I’m Speaking at AEM Annual. I’m Also There to Listen.

Yes, I’m speaking at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Annual Conference this November. But honestly? I’m just as excited to be in the audience.

Annual brings together OEM executives, the next generation of industry leaders, and people working through many of the same challenges from different perspectives. That alone makes the trip worthwhile.

Here is some of the speaker lineup.

Sam Jordan will explore what happens when AI, smart sensors, and biotech converge, and how leaders turn those shifts into a business strategy.

Rich Hua, who built Amazon’s EQ community, will talk about leading through rapid change while keeping teams engaged. If you’ve ever rolled out new technology to a crew that didn’t ask for it, you already know why that matters.

Zondwa Mandela will challenge attendees to think about leadership beyond the bottom line, including community, inclusion, and impact.

Sebastian Terry will share how losing a close friend led to a personal bucket list and eventually a movement built around purpose and meaningful action.

Here’s what I like about that mix: technology is part of the conversation, but people are at the center of it.

That connects directly to the work I do. Every AI conversation I have with OEMs eventually comes back to the same questions.

Who is going to use this? Where does it fit into their day? Do they trust it? What happens when it gets something wrong?

Getting the technology to work matters. Getting it to work for the people doing the job is where the real effort lives.

My workshop is about deploying agentic AI underneath the workflows you already have. We’ll look at where agents can help in the background and where people need to stay involved.

I’m excited to share that. I’m also excited to put my own presentation down, sit in the audience, and learn something.

Who are you most looking forward to hearing from? If you’re heading to Tucson, come find the guy in the hat. Let’s catch up.

Explore AEM’s featured speakers.