Usain Bolt
Eight-Time Olympic Gold Medalist | World Record Holder in 100m, 200m & 4x100m Relay | 11-Time World Champion | Four-Time Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
Paul Zikopoulos
VP of Skills Vitality & Enablement, IBM Technology Group | Author of 22 Books on Data & AI Including AI Value Creators | Top 100 Global AI & Big Data Influencer
Paul Zikopoulos is an IBM vice president who leads the company's enterprise-wide AI reskilling and upskilling programs, and the author of 22 books on data and AI. Named to Analytics Insight's Top 100 Global AI and Big Data Influencers and consulted by 60 Minutes, he has briefed NATO leadership on AI strategy. On stage he is famously high-energy, running live AI demos and translating enterprise AI into practical, industry-specific moves.
Want to book Paul Zikopoulos as a speaker for your event? Please provide the info below and we’ll get in touch within 24h:
Paul Zikopoulos biography
Paul Zikopoulos has spent three decades inside one of the world’s largest technology companies watching organizations either capture the value of new technology or walk straight past it. His central observation is deceptively simple: every day, employees pass by problems that are already solvable, and never realize it. Turning that gap into opportunity, at scale and across entire workforces, is what he does at IBM and what he brings to a stage.
AI speaker Paul Zikopoulos is Vice President of Skills Vitality and Enablement for the IBM Technology Group, where he owns the learning, reskilling, and upskilling strategy for the company’s entire software, hardware, and partner sales ecosystem. That gives him a vantage point few AI speakers have: he is not describing enterprise AI adoption from the outside but running one of the largest AI skills transformations anywhere. He is also the author of 22 books on data and AI, including AI Value Creators and The AI Ladder, and more than 360 articles.
From Big Data to Agentic AI
Zikopoulos has been consulted on AI and big data by 60 Minutes, named to Analytics Insight’s list of the Top 100 Global AI and Big Data Influencers, and invited to brief NATO leadership on AI and data strategies for next-generation command and control. His talks are known less for theory than for live demonstration: he builds real workflows on stage, tailors examples to the industry in the room, and makes enterprise technology genuinely funny. Alongside his work at IBM, he serves on the board of Coding for Veterans, helping military personnel move from deployment into technology careers, and on the board of Queen’s University’s Master of Management Analytics and AI program. He is a longtime advocate for women in technology.
As a speaker, Paul Zikopoulos is high-energy, visual, and relentlessly practical, the rare technologist who can hold a non-technical room. He speaks on agentic AI and the next wave of productivity, moving organizations from bolting AI onto old workflows to redesigning work around it, building the AI skills and culture that make adoption stick, and the ethics, bias, and governance questions that come with it. Audiences leave with a portfolio of use cases they recognize from their own business and a plan they can start on Monday.
Paul Zikopoulos Speaking Videos
FULL SESSION: How Organizations Are Winning With Open Technology in the Era of AI
Paul Zikopoulos keynote: "A Word Too Much Repeated Falls Out of Being..." -- Strata + Hadoop 2014
Paul Zikopoulos Keynote Topics
The AI conversation has moved past chatbots and prompt writing. Zikopoulos examines agentic AI, systems that don't just respond but act, already resolving IT tickets, running supply chain steps, and processing claims with minimal human nudging. He shows how these agents reason across workflows and improve over time, what they realistically unlock in productivity, and why governance and trust have to be built in from the start rather than retrofitted.
Most people meet AI through a chatbot on their phone. This talk moves an audience from that individual, consumer habit into thinking like a business. Fast, funny, and built around live demonstrations tailored to the industry in the room, Zikopoulos shows which applications genuinely accelerate a company, which are quiet time sinks, and the questions leaders should ask before committing budget to a use case.
Zikopoulos draws a sharp line between bolting AI onto existing processes and rebuilding those processes with AI at the center, and argues that only the second approach changes a company's trajectory. Using demos and real examples, he shows what that redesign actually looks like in practice, why most organizations stall at the first stage, and how leaders can make the jump from experimenting with AI to competing with it.
AI represents an enormous productivity opportunity, but as Zikopoulos puts it, vision without execution is just hallucination. Drawing directly on leading IBM's enterprise-wide reskilling programs, he argues the hardest skills to build aren't the deep technical ones but broad AI literacy and cultural readiness across the whole workforce. Audiences leave with a framework for inventorying and scaling skills by role, plus a skills plan leaders can hand to their teams immediately.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Paul Zikopoulos
Why Paul Zikopoulos?
Booking Paul Zikopoulos gives audiences an AI speaker who is actually doing the work, not just commenting on it. As the IBM vice president responsible for skills and enablement across the company's technology business, he is running one of the largest enterprise AI upskilling efforts in the world, which means his examples come from practice rather than press releases. He pairs that credibility with a genuinely entertaining stage presence: live demos, sharp visuals, industry-specific content, and humor about a subject most speakers make dry. Clients consistently rate him the best speaker of their event. He is ideal for events on AI, technology, digital transformation, workforce skills, and the future of work. To bring Paul Zikopoulos to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Paul Zikopoulos?
Paul Zikopoulos is a Canadian technology executive, author, and speaker. He is Vice President of Skills Vitality and Enablement for the IBM Technology Group, where he leads learning and upskilling strategy across IBM's software, hardware, and partner sales organizations. He has written 22 books on data and artificial intelligence, including AI Value Creators and The AI Ladder, along with more than 360 articles. He has been consulted on AI by 60 Minutes, named to Analytics Insight's Top 100 Global AI and Big Data Influencers, and invited to brief NATO leadership on AI and data strategy. He also serves on the boards of Coding for Veterans and Queen's University's Master of Management Analytics and AI program.
What is the difference between "+AI" and "AI+"?
This is a distinction Paul Zikopoulos uses to explain why so many AI initiatives underdeliver. "+AI" describes bolting artificial intelligence onto workflows that already exist, adding a chatbot here, an automation there, while the underlying process stays the same. "AI+" describes redesigning the workflow itself with AI at its core, rethinking how the work should be done now that these capabilities exist. His argument is that "+AI" produces incremental efficiency at best, while "AI+" is what actually changes a company's growth curve, and that most organizations get stuck in the first mode without realizing it.
What topics does AI speaker Paul Zikopoulos cover?
Paul Zikopoulos speaks on agentic AI and the next wave of productivity, getting generative AI right in a business context, redesigning workflows with AI at the core rather than bolted on, building the AI skills and culture that make adoption stick, and AI ethics, bias, and governance. His keynotes suit events on AI, technology, digital transformation, workforce and skills, and the future of work. To book Paul Zikopoulos as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Paul Zikopoulos as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Paul Zikopoulos as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Paul Zikopoulos's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Paul Zikopoulos or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Paul Zikopoulos speaking fee?
Paul Zikopoulos speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Paul Zikopoulos to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Paul Zikopoulos.
How can I contact Paul Zikopoulos?
We only work with Paul Zikopoulos on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Paul Zikopoulos and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Paul Zikopoulos speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Paul Zikopoulos for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Paul Zikopoulos for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Paul Zikopoulos is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Paul Zikopoulos for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
