The noise
“You're behind.”
Urgency is often a sales tactic. People need permission to start from where they are, not another reason to panic.
Keynote speaker on AI adoption and change management
Galina FendikevichThe antidote to AI hype.
You're already behind.AI will do your job.One prompt, job done.Agentic everything.
Helping organizations turn AI anxiety and experimentation into measurable business results, without leaving their people behind.
The problem
AI isn't the hard part. Making it work inside a business is.
The trap
Tool first. Problem later.
A shiny tool or an ambitious request can stall in the IT queue. Map the workflow and name the outcome first; then choose the right technology.
The work
Adoption is human.
A leadership email isn't enough. Build peer-to-peer practice, make space for experiments, and decide what stays human before automating the rest.
The reframe
You don't need to predict what comes next.
You need a better way to respond.
Most conversations about AI begin with the technology. Galina begins with the work, informed by ongoing conversations with the people adopting it.
Instead of “What can AI do?”, ask “What problem are we trying to solve?”
AI is an enablement strategy, not a replacement strategy. Start with one headache, learn together, and keep human judgment where it matters.
Ideas people take back to work.
Nicholas Hanges
CFO, Five Star Group of Companies
Supply Chain Conference 2026
40 employees. One framework put to work.
Nicholas Hanges used an exercise from Galina's framework with 40 employees the next day, generating “a bunch of heck yeahs.” His team is putting the framework into practice now.
“It felt really good to know that somebody else came at it from an operator perspective as opposed to the AI company.”
“The whole presentation sort of spoke to me, and it gave me some confidence.”Read the SCCONF case study
Mardaasa Addisu
National Supply Chain Manager, Airgas
Supply Chain Conference 2026
A framework for company projects.
“Galina had put together a five step plan to work on your next AI project, which I'm going to utilize for some of my company's projects.”Read the SCCONF case study
Kate Bartelt
Sustainability and Resiliency Lead, HDR
RECYNOVA 2026
A message to bring back to the team.
Kate Bartelt is planning on bringing Galina's ideas back to her organization, connecting the talk to the work her team does.
“One of the pieces that really stood out to me was the conversation around urgency… I think that's really going to land well with myself and my team.”Read the RECYNOVA case study
What event organizers say
An engaging session. A lasting impression.
“Wanted to use this moment to really send my gratitude to Galina for leaving the audience with such a memorable, engaging session where she covered what happens when technology does change.”
Maureen Erokwu
Lead organizer, SCCONF
“I saw a couple of talks in AI from past two, three years… The talk that I heard from you is completely different. Of course, it's an excellent talk.”
Raj Sunkara
Co-director and Director of Events, CO IN Symposium
“We are absolutely thrilled to feature Galina Fendikevich. Her dynamic presentation brought phenomenal energy to the stage, sharing crucial insights on how to adapt, innovate, and stay ahead when rapid technological advancements rewrite the rules of our industry.”
Mahi M
Conference Manager, RECYNOVA 2026
Where Galina has spoken
On stage
Panels, keynotes and the conversations that follow.
Who it's for
Built for people responsible for making change work.
For the people in your room:
- Executive leadership teams
- Operations leaders
- Transformation and innovation leaders
- Technology leaders
- Managers and teams adopting new tools
They're asking questions like:
“Where do we start?”
“How much should we invest before we know what works?”
“How do we get our people to actually use it?”
“What should we automate, and what should remain human?”
“How do we experiment without creating chaos?”
“How do we keep moving when the technology will be different again six months from now?”
The audience transformation
From overwhelmed by change to equipped to act.
Your audience arrives thinking...They leave thinking...
“We're already behind.”
“We know where to begin.”
“We need a huge AI strategy.”
“We can start with one meaningful problem.”
“Our people aren't ready.”
“Our people can become part of the solution.”
“We need to know where AI is going.”
“We need a way to respond as it changes.”
“We should automate everything we can.”
“We can decide deliberately what stays human.”
The research behind the talk
Not a keynote frozen in time.
Through Artificial Reality, Galina interviews business owners, executives and operators who are adopting AI inside their organizations now.
She asks what's working, what's not and what they wish existed. Their experiences and challenges shape the stories, examples and practical questions she brings to the stage. Audiences hear what businesses are learning on the ground, not just what vendors promise.
From the interview room
Conversations with operators across industries, the raw material behind the keynote.
Why this perspective is different
Not another view from Silicon Valley.
A great deal of the conversation about AI comes from the companies building it.
Galina's work sits on the other side: What happens when technology meets the people expected to actually use it?
Galina Fendikevich helps organizations make technological change work, turning AI anxiety and experimentation into practical business improvements while bringing their people along.
Her work is the antidote to AI hype. Rather than predicting that AI will replace everyone or transform everything overnight, Galina shows audiences what adoption actually looks like inside real businesses: what is working, what is breaking, and where human judgment still matters.
As the founder and host of Artificial Reality, Galina interviews executives, operators, and experts across industries about how AI is actually being used. Those conversations give her an unusually grounded view of the gap between what technology promises and what organizations can realistically adopt.
Galina's perspective comes from working on both sides of technological change. She began in machine learning on Wall Street, co-founded a blockchain and augmented-reality company later acquired by Niantic (creators of Pokémon Go), and went on to lead U.S. go-to-market for a generative AI unicorn. Across those roles, she has spent her career translating emerging technology into real-world adoption.
Her keynote, How to Keep Up When Technology Rewrites the Rules, gives leaders a practical framework for navigating technological change without chasing every trend or freezing in fear. Audiences learn how to identify what is actually changing in their work, where AI can create value, what should remain human, and how to make better decisions while the technology itself continues to evolve.
Audiences leave with five principles they can apply immediately: learn enough to stop being afraid, map the work, start with one real problem, protect the human core, and become translators between technology and reality.
Curious by nature, Galina speed runs life and keeps her passport ready for the next conversation.
At a glance
Wall Street Machine Learning → Tech Exit to Niantic (a $9 billion company and the creator of Pokémon Go) → U.S. GTM at a generative AI unicorn company → Founder, Artificial Reality
Follow along
Speaker reel
Speaker one-pager
Download the one-pager (PDF)Everything on a single page: the keynote, formats and what audiences walk out knowing.