BrainTrust Partners has stepped in as the founding title sponsor of the YOU × AI Summit, Waco's first artificial intelligence conference, scheduled for Saturday, September 12, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts & Community Center in downtown Waco. The event aims to bridge the gap between human insight and AI capabilities, drawing business leaders, technologists, and community members to explore practical applications of AI.
Tim Hayden, CEO of BrainTrust Partners, will deliver a keynote at 9:50 a.m. titled "Your Data, Your AI, and Your Future." He plans to guide Waco business owners through the process of identifying AI use cases within their current operations before making additional purchases. "You have intelligence sitting somewhere within the pipes of your business," Hayden said. "That's your brand. It is your brand DNA that can shape AI in your brand voice." He emphasizes that many companies have yet to fully structure and label their data, a foundational step for effective AI deployment. "Data resolved, unified, structured and labeled has AI work stronger for your brand. Skip it, and Tim says it's going to cost you much more in budget and accuracy to use any AI."
Hayden also cautions against relying solely on generic AI models like ChatGPT or Claude for all business needs. "There's no reason why you have to look at ChatGPT or Claude to run everything," he said. He advocates for open-weight models that can be trained on proprietary data, run privately, and cost significantly less than enterprise subscriptions for models trained on others' business data. This approach ensures security and control while aligning AI with a company's unique brand voice.
The summit features a diverse lineup of 23 speakers across four tracks: Build, Get Found, Sound Like You, and AI Safety. Bryan Eisenberg, a pioneer in conversion rate optimization and bestselling author, opens the event at 8:20 a.m. with a keynote titled "Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn't Changed." Eisenberg's session underscores the timeless power of storytelling: "People don't buy rates. They buy stories they can see themselves in." Dr. Hope Koch, who holds the Godfrey Sullivan Endowed Chair of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, closes the day at 4:05 p.m. with a session called "HOPE: Human Opportunity and a Period of Exponential Change." Koch, appointed to the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council by the Lieutenant Governor, will show non-technical attendees how to transform their business knowledge into working AI tools.
Other sessions include Joseph Scaramucci on "AI, Crime & Community," Dariia Isyk on building an AI mentor for students, and Russ Henneberry on creating an AI marketing operating system. Several hands-on workshops will allow attendees to build AI assistants and other tools during the conference, with a laptop recommended. The event's name, with its multiplication sign, reflects co-organizer Fernando Labastida's belief that AI acts as a multiplier: "A business with nothing to say brings a 1, and AI takes it to 2. The competitor with a real point of view brings a 10, and the same AI takes them to 20. Same tools. Bigger gap."
The YOU × AI Summit is produced by the Viral Genius Institute and Rogue Media Network, presented by BrainTrust Partners. Tickets are $99, with team discounts available through September 10. Registration is open at youxai.live. This inaugural event promises to equip Waco businesses with the knowledge to harness AI securely and effectively, turning their unique human insights into competitive advantages.
