Speaker Kit

David Viney:
AI keynotes, panels and firesides

Practitioner, civil-society trustee and author. Independent, evidence-led and honest about what AI can and cannot do.

4 Signature talks 45 / 60 Minute keynote formats 10+ Years as a civil-society trustee $350m Agentic AI platform built

Signature keynotes

Slugs and Carrots: AI keynote by David Viney
Talk 01

I Am Become Slug,
the Destroyer of Words

Literary Festivals  ·  Arts & Culture  ·  Freedom of Expression

The real AI singularity is not Terminator. It is averageness, spreading like a cancer through the world of words. Human writing has shape... like a carrot... rare, irregular, surprising, unmistakably itself. AI writing is a slug: the weighted average of human creativity, optimised for the median. It eats carrots for breakfast. Breeds. Multiplies. How to spot it. How to control it. Why hallucination is a real problem. And why truth and human distinctiveness in language must be protected.

  • Why averageness, not AGI, is the biggest threat to human civilisation
  • What the data tells us about the shape of human vs AI writing
  • Why defending linguistic distinctiveness is a freedom of expression issue
  • What the emerging slug pellets are to deal with the problem
  • How journalists, writers, readers and publishers can join the fight
Literary FestivalsArts OrganisationsUniversitiesArticle 19PublishersMedia
Robots climbing the AI J-Curve: AI keynote by David Viney
Talk 02

Navigating
the AI J-Curve

Enterprise  ·  Boards & NEDs  ·  Transformation Leaders

Every AI transformation goes through a J-Curve: performance dips before it rises, costs precede benefits, and the organisations that pull the plug too early, just before the inflection point, are the ones that lose. David's broadly-cited J-Curve framework identifies three novel challenges that make AI change management an order of magnitude harder than anything before it. For transformation teams, a practical toolkit. For boards and NEDs, the honest briefing they rarely get.

  • Why AI transformation is structurally different from every previous digital wave
  • The three novel challenges, and what to do about each
  • How to read the J-Curve and know if you're in the dip or off the edge
  • What boards need to ask, and what honest answers look like
  • How to accelerate the benefits while genuinely mitigating the harm
Boards & NEDsCIOs & CTOsTransformation TeamsTech ConferencesInvestment Community
The Seatbelt didn't kill the car: AI keynote by David Viney
Talk 03

The Seatbelt
Didn't Kill the Car

Policy & Regulation  ·  Boards & NEDs  ·  Governance Leaders

Every generation of transformative technology has faced the same argument: that safety regulation will kill innovation. The seatbelt didn't kill the car. GDPR didn't kill the internet. And AI governance, done right, will not kill AI. Drawing on direct experience building enterprise AI platforms and working with AIGAS and ISO 42001, this talk makes the practical case for governance as competitive advantage, and demolishes the false choice between innovation and accountability.

  • Why the innovation-versus-regulation framing is a false choice
  • What AI governance looks like inside organisations doing it well
  • How ISO 42001 and the EU AI Act actually create opportunity
  • What boards should ask about AI liability, and how to get honest answers
  • The governance moves that protect organisations and unlock trust simultaneously
Policy MakersRegulatorsBoards & NEDsLegal & ComplianceProfessional Bodies
Lemming Leaders: AI keynote by David Viney
Talk 04

Don't be a
Lemming Leader

CEOs & C-Suite  ·  Leadership Programmes  ·  Workforce & Inclusion

The public mood is turning. A neo-Luddite movement is rising, not because people fear technology, but because the revolution is happening to them, not for them. And the leaders running fastest toward AI adoption are often running blindly, driven by competitive anxiety rather than strategy: lemmings in good suits leading their organisations toward a cliff they haven't looked over. This is the talk that says it out loud. From a witness who was in the forest when the decisions were made.

  • Why the public anger about AI is legitimate, and what leaders are missing
  • How to tell whether your AI strategy is vision or herd instinct
  • How to restore hope & agency for the young and the disadvantaged
  • How to lead a mixed workforce of humans, agents, and embodied AI
  • What non-lemming leadership actually looks like, and how to be it
CEOsCPOsLeadership ProgrammesDiversity & InclusionYoung People's Organisations

Recent appearances

David Viney speaking on the Compliance Matters panel at IET London: Savoy Place, London Tech Week 2026
Panel

“Why Compliance Matters in Emerging Tech, and What Happens When You Get It Wrong”

IET x London Tech Week · Leaders & Digital Transformation
IET London: Savoy Place · 8 June 2026
With David Mudd (BSI), Josie Houghton (Rolls-Royce) and Adrienne Houston (Birmingham Uni)

Podcast

“Will it be illegal for EU and UK job boards to rank, match, or score candidates?”

Inside Job Boards · College Recruiter & AIM Group · Ep 141 · 20 August 2026
Hosts Steven Rothberg and Peter Zollman, with fellow guest Jon Hyman (Wickens Herzer Panza)

What organisers and hosts say

“David was a great panellist. His insights on tech compliance were brilliant, and his line that ‘the seatbelt didn’t kill the car’ really resonated with the room.”

Toni Allen FCIM, Chief Engagement & Growth Officer, IET IET x London Tech Week panel, June 2026

“That was simply terrific”

Peter Zollman, AIM Group Inside Job Boards podcast, August 2026

Formats, bio and booking

David Viney, fractional CIO and AI governance advisor Download headshot

Speaker bio

The poacher and the gamekeeper: 30 years building technology in iconic, global businesses, and over a decade as a trustee in human rights NGOs. The builder of a $350m agentic AI platform is the same person fighting for digital rights. That tension keeps his keynotes honest. Creator of the J-Curve of Change. Keynotes, panels and firesides on the AI J-Curve, AI governance as competitive advantage, and leading through public anxiety about AI.

Formats

  • Keynote, 45 minutes
  • Keynote with Q&A, 60 minutes
  • Panel
  • Fireside chat

Podcasts, livestreams and webinars are covered on the profile page. Broadcast and commentary requests: see the press kit.

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