Two decades on stages.
One consistent thread.
How humans perform in complex systems. The system changes. The question doesn't.
I've been on stages since my early career in ergonomics. Academic conferences where the audience had PhDs and the slides had too many bar charts. Startup pitch events where the audience had venture capital and the slides had too many buzzwords. University lecture halls where the audience had questions I hadn't considered yet.
The venue changes. The core question stays the same: how do we design systems that fit the humans who use them?
Deliberate Intelligence: A Framework for Thinking With AI
Everyone is talking about AI tools. Almost nobody is talking about AI thinking. This talk introduces the Deliberate Intelligence framework and shows leadership teams why the biggest risk isn't falling behind on adoption. It's adopting without a framework for judgment.
Best for: Leadership conferences, executive retreats, industry association events
The Human in the System: What 30 Years of Ergonomics Teaches Us About AI
I've spent three decades studying the gap between how systems are designed and how humans actually use them. Factories, hospitals, cockpits, construction sites. AI is the newest system, and it's making all the same mistakes.
Best for: Technology conferences, innovation summits, HR and people operations events
Lessons from the Mountain: Performance Under Pressure
Skiing teaches you things about performance that no classroom ever will. Real-time feedback. Consequences you can feel. The difference between knowing the technique and trusting it when the terrain gets steep.
Best for: Leadership events, team offsites, sports performance crossover audiences
Design Thinking Is Dead. Long Live Design Thinking.
I spent ten years teaching Design Thinking at the university and startup level. It's still a good framework. But the world it was built for is changing faster than the methodology can keep up.
Best for: Innovation conferences, university events, product development audiences
The stage list spans industries and audiences. Ergonomics conferences in the early years. A TEDx talk at TEDx Bras d'Or in 2011 called "Power of People," the first TEDx event on Cape Breton Island. Startup and innovation events through a decade with Cape Breton University's Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Three years running at StFX University, where I work with students and faculty on how AI is reshaping how we learn and lead.
If you're looking for a speaker who can move between academic rigor and real-world observation, who doesn't rely on slides full of bullet points, and who will challenge your audience rather than confirm what they already believe, let's talk.
Bring Deliberate Intelligence to your stage.
I speak on AI and human performance, design thinking, leadership under pressure, and the science of how people actually work.