Sebastian MorgnerKeynote · sebastian-morgner.de/en/keynotes/
Interactive keynote for leadership conferences
Who leads when AI thinks?
Interactive keynote · 45–60 minutes · German or English · on site or online
AI has arrived in everyday work. Now leadership must give it direction.
Machines deliver plausible-sounding answers in seconds. Whether they are correct, serve the business and can be justified is still for people to decide.
What it is about
The temptation – cognitive ease
Artificial intelligence formulates, analyzes and structures faster than any human. That is its strength – and an underestimated temptation.
Without clear goals and rules, the volume of documents grows faster than insight. The result is pseudo-productivity: output that looks like work but ties up attention instead of creating value.
Our brain quickly takes plausible answers to be true. The more convincingly a machine formulates, the less often we check. That is why intellectual sovereignty and independent judgment become core leadership skills.
“The greatest danger of AI is not that it thinks. It is that we stop thinking.”
Two possible futures
Which future is your company shaping?
The future no one wants
In one, AI accelerates conventional routines. More documents, more control and greater dependency emerge. The organization works faster without becoming more productive or making better decisions.
The future worth striving for
In the other, AI takes over time-consuming tasks, improves decisions and creates room for learning, creativity and human encounter. People sharpen their judgment and work together with technology toward clear goals.
Which future a company shapes depends largely on its leadership. Leadership clarifies purpose, assigns responsibility, sets limits and creates a framework for fast learning.
The benefit
What your leaders take away
The keynote sharpens judgment, provides orientation and translates the big AI questions into concrete leadership decisions.
- Judgment: They recognize why plausible AI answers are not automatically correct – and when people must check and decide.
- Value orientation: They distinguish productive AI applications from pseudo-productivity and prioritize by benefit, effort and risk.
- Accountability: They understand which tasks, rights and limits AI agents need – and who is accountable for their decisions.
- Leadership practice: They receive concrete ideas on how AI prepares decisions, broadens perspectives and makes knowledge available.
- Vision of the future: They can convey how people and AI should work together and which contribution only people can make.
“Only people can give the future meaning. AI remains a powerful tool.”
Facts and figures
Four figures for your leaders’ AI agenda
What current studies say about speed, impact and readiness – and what follows for leadership.
60 %
of jobs in advanced economies will be affected by AI. Worldwide, the figure is around 40 %.
German Bundestag, Research Services, WD 5-3000-066/25 (based on IMF)
109 : 1
machine identities exist on average for every human identity. 79 of the 109 are AI agents. A year earlier, the overall ratio was 82 : 1.
Palo Alto Networks, Identity Security Landscape 2026 · 2,930 cybersecurity leaders · vendor report
83 % : 3 %
83 % of the companies surveyed see medium to very high potential in agentic AI to transform their organization. Only 3 % consider themselves fully prepared.
SAP / Oxford Economics, Value of AI Report 2026 · 2,600 executives from 13 countries · commissioned study
19 %
longer was the time experienced open-source developers needed with AI tools for tasks in familiar repositories. They had expected to save 24 %.
METR, July 2025 · randomized controlled trial
All figures from published sources, as of October 2026. The figures refer to different samples and reference values. The Palo Alto study is a vendor report; SAP commissioned the study from Oxford Economics.
The content
The common thread of the keynote
The common thread of the keynote in five stages. Live polling and interactive elements ensure engagement and transfer into practice.
- 01
The challenge· Attention as the bottleneck
The bottleneck of AI transformation is less the technology than limited human attention. Surprising trick questions show how quickly we accept plausible answers without checking them.
- 02
Intellectual sovereignty· Who shapes our thinking
How algorithms, cognitive biases and fine-sounding AI answers steer our thinking – and why digital sovereignty begins with intellectual sovereignty.
- 03
Value creation· Building knowledge and skills
How companies lose knowledge and what they should do to prepare for an AI future. Where people will make the greatest contribution – and where technology does the work better.
- 04
Leadership· Providing purpose, structure and accountability
Thinking about AI from the strategy, clarifying the division of tasks between people and AI and creating a framework for fast learning. AI agents need clear tasks, limited rights and a person who is accountable for their decisions.
