional CMO, with 23 years in marketing, and I went all in on AI in 2024 and rebuilt my own consultancy around it. I've spoken at more than 100 events, including TEDxBolton and Oxford University, and my press page lists the coverage and talks.

For marketing conferences, the talk I'm asked for most is about getting named by ChatGPT and Google's AI: how AI assistants decide which businesses to recommend, using my own site's data. The other is practical AI workflows for marketing teams: which tasks to hand to AI first, and the house rules that keep a team out of trouble. I speak in person and online, as a 45 to 60 minute keynote, a 90 minute workshop, or a keynote followed by a workshop.

Who I suit: business and marketing audiences who want to leave with something they can do on Monday. What I'm not: I'm not an academic, I'm not a futurist, and I'm not a bureau with a roster. I don't do engineering-led AI either, like training your own models, and I'd say so on the first call. The real pro is that the material comes from my own business and my clients' work this month, not from a deck I've given for three years.

What my own numbers show

A speaker on AI visibility should be able to show it working on their own business, so here's mine. Between January and September 2026, my site grew from 1,322 Google clicks a month to 6,412, and visits sent by AI assistants went from 32 a month to 3,599. Those are from my own Search Console and GA4, and the method's written up in my AI SEO case study. It's one site, and it's mine, so it's evidence of what I do rather than a promise of what you'll get. But it's the sort of receipt I'd ask any speaker on this list for.

Booking the right talk for your agenda

Before you contact anyone, decide what the slot's for. An opener sets the tone, a breakout teaches a skill, and a closer sends people home with one thing to do. If you're not sure whether your audience needs a talk or a hands-on session, this comparison of an AI keynote and an AI workshop walks through the choice. My guide to choosing an AI keynote speaker has the questions I'd ask every name on a shortlist.

On timing, my own rule of thumb is eight to twelve weeks' notice for a custom keynote and four to six weeks for a standard talk. Other speakers will have their own lead times, so ask each one rather than assuming.

A four-step shortlist for your marketing event

1. Name the slot. Write one sentence on what the audience should do differently after the talk. That sentence picks the row in the table above.
2. Pick two names for that row. Not five. Two gives you a real comparison and a fallback if your first choice can't make the date.
3. Watch one full talk from each. A whole session, not a highlight reel. Note how they handle questions, and whether the examples would land with your crowd.
4. Ask for a session outline built around your brief. Send your audience, the slot length and that one sentence, and see what comes back.

My verdict: I'd watch one full talk from each name on your shortlist and skip anyone who can't send you a session outline written for your audience. A generic AI talk is easy to find. One that fits your slot is the thing worth paying for.

If your marketing conference needs a talk on practical AI workflows or on getting found by AI assistants, I'd be glad to hear about the event. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the best AI keynote speakers for marketing conferences?

My shortlist is Paul Roetzer, Mike Kaput, Christopher S. Penn, Scott Brinker and Shama Hyder, plus me, Lilach Bullock. I wrote the list and I'm on it, and it's a shortlist, not a ranking. Each one fits a different slot, from a day-one opener to a hands-on demo session or a martech track.

How do I choose an AI keynote speaker for a marketing conference?

Start with the slot, not the name. Decide whether you need an opener, a strategy talk, a hands-on session or a brand keynote, pick two speakers who fit that role, watch a full talk from each, and ask both for a session outline written around your audience.

What should a marketing conference brief an AI keynote speaker on?

Tell them who's in the room and what they already use, the slot length, where the talk sits in the day, and the one thing you want people to do differently afterwards. A good speaker will shape the examples around that rather than give a stock talk.

Keynote or workshop for a marketing team event?

A keynote suits a large room and sets direction. A workshop suits a smaller group that needs to build something on its own work. Many marketing events pair the two, with a 45 to 60 minute keynote followed by a 90 minute hands-on workshop.

How far ahead should I book an AI keynote speaker?

For my own talks, eight to twelve weeks' notice is comfortable for a custom keynote and four to six weeks works for a standard talk. Other speakers set their own lead times, so ask each one on your shortlist early.