Navigating the Uncharted Waters of Responsible AI Innovation
Artificial intelligence has moved from buzzword to business imperative. The question is: How do you leverage it for good while navigating the organizational and competitive risks? And how do you ensure your employees are using it responsibly?
In this important and compelling keynote, Bill Fournet, Founder and CEO of The Persimmon Group, addresses both the technical revolution underway and the urgent business strategies required to lead successfully through it. Bill will share invaluable insights into the dual nature of AI innovation, exploring its profound potential, while also confronting the ethical challenges it poses for business leaders to use it responsibly.
As a CEO experienced in leading enterprise-scale organizations through transformative change, Bill focuses on the strategic, ethical considerations, and risks associated with AI. He guides audiences through key questions every leader should be asking. Bill will show how to align AI initiatives with your organization’s core values, while staying competitive in today’s uncertain times.
This keynote provides real-world examples, industry-proven responsible AI frameworks, and actionable steps, equipping you to navigate AI-driven changes with confidence. And you will be armed with pivotal questions leadership teams should be discussing today to navigate their course through the AI waters.
Whether you’re an executive aiming to stay ahead or a meeting professional seeking a standout presentation, this keynote offers a compelling blend of innovation and ethical leadership, ensuring your organization is well-prepared to thrive in the AI era.
Lead for Tomorrow: How to Thrive in the Age of Disruption
Change is happening faster than ever before: Are you prepared? As you experience daily disruptions to the way we work – from workforce trends to technology impacts to generational shifts – does it sometimes feel like you’re just treading water? How does a leader today balance ever-changing needs and priorities with achieving true value for an organization? In this thought-provoking program, Bill will give you a hopeful and much-needed strategic perspective of the evolving workplace, while equipping you with actions that you can apply today to lead for a better tomorrow.
Expect to leave with these outcomes:
- How to find the stability to thrive– not just survive– in this time of constant change
- The keys to respond well to any challenge (no matter how new, big, or unexpected)
- Better know your talent to create a reliable team that produces consistent results
- Leave with proven tactics that you can apply today to kill the chaos
- Become a stronger leader for tomorrow
Leading Across Generations: Creating a Collaborative, Future-Ready Workforce
Are you prepared to harness the power of all four generations in the workplace?
As Millennials have settled into the workforce, a new generation is emerging, bringing distinct values and expectations. Generation Z, primarily the children of Gen X, is set to reshape the way we work.
In this engaging keynote, CEO Bill Fournet—an expert in bridging generational gaps—will show you how to enhance collaboration and performance across your multigenerational workforce. Bill will cut through common misconceptions, dispelling myths while highlighting the strengths each generation brings to the table. Get ready for a positive approach to understanding your team members through actionable strategies. You will improve communication and increase employee engagement to help foster a collaborative culture.
Expect to leave with these outcomes:
- Understand what makes Generation Z tick and how to leverage the strengths of all generations in your workforce
- Learn how to quickly boost performance in your workforce while ensuring accountability
- Gain techniques to up-level your talent through coaching
- Maximize engagement across generations
Beating Burnout: Leadership Strategies to Recharge and Reignite
At the end of each workday, do you feel satisfied and in control, or overwhelmed and exhausted? What would it mean for you, your organization, and your family if you could consistently beat burnout and “Win the Day”? The reality is that information overload, the disruptive speed of change, and constant uncertainty is causing real burnout, resulting in an expensive turnover and a substantial loss of productivity and quality of work and life. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Leveraging the work that Bill does with leaders and teams across industries, he shines a light on how you can avoid burnout, end the struggle, and get back control for better physical and emotional health.
In the Beating Burnout keynote, Bill will share his secrets to managing your stress and workload for yourself and your team to prevent burnout … while still having a life!
Expect to leave with these outcomes:
- Understand how burnout operates so you can dismantle it
- Learn what it really takes to protect your “balance” from the forces of overload
- Feel better consistently–at the office and outside it
- Immediately reduce your stress while improving your team’s performance (and stress levels)
Lead for Tomorrow
Length: Full-day
Audience: Executives (C-Suite, VP, Director)
Are your executive leaders well prepared to thrive in this time of constant change and uncertainty of what’s coming next? In this full-day session, Bill helps you find stability in this Age of Disruption through mini-sessions focused on fail-proofing your strategy, multiplying the productivity of your workforce with the latest people and team performance approaches, and maximizing your personal time and performance so you can thrive—not just survive. Participants will work on their teams throughout the session and will leave with new insights, new techniques, and new action plans to unlock your organization’s potential.