- 05
The vision of the future· People and AI
Why strategic storytelling matters so much, how leadership gives words meaning and significance and how a vision emerges of a desirable future in which people and AI work hand in hand.
-
Interactive Q&A, reflection and transfer into practice
“Intellectual sovereignty matters more than data sovereignty.”
The more machines can do, the more leadership matters.
Your speaker
Sebastian Morgner
Sebastian Morgner is Managing Partner of the MLI Leadership Institut and an expert in strategy activation and leadership in the age of AI. From Milan, he was responsible for UniCredit’s global marketing, and before that he built one of Germany’s first digital investment platforms. At the Kasina Award, the platform ranked among the three best financial websites in Europe.
He has been an entrepreneur since 2011. Since 2013 he has personally accompanied more than 150 leadership teams, including at Allianz, Siemens, ERGO, Ritter Sport, SocialHub and Diamant Software. He hosts the podcast and publishes the magazine “Tiefgang”, is co-founder of the Zukunftsallianz Mensch & KI and author of the book “Expedition Zukunft”. In his keynotes, he connects strategic leadership with the question of how people can think and act self-determinedly in the age of AI.
Our leaders were particularly enthusiastic about Sebastian Morgner’s good, practical examples and his keynote tailored to us.
Selected references Leadership conferences of Allianz and ERGO · Siemens AI Lab · Keynotes at DGFP – German Association for Personnel Management · FLI Leadership Conference · Zukunftsdialog Oberbayern
Your planning
How the keynote becomes part of your event
- Initial call
- 30 minutes on occasion, audience and setting – free of charge
- Preparation
- Briefing and short interviews with selected participants. This way, examples and questions reflect the situation in your company.
- Keynote
- 45–60 minutes · Live polling · Live AI on stage · German or English · on site or online
- Participants and occasions
- 10 to 500 people · Leadership conference · Strategy retreat · Management offsite · Future dialogue
- Follow-up
- Future workshop or AI course setting afterwards
- For your guests
- The magazine “Tiefgang – Führung im Zeitalter von KI” (in German) for every guest
- Fee
- Depending on format and requirements – price on request
Enquiry
What should the keynote achieve with your leadership team?
A good keynote does not end with applause. It inspires new perspectives and encourages people to try something new.
In a 30-minute initial call, we clarify the occasion, audience and format.
Personal introduction
We clarify occasion, audience and format. Choose a time directly in the calendar.
Choose a time ↗Request by email
The email already contains the key details: company, audience, participants, date and occasion.
Prepare email
Download the flyer
All content of the keynote to share with your team or the event organizer.
Open flyerWorkshops for leadership teams
Further keynotes and workshops
Workshops are a separate format for leadership teams. I facilitate workshops in which leadership teams clarify open questions, align different perspectives and make binding decisions. At the end, there are clear priorities, responsibilities and next steps.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions about the keynote
Which occasions is the keynote suitable for?
Leadership conferences, strategy days, customer events, annual kick-offs, association conferences and public-sector events. The keynote is aimed at people with leadership responsibility, from middle management to the executive board.
How is the keynote tailored to the company?
In a briefing call, we clarify the occasion, the audience and the context of your company. You then receive a proposal with format and schedule. After the event, a short debriefing looks at the impact and open threads.
Which formats and languages are possible?
45 to 60 minutes, in German or English, on site or online. For online formats, I recommend a shorter dramaturgy and more participation.
What does the keynote cost?
The fee depends on format and requirements; the price is available on request. Follow-up formats such as a future workshop or AI course setting are charged by effort. For associations, public institutions and non-profit organizers, we usually find a solution.
What technology is required?
A projector or screen in 16:9 format, a headset or lavalier microphone, sound from the lectern and a confidence monitor. For the live poll, mobile or Wi-Fi reception for participants is sufficient. A short technical check before the event is always part of it.
Can the keynote be recorded?
On request and by arrangement. We clarify in advance what the recording will be used for and how long it will remain available. Photos during the event are of course possible.
For printing, please use the keynote flyer (PDF): sebastian-morgner.de/dokumente/MLI_Keynote-Flyer_Who_leads_when_AI_thinks_EN.pdf