AI Keynote Speaker — Educator — Advisor

Navigate AI.Thrive in change.

I've been researching AI since 2016 in the robotics labs of EPFL — leading AI/ML at Canonical, founding 3 AI startups, and teaching 2,500+ people to use AI with intention. Now I speak, teach and advise at the intersection of deep technology and human potential.

Check availability → See how I can help

Rui Vasconcelos speaking on stage, lit by magenta neon light

Live · 300+ in the room — Lisbon

Built & taught with

Canonical / Ubuntu
Google
NVIDIA
Dell
Lenovo
Mindvalley
EPFL
Techstars

Rui Vasconcelos presenting to a full auditorium of around 300 people

From the stage

9.1/10

Speaker rating across 290+ responses at Mindvalley

2,500+

People taught to build and create with AI

−2 → 61

NPS lift I drove for a flagship AI program

The bridge

Engineer. Founder. AI educator.

I studied robotics at EPFL, published at IROS, then shipped machine learning at Canonical working daily with the founder of Ubuntu. I founded three startups across Silicon Valley and Europe — some worked, one crashed. I teach from having been in the arena, not from a textbook.

Then the arena took its toll — I burned out, and rebuilt. That rebuild taught me what no lab could: the hardest part of technological change isn't the technology. It's the humans being asked to keep up with it. So I don't just teach the tools — I make the people using them feel capable, not afraid.

Most speakers understand the technology or the people. I've lived both sides deeply enough to translate between them — that's where the future actually gets built.

Ways to work with me

Bring AI clarity to your stage, your team, or your institution.

Keynotes & talks

Keynotes that leave a room changed, not just informed.

Conferences, summits and accelerator openers. I make AI vivid and human for non-technical audiences — energy, real stories, and a map people actually use on Monday. Opened the European Innovation Academy accelerator; keynoting the Lisbon AI Summit.

Signature keynote — Thrive in Change

Corporate training

Hands-on AI workshops

Practical training for teams and faculty — from prompting to agents. Delivered for FEUP engineering faculty and bank executives.

For companies & universities

Advisory

AI advisor & consultant

Ongoing guidance for organizations putting AI into real workflows — strategy, tooling, and adoption that sticks.

For leadership teams

AI education & academy design

Designing AI academies, not just lessons

I help universities and education hubs build AI curricula and academies from the ground up — the structure, the journey, and the teaching that turns curious people into confident builders. Currently shaping new AI education initiatives in Lisbon.

For universities & education hubs

Signature keynote

Thrive in Change

The people who'll thrive in the AI era aren't the smartest — they're the most adaptable. Drawing on the idea of rugged flexibility: a stable identity paired with the ability to adapt fast. Part field report from the frontier, part practical map.

45–60 min keynote Half-day workshop Accelerator opener English / Português

01Why adaptability beats raw intelligence in the AI era — and how to build it.
02A working mental model for what AI can and can't do right now, minus the hype.
03How to stay human — and more creative — as the tools get more powerful.
04The first concrete moves a team can make this week.