Strategic Foresight
Hands-on Leadership Workshop to Navigate Uncertainty and Chart a Path Forward
The greatest challenges we face are rarely solved with a single, flawless plan. Instead, success comes from how well leaders adapt to change, anticipate opportunities, and prepare for the unexpected. In today’s world of constant disruption, understanding the difference between the plan you’ve made and the landscape you encounter is essential.
This workshop is built for that reality, arming you with practical tools and immediately usable strategies to respond decisively in the next 60 to 90 days.
Think of Strategic Foresight as your leadership guide—a compass, not just a map. Foresight isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about preparing for it. Through tools like systems thinking, environmental scanning, and scenario planning, you’ll learn how to create a strategy that thrives in uncertainty.
You’ll leave with a prioritized set of actions and decision-making frameworks to apply directly to your current challenge.
This hands-on Strategic Foresight workshop is designed for leaders to transform the way you and your team approach the unknown. You’ll discover how to identify trends, align around clear outcomes, and build resilience in your decision-making. By embracing Strategic Foresight, you’ll turn obstacles into opportunities and ensure your strategy is ready for whatever the future brings.
Expect to walk away with focused, near-term strategies to help you lead through disruption now.
The future is unpredictable, but with the right approach, it’s navigable. Bill Fournet’s Strategic Foresight workshop equips leaders with the mindset, tools, and techniques to chart a path forward—no matter the terrain.
Beating Burnout: Leadership Strategies to Recharge and Reignite
At the end of each workday, do you feel satisfied and in control, or overwhelmed and exhausted? What would it mean for you, your organization, and your family if you could consistently beat burnout and “Win the Day”? The reality is that information overload, the disruptive speed of change, and constant uncertainty is causing real burnout, resulting in an expensive turnover and a substantial loss of productivity and quality of work and life. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Leveraging the work that Bill does with leaders and teams across industries, he shines a light on how you can avoid burnout, end the struggle, and get back control for better physical and emotional health.
In the Beating Burnout keynote, Bill will share his secrets to managing your stress and workload for yourself and your team to prevent burnout … while still having a life!
Expect to leave with these outcomes:
- Understand how burnout operates so you can dismantle it
- Learn what it really takes to protect your “balance” from the forces of overload
- Feel better consistently–at the office and outside it
- Immediately reduce your stress while improving your team’s performance (and stress levels)
Strategic Innovation
Leading Outcome-driven Change and Growth in Financial Services
In today’s environment, disciplined innovation is a leadership imperative. But in financial services, where regulation, tradition, and client trust often compete with the need for change, the real question is: How do you lead innovation that actually sticks and truly matters?
In this session, Bill Fournet shares how financial leaders and planners can develop and implement strategic plans to drive innovation, strengthen the client experience, and engage teams in meaningful ways. You’ll learn how to define success through measurable outcomes, align strategy with daily operations, and simplify where complexity is holding you back. Drawing from decades of experience with organizations facing disruption, Bill will show how to embed innovation into everyday operations so your practice or firm anticipates change instead of reacting to it.
Whether you’re navigating evolving regulations, shifting client expectations, or refining your growth strategy, this session will equip you to lead with more clarity, alignment, and foresight.
You’ll Learn How To:
- Define what innovation really means in financial services, and how to embed it in your strategy and client relationships
- Connect innovation efforts to the strategic outcomes that matter most—and stop wasting effort on the rest
- Build an operating rhythm that allows experimentation without sacrificing compliance or client trust
- Lead cultural shifts that support sustainable, cross-functional innovation within your firm or practice
Leading Across Generations: Creating a Collaborative, Future-Ready Workforce
Are you prepared to harness the power of all four generations in the workplace?
As Millennials have settled into the workforce, a new generation is emerging, bringing distinct values and expectations. Generation Z, primarily the children of Gen X, is set to reshape the way we work.
In this engaging keynote, CEO Bill Fournet—an expert in bridging generational gaps—will show you how to enhance collaboration and performance across your multigenerational workforce. Bill will cut through common misconceptions, dispelling myths while highlighting the strengths each generation brings to the table. Get ready for a positive approach to understanding your team members through actionable strategies. You will improve communication and increase employee engagement to help foster a collaborative culture.
Expect to leave with these outcomes:
- Understand what makes Generation Z tick and how to leverage the strengths of all generations in your workforce
- Learn how to quickly boost performance in your workforce while ensuring accountability
- Gain techniques to up-level your talent through coaching
- Maximize engagement across generations
