Shawn Burst
AI Implementation Strategist
Keynote speaker and workshop facilitator for conferences, corporate teams, and university audiences. Talks cover practical AI adoption, getting employee buy-in, leading AI-augmented organizations, and building AI systems that produce real results. No hype. No vendor pitches.
Past audiences include major real estate franchise networks, large sales organizations, university classrooms, and corporate leadership groups across industries.
Talk Topics
All talks are tailored to your audience, format, and time slot.
AI That Works for Traditional Businesses
Practical frameworks for companies that built their model before AI existed. What to automate, what to avoid, and how to sequence an implementation that produces measurable results instead of a stalled pilot.
Getting Employees to Actually Adopt AI
The practical side of AI change management that most speakers skip. How to move your team from fear and resistance to real daily usage, what causes adoption to stall, and the specific steps that create lasting change.
Finding the Constraint First
Why most AI initiatives fail before a single line of code is written. A methodology for identifying your highest-leverage starting point before picking a tool. Sequencing matters more than technology.
Leading When AI Does Most of the Work
What leadership looks like when your direct reports include both AI agents and humans. How to set direction, manage a mixed team, handle exceptions, and build culture when AI is doing a significant share of the output.
The Growth Ceiling
How manual operations build a structural cap into your business model. The economics of removing it with AI before headcount becomes unavoidable. Most businesses hit this ceiling between $8M and $20M in revenue.
Connecting Your Workforce to AI
How to position your employees to work alongside AI instead of against it. Practical upskilling frameworks, the mindset shifts that actually stick, and how to build an organization where AI multiplies human output.
Human Oversight by Design
How to build AI systems your team will actually trust. The difference between full automation and intelligent automation, and why that distinction matters for anything that touches clients, contracts, or real money.
Why AI Fails Without Buy-In
The organizational and cultural barriers that kill AI implementations before they deliver. How to build internal alignment from the executive level to front-line staff, and what early resistance is usually telling you.
Engagement Formats
Conferences & Summits
Keynotes and panels for industry events, business conferences, and AI summits. Focused on practical implementation over vendor hype.
University & Classroom
Guest lectures for MBA programs, business schools, and entrepreneurship courses. Past appearances include classroom talks at major universities.
Corporate Workshops
Half-day and full-day workshops for leadership teams evaluating AI seriously. Framework-first, no vendor pitches, built around your specific business context.
Podcasts & Media
Guest appearances for business, entrepreneurship, and technology podcasts. Conversational, direct, and free of buzzwords.
Common Questions
Who is Shawn Burst?
Shawn Burst is the founder of S21G and an AI implementation strategist who helps traditional businesses in the $3M to $50M revenue range identify constraints and deploy AI systems that produce measurable results. He is available as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator on topics including AI adoption, employee buy-in, AI leadership, and practical AI implementation.
What does Shawn Burst speak about?
Shawn speaks on practical AI topics for business audiences: how to implement AI in traditional companies, how to get employees to actually adopt AI, how to lead teams when AI is handling routine work, the economics of AI versus manual operations, AI workforce readiness, and how to design AI systems that teams will trust.
Is Shawn Burst available for conferences and corporate events?
Yes. Shawn is available for conferences and summits, corporate workshops, university and classroom talks, and podcast and media appearances. He has spoken to audiences including major real estate franchise networks, large sales organizations, university classrooms, and corporate leadership groups.
Is Shawn Burst available for virtual speaking engagements?
Yes. Shawn is available for both in-person and virtual engagements including webinars, virtual conferences, online workshops, and recorded sessions.
How do I book Shawn Burst for a speaking engagement?
Fill out the inquiry form at s21gai.com/speaking with your event details. We follow up within one business day to discuss fit, topic, and format.
Book Shawn for Your Event
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