MAICON brings collectively high visionaries and consultants within the subject of AI throughout a three-day convention full of actionable periods and networking occasions—all to place you because the change agent your group (and profession) wants. On this ongoing speaker sequence, we’re that includes these extraordinary leaders, with forward-looking predictions, actionable ideas you need to use at this time, and a preview of their MAICON 2025 periods.
Brian Madden is the Know-how Officer and Futurist at Citrix with greater than 30 years of expertise as a globally acknowledged technologist, futurist, and storyteller. His work focuses on serving to enterprises anticipate and put together for what’s subsequent.
His curiosity in data work and rising tech tendencies started within the Nineteen Nineties with the rise of enterprise mobility and SaaS. Right this moment, he helps enterprise leaders perceive the transformative potential of synthetic intelligence.
“AI would be the largest impression to work that I’ve seen in my complete profession,” he mentioned.
Through the years, Brian has delivered greater than 1,000 keynote speeches around the globe. He’s the writer of six books—collectively promoting greater than 100,000 copies—and has written greater than 2,000 weblog posts.
This fall, Brian will journey from his house in Paris to MAICON to discover how AI is fueling an worker revolution.
Session Preview: Rethinking AI Technique from the Inside Out
A quiet revolution is underway. Throughout organizations—and particularly inside advertising groups—staff are actively experimenting with AI instruments, driving innovation from the bottom up.
Reasonably than viewing this motion as a menace, Brian Madden will share how leaders can embrace and channel this momentum to profit the whole group.
He explains that many conventional firms are approaching AI solely as an IT concern—erecting firewalls, imposing restrictions, and lacking the larger image. In actuality, AI must be approached as each a human sources and enterprise technique dialog.
“That is approach larger than IT,” he mentioned. “Deal with AI instruments such as you would deal with a coworker. In spite of everything, people have flaws too, so we give human employees guardrails. Take that infrastructure you utilize to handle people and apply it to your AI workforce too.”
In his session, Brian will discover sensible, actionable methods leaders can flip employee-led innovation into an enduring aggressive benefit.
Lesson Discovered: AI Will Make Waves from the Backside Up
In Brian’s phrases:
“I strongly imagine the most important approach AI will have an effect on the final world of data work will NOT be top-down, however slightly bottom-up.”
He goes on to elucidate that whereas organizational releases of AI apps and instruments are nice, they won’t basically change the way in which groups function. As an alternative, massive shifts will come from the AI instruments that people use each day.
He likens this transformation to an oncoming tsunami: “Everyone seems to be looking to sea anticipating a 200-foot wave, however they don’t understand the water is slowly rising up by means of the bottom they’re standing on.”
Trying Forward: Actual Change Takes Time
Organizations are constructed on advanced methods—individuals, processes, rules, coaching, workflows, and extra. Even essentially the most highly effective AI device can’t overhaul a complete operation in a single day.
Whereas AI adoption is already occurring from the underside up, it’ll take time for it to completely rise by means of the ranks and reshape how work will get achieved.
“Each particular person should navigate the trail of studying one thing fully new,” Brian mentioned. “Individuals couldn’t initially perceive a lightbulb after they solely had candles. The identical goes for AI. You will need to give grace to these staff who’re simply beginning to discover these instruments.”
As AI enters the office, persistence, help, and strategic steerage can be important for long-term, sustainable change.
Hyperlinks We Like
The 7-stage roadmap for human-AI collaboration within the office
On this weblog put up, Brian outlines a seven-stage framework for understanding how employees undertake AI, and the way these behaviors will reshape organizations over time.
EUCTECHDK Closing Keynote: The Way forward for Work in an AI-Native World
On this keynote, Brian argues that AI will combine into data work not by means of sci-fi interfaces, however through the use of the identical instruments as people (desktops, browsers, and apps). It’s a shift in mindset that many leaders haven’t but made.
To grasp AI’s future impression, take a look at this playbook from 150 years in the past
On this weblog put up, Brian attracts a robust analogy between at this time’s AI adoption and the electrification of factories. Similar to electrical energy didn’t rework trade in a single day, AI would require a sequence of strategic adjustments. For those who suppose AI is “only a sooner horse,” this put up may change your perspective.
Brian’s Session at MAICON
AI at Work: The Staff’ Revolution
Whereas many organizations deal with top-down company AI methods, a silent revolution is underway. Entrepreneurs are among the many staff independently discovering and integrating AI into their every day duties, reshaping workflows with out formal directives. This session explores the grassroots motion of AI adoption, emphasizing how particular person employees have gotten unintentional innovators.
Madden will discover the phases of this evolution—from passive AI assistants to proactive brokers—and focus on the implications for organizational construction, safety, and management. Attendees will acquire insights into recognizing and harnessing this bottom-up transformation to allow their groups to do their finest work.
Key Takeaways:
How bottom-up AI adoption is already reshaping workflows and tradition.
Why formal “top-down” methods should embrace and construct on these grassroots efforts.
Sensible steps leaders can take to show employee-driven innovation right into a aggressive benefit.
Preserve Up with Brian (and AI)
Need to continue learning from Brian and keep forward of the curve with AI? Right here’s the place to comply with alongside:
Be part of Us at MAICON 2025
Advertising Synthetic Intelligence Convention (MAICON) was created for advertising leaders and practitioners looking for to drive the subsequent frontier of digital advertising transformation inside their organizations.
We’re excited to host our sixth annual MAICON—Advertising AI Convention—at this pivotal level for our trade. Be part of us from October 14 to 16, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio, and use the particular code SPEAKERSERIES100 at checkout to obtain $100 off your registration!
