Zack Kass

“THE NEXT RENAISSANCE”

One of the World’s Foremost Authorities on applied AI. Head of Go-to-Market at OpenAi (2021-23). Bestselling author of “The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential”.

Zack Kass speaker, futurist, author, AI
English

Zack Kass is one of the world’s leading authorities on applied artificial intelligence, transforming the immense power of this technology into business strategies and applications that expand human potential.

With 14 years of experience in artificial intelligence, including his role as Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI, Zack Kass has collaborated with organizations such as Coca-Cola, Boeing, and the White House to unlock AI’s transformative potential for people, businesses, and government.

His work focuses on turning the profound possibilities of artificial intelligence into real and positive impact that expands human potential.

For the past 15 years, Zack Kass has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI). Most recently, he served as Head of Go-to-Market at OpenAI, where he was responsible for building the sales, solutions, and partnership teams.

 

Zack played a key role in the early commercialization efforts for AI and language models at scale, channeling OpenAI’s groundbreaking research into tangible enterprise solutions, and serving as a personal advisor to many executives implementing this technology in their companies.

 

He is the author of the bestseller “The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential,” in which he presents an optimistic and compelling vision of how artificial intelligence will shape our lives. Drawing on historical context, cutting-edge advancements, and his personal experience, Kass explains how AI will become an ally in building a better, more creative, and more compassionate world.

Today, Zack’s mission is to help businesses, nonprofits, and governments navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape. As a leader in this field, his insights have been featured in major publications such as Fortune, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider.

Zack Kass continues to advise the boards of directors of Fortune 1000 companies, including Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley, and Amgen. He is also Executive Resident at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and Chairman of the Ruder Finn AI Advisory Council.

 

Embark on a journey to experience the transformative power of AI, the most profound leap in the history of technology that is already beginning to redefine the future of business and humanity.

 

In his captivating keynote address, Zack highlights the parallels between the historical Renaissance and the current AI-driven revolution, underscoring how this technology is reshaping industries, organizations, the workforce, and our way of life.

Zack Kass challenges the conventional dystopian narrative of AI, sharing a positive vision of the future that offers transformative potential for innovation, opportunity, and human development. It demystifies the latest technological advances, offering a clear understanding of the unique power of AI, its trajectory, and its profound implications for both businesses and individuals.

The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential.

The Next Renaissance is Zack Kass’s signature keynote and the culmination of 16 years at the vanguard of AI. It is built on firsthand experience shipping frontier technology, three years inside OpenAI, research roles at two leading universities, and more than 500 meetings inside Inc. 5000 boardrooms. The talk invites audiences to examine AI through a new lens and to make specific choices about how they will lead.

At its center is Zack’s groundbreaking theory of Unmetered Intelligence. Just as water, electricity, and the internet transformed access to power and information, AI is driving the cost of cognition toward abundance. When thinking becomes cheap and everywhere, the source of advantage shifts. The question is no longer how smart a team can be on its best day. The question becomes where humans create irreplaceable value.

Zack maps that shift with a set of clear ideas and tools:

Unmetered Intelligence: cognitive capacity becomes abundant. Expect deflation in the cost of discovery, iteration, and decision support.
Behavioral Adaptability and the K-curve: the scarce asset is the willingness and ability to change behavior repeatedly. People and firms bend up or calcify.
The Adoption Gap: technology races ahead of norms and institutions. Leaders must close the gap with standards, training, and review rituals.
The Natural Language Operating System: work moves from software interfaces to conversation and agentic execution with human approval gates.
The Automation Boundary: a practical line between what machines should do and what humans must own, grounded in risk, value, and acceptability.
The keynote covers the good, the bad, the ugly, and the wonderful. It celebrates the breakthroughs that abundance unlocks and addresses real risks like dehumanization, identity displacement, and empowered bad actors. Attendees leave with a simple plan that scales from the C-suite to the front line.

What audiences gain

> A shared mental model for AI that reduces hype and focuses action.
> A method to select three high-leverage workflows and run ten low-cost pilots.
> An automation boundary that protects human judgment and customer trust.
> Review checklists and rituals that make agents safe and useful.
> Language to align strategy, technology, and culture.

The Next Great Company.

Artificial Intelligence is transforming work as we know it—and the stakes for organizations couldn’t be higher. Individuals and companies that don’t adapt run the risk of being left behind. How can you prepare for what’s coming? As the former Head of Go-To-Market for OpenAI and global AI advisor, Zack Kass has helped hundreds of leaders rethink their AI strategy.

In this compelling talk, Zack will deliver a comprehensive roadmap on how to build, develop, motivate, and retain high-performing teams and companies in an AI-driven world. Audiences will come away understanding the importance of soft skills, constant learning, and a culture of adaptability to thrive in the new business landscape.

Societal Thresholds: The growing gap between technological possibilities and social readiness.

Throughout history, we embraced innovation when it clearly made life better—think fire, electricity, antibiotics, the internet. But today, this phenomenon has shifted. As AI races forward, the biggest barrier is no longer what technology can do, but what society is willing to accept. In this provocative keynote, Zack Kass explores the growing gap between technological possibility and societal readiness.

Drawing from his experience at the forefront of AI’s evolution, Zack unpacks why cultural, ethical, and institutional resistance—not technical limitations—will define the pace of progress. Audiences will come away with a powerful framework for navigating resistance, rethinking innovation, and leading through one of the most pivotal moments in human history.

The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential.

“A refreshing, well-crafted treatise on the many possible good things that thinking machines can bring.” – Kirkus Reviews

A Publishers Weekly, USA Today, LA Times Bestseller.
An eye-opening discussion on the transformative impact of AI and how to prepare for a new future.

In The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential, acclaimed AI advisor Zack Kass presents an optimistic and compelling vision of how artificial intelligence will shape our lives. Drawing on historical context, cutting-edge advancements, and firsthand experience, Kass lays out how AI will become a collaborative partner in building a better, more creative, and more compassionate world.

Just as the original Renaissance revolutionized art, science, and society, today’s AI-driven Renaissance will redefine how we create, innovate, and flourish. Kass leverages his deep industry expertise to explain how this transformative technology will solve previously unimaginable challenges, presenting entirely new possibilities.

Inside the book, you'll discover:

> Practical strategies to navigate AI’s integration into everyday life.
> Clear guidance on future-proofing your career by emphasizing uniquely-human skill.
> Insights into how AI opens up entirely new domains of knowledge by solving ambiguous problems.
> How to overcome the psychological and societal barriers to AI adoption.
>Concrete examples of AI amplifying human potential by saving time and resources, and sparking creativity.

A must-read for anyone interested in the most powerful technological advancement since the steam engine. The Next Renaissance is here.

The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential.