Keynotes · Board briefings · Workshops

Keynotes on AI and leadership for boards, executives, and governments

The room you are in has seen pressure before. It has not seen this. These are talks for boards, executive teams, and public leaders on what artificial intelligence is revealing about the institutions adopting it. Each one is drawn from three decades of decisions made under pressure, in disaster zones, in parliament, and in the boardroom, and each is prepared for the specific room it will be delivered in.

Check availabilitySee the keynotes
Gísli Rafn Ólafsson standing at a table with a closed laptop

Why organizers book Gísli: he has carried the responsibility he talks about.

From the fieldLed Iceland’s urban search and rescue team in Haiti, served with the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team, and directed NetHope’s response to Ebola, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the Nepal earthquake.
From the chamberMember and Deputy Speaker of the Alþingi, Iceland’s parliament, where he legislated on technology, gender-based violence, and the economy.
From the boardroomMicrosoft, two chief technology officer roles, and Secretary General of the Icelandic Red Cross. He has signed off on the budgets he now asks leaders to question.
From the pageAuthor of four books on leadership under pressure, including The AI Fluent Leader and The AI Fluent Nation. The Crisis Leader is used as a university course text.
The signature keynotes

Four talks. Book one, or pair two for a longer program.

01Keynote · the central talk of the practice

The AI Fluent Leader

What AI is revealing about the leaders it does not replace.

Most organizations ask whether they are ready for AI. This keynote asks a harder question: whether their leadership is ready to be exposed by it. It opens with a familiar scene, a forty-seven-million-dollar AI program that produced flat results, and shows why the cause is almost never the technology. Thin strategy, uneven governance, neglected data, and untested capability were survivable before. Under AI they become visible, and then they become decisive.

Your audience leaves knowing
  • Why AI reveals institutional weakness rather than creating it, and how to find yours first
  • The difference between AI literacy and AI fluency, and why most executive teams are stuck between them
  • Which of four bottlenecks, vision, readiness, governance, or culture, is constraining their organization
02

Composed Courage

The capability that separates leaders who grow through disruption from those diminished by it.

Less than a day after the Haiti earthquake, Gísli was leading a search and rescue team into the rubble of Port-au-Prince. Years later he was coordinating connectivity for the Ebola response and the Syrian refugee crisis. This keynote takes the audience inside those moments to show what composure actually is, where it comes from, and why it must be built long before the pressure arrives.

Your audience leaves knowing
  • That composed courage is a learnable capability, not a personality trait
  • How to keep fear from setting the pace of decisions in the first hours of a crisis
  • Why teams follow the leader who stays steady and honest, not the one with the answers
03

Resilience as Strategic Advantage

Why institutions under pressure will define the next decade.

Resilience is usually filed under risk and compliance, a cost to be minimized. This keynote moves it into the strategy room. Drawing on major humanitarian operations and a year governing a national Red Cross society through rapidly shifting European risk, it shows that the capacity to absorb shocks and adapt is a measurable source of advantage, and that it is built in calm years or not at all.

Your audience leaves knowing
  • Why resilience is a strategic category, not a back-office discipline
  • What institutions that build adaptive capacity in calm periods do differently
  • Three questions every board should ask about its own resilience before the next shock
04

Leadership as Responsibility

Why accountability, not authority, is the capability that matters most.

Authority is what the organization chart confers. Responsibility is what a leader accepts when the decision and its consequences are theirs. In every crisis Gísli has worked, the people who carried the response were rarely the ones with the biggest titles. This keynote examines what that means for how institutions choose, develop, and judge their leaders at a time when AI is automating much of what authority used to control.

Your audience leaves knowing
  • The difference between holding authority and accepting responsibility, and why it widens under pressure
  • How to recognize and grow the leaders without titles who carry institutions in hard moments
  • What boards should test for in succession when AI changes the shape of the executive role

Formats and what to expect

Keynote45 or 60 minutes, with time for questions. For conferences, leadership summits, and annual meetings.
Board briefingA 90 minute discussion with a board or executive committee. Confidential, candid, and built around your institution.
WorkshopA half day with a leadership team, using the diagnostics from the books to leave with a shared picture and next steps.

A preparation call. Every engagement begins with a conversation with the host, so the talk speaks to the room you actually have.

A small calendar. Only a handful of engagements are accepted each quarter, so each one can be prepared properly.

Books for the audience. Signed copies or bulk orders can be arranged for attendees.

Recent stages

European Investment Bank · TEDx · NetHope Global Summit · Iceland Innovation Week · World Islamic Economic Forum · Esri User Conference · Latitude59 · TechnoPort · Startup Reykjavík

Questions organizers ask

Booking a keynote

What does Gísli Rafn Ólafsson speak about?

He speaks about what artificial intelligence reveals about leadership, how leaders keep their composure under prolonged pressure, why resilience is a strategic advantage, and why accountability matters more than authority. Each keynote draws on his books and on three decades in technology, parliament, and crisis response.

Who are the keynotes for?

Boards, executive committees, and senior leadership teams in companies, public institutions, and international organizations. A version of the AI keynote, based on The AI Fluent Nation, is designed for cabinets, parliaments, and national AI strategy teams.

Which formats are available?

A 45 or 60 minute keynote with questions, a 90 minute board briefing, or a half-day workshop that uses the diagnostics from his books. Two keynotes can be paired for a longer program.

How is each talk prepared?

Every engagement starts with a preparation call with the host, so the talk speaks to the audience, the sector, and the decisions in front of them. Only a handful of engagements are accepted each quarter to allow for that preparation.

How do I book Gísli for an event?

Use the inquiry form on this page or write to bookings@gislio.com with the date, location, audience, and format. Booking, fees, and travel are handled through Griðland ehf in Reykjavík, and you will hear back within two business days.

Booking

Check availability for your event

Tell us about the room and the date. You will hear back within two business days. Booking, fees, and travel are handled through Griðland ehf in Reykjavík.

Or write directly to bookings@gislio.com