Thank you for coming. PROOF AI Workshop 2026 is in the books. We're grateful to everyone who joined us, and to the presenters and partners who made it happen. The sessions and resources below stay up through October. A feedback survey will be going out soon.
PROOF AI Workshop · Oct 14, 2026 · Mashup Food Hall, Louisville
PROOF AI Workshop: AI in practice.
Not just theory.
Spend one day working hands-on with AI in Louisville, in sessions run by practitioners using these tools across different industries.
The day opens with a keynote from futurist Nat Irvin.
20 practitioners · 16 sessions · 4 tracks · 200 seats
Notify me about 2027
You have been told to do something with AI. Most of what you can find is theory or a vendor demo, and none of it says which part of your own job to change first.
How the day works
PROOF AI Workshop is a one-day event at Mashup Food Hall in NuLu. Bring a laptop: in every session you work in the tools yourself, on a task from your own job.
The day opens with one keynote for the whole room. After that, you pick sessions from four tracks that run at the same time. Sessions run 60 to 75 minutes. An open lab runs from 9:15 to 3:45 in its own room. Bring a stalled project or a tool you want to test, and an expert there will work through it with you.
Opening keynote · 9:15 to 9:45 AM
Nat Irvin
Talk title coming soon
Professor of Management Practice, University of Louisville College of Business
Irvin is an author and futurist, and the founder of Thrivals, IdeaFestival's opening day for high school students. He has taught change management, leadership and future studies at the UofL College of Business since 2007, and has worked with leadership teams at Fortune 100 companies on future trends.
Four tracks · sixteen sessions
Pick your sessions
Each partner hosts one track. You can switch tracks between sessions.
16 sessions · four run in each time slot, one from every track
9:45 to 10:55 AMmorning
Move Slow and Build Things: Using AI to Go Deeper
Most AI adoption is a speed play: draft it faster, clear the inbox, move on. This session treats AI as a depth tool instead, a way to interrogate your assumptions, pressure-test a decision before you commit, and see a problem from angles you would not have reached alone. Hands-on: attendees bring a real decision they're chewing on and run it through a "go deeper" sequence where AI surfaces what they're missing, argues the other side, and stress-tests the weakest assumption, then leave with the prompt scaffold.
Sarah BhatiaDirector of AI Product Innovation, SlingshotWhat to bringLaptop, AI subscription
Teach AI Your Brand: Build a Brand Brief Your AI Can Actually Use
A document AI can load so it speaks from the brand's real thinking, not a guess. Attendees fill out a starter brand-context file live using RedTag's template: positioning, tone, 2-3 do's/don'ts, one real example. Leave with a file you can load into Claude or ChatGPT that day.
Tristan DeWittDirector of Brand Ops, RedTag
Aaron HooperCreative Director, Design, RedTagWhat to bring- Laptop
- Paid AI subscription (ChatGPT or Claude preferred)
- Your brand guide and/or examples of work that represent your brand well (ads, emails, social media, website, collateral, etc.)
Connecting AI to your tech stack
A crash course on how AI connects to the systems you already use. We’ll break down plugins, MCP servers, browser automation, and the tools that allow agents to work across your tech stack.
Henry LynchChief Technology Officer, Vsimple- AI in Business Operations and SecurityAdvanced Business Solutions Room 004 · Small Conference · 2nd floor
Cybersecurity Controls for AI Tools
Tools to consider deploying to help maintain controls and security surrounding AI tools
Wes JohnsonDirector of Cybersecurity, ABS
11:05 AM to 12:15 PMmorning
How to add an AI Agent into Complex Operational Processes
Learn how to map complex workflows, identify the right opportunities for AI, and determine where agents can take action while keeping people in the right parts of the process.
Henry LynchChief Technology Officer, VsimpleData classification and AI Policy/Governance
Takeaway - An AI policy that can be applied to the business
Tucker OldhamvCISO, ABS
Ryan EastonBusiness Consultant, ABSHow to Hand Off the Busywork: 5 Jobs AI Should Own on Your Team
Real RedTag case studies showing how much tedious work disappears without a person's role disappearing with it. Framed for operations generally, not just marketing. Attendees pull one real repetitive task from their own job and draft the first prompt or workflow step to start automating it, using the same structure from RedTag's case study. Bring your own case to the open lab afterward for hands-on help.
Bill HendersonAI & Automations Specialist, RedTag
Kevin StoneChief Technology Officer, RedTagWhat to bringLaptop, Paid AI subscription (ChatGPT or Claude preferred)
What Is a Dark Factory? Closed-Loop Development Explained
A dark factory runs unattended - no lights, no people, work still gets done. Drawing on a development agent we run in production, this session breaks down what these systems are and the pieces that make them work. Then we'll strip it down to a minimal version you can actually follow, so you walk out able to build your own.
Doug ComptonPrincipal AI Developer, SlingshotWhat to bringLaptop, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or something similar
1:15 to 2:25 PMafternoon
Custom Agent Development with Microsoft Copilot
An agent or knowledge on creating agents to help with day to day repetitive tasks
Chad TappSenior Architect/Consultant, ABS
James HutchinsonBusiness Consultant, ABSWhat to bring- Microsoft 365 business or enterprise account
- Access to Microsoft 365 in a web browser
- A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is recommended
- No coding experience required
AI Wins for Business Leaders
Cut through the AI noise and focus on practical wins. Learn how to identify high-impact opportunities that reduce manual work, improve efficiency, and create measurable business value.
Buddy BockwegCofounder & CEO, VsimpleStop Starting Over: Turning Your Repeat Work Into a Reusable Skill
Most people begin every AI conversation from scratch, re-pasting the same context, the same standards, the same "no, not like that." This session is about building it once so you never do it again. You'll take one task you actually repeat, your weekly report, your intake summary, your proposal boilerplate, and turn it into a reusable skill the AI loads on demand. No code. Bring the real task, leave with the working thing, and the pattern to build ten more.
Whitney PowellSales and Marketing Coordinator, Slingshot
Savannah CherryDirector of Marketing and New Business, SlingshotWhat to bringLaptop, Claude or ChatGPT subscription
How to Get Found in ChatGPT: AI Search Optimization for Your Business
What makes content citable by an AI answer instead of just rankable by a search engine. Attendees draft a real, basic llms.txt file for their own site, live, using a template.
Matt ParksSEO Strategist, RedTagBill HendersonAI & Automations Specialist, RedTagWhat to bringLaptop, Claude subscription
2:35 to 3:45 PMafternoon
The AI-Enabled Company: A Practical Playbook for Leaders
Russ Renbarger shares the leadership decisions involved in integrating AI across RedTag, including what worked and what slowed progress. Learn how to set priorities across departments, give