In-Person AI Workshop with James Gray
James Gray
UC Berkeley AI Instructor | Former CIO & CPO
When AI is on every agenda — but not yet on your leaders' terms
You're putting on an AI strategy session your members or team will actually remember. The problem isn't a shortage of AI speakers — it's that most are pulling from one of two scripts. Tech-deep talks lose the room of executives in the first ten minutes. Motivational keynotes flatter the room and change nothing on Monday.
Your leaders are sharper than that. They want a peer-level conversation that gives them a clear strategic POV and enough hands-on fluency to stop deferring AI decisions to their staff. They want to walk out aligned — not entertained.
A workshop that bridges strategy and execution — shaped to your room
I'm a former CIO and Chief Product Officer with 20+ years operating at the intersection of data, AI, and leadership — at home in both the strategy room and the engineering room. Today I'm an AI instructor at UC Berkeley Executive Education, I run cohort-based AI courses on Maven, I teach AI to executives at Fortune 500s and growth-stage companies, and I coach leaders through the personal adaptation AI demands of them. The hard part of AI isn't the technology — it's the human-AI fusion. Identity, judgment, and new operating habits. That's the work I bring leaders into.
The engagement runs as three parts:
Design the workshop — A 30-minute Workshop Design Call where we shape the topic, audience composition, and arc to your group. Whether it's a peer community (EO, YPO, Glue Club), a leadership offsite, or a strategy team, we tailor it.
The workshop — 2 to 3 hours, in person, at your venue. We move between strategic framing (where AI actually creates value vs. where it's hype), live hands-on work with the tools your room cares about, and structured peer dialogue.
The social — where the workshop continues. A workshop is more than its two or three hours. I join your group after — lunch, drinks, fireside, or dinner — so the conversation keeps going peer to peer, no podium. This is where the room moves from learning to deciding.
What's included
Workshop Design Call with James (30 minutes) to shape the topic and arc
2–3 hour in-person workshop at your venue, anywhere in the U.S.
Custom materials tied to your group's industry, role mix, and chosen focus area — typically AI strategy, data leadership, or human-AI fusion in your business
Post-workshop social — lunch, drinks, fireside, or dinner with James, designed so the conversation continues beyond the formal workshop
Follow-up note to the organizer with the room's questions and recommended next steps
Investment: Starts at $5,000. Final pricing reflects duration, audience size, location, and depth of pre-work. Travel and venue costs not included.
Common formats:
Peer-community event (e.g., Entrepreneurs' Organization, Glue Club, masterminds)
Leadership offsite session
Executive team strategy day
Conference keynote + workshop combo
What your room walks out with
A shared language for AI conversations across your leadership bench
A clear point of view on where AI creates real value in your context — and where it's noise
Two or three concrete next steps each leader can take next week
Hands-on confidence with the tools that matter most to your business
Real peer-to-peer dialogue with the speaker — not just a Q&A from the back of the room
If you're ready to move your group from talking about AI to acting on it, this is the engagement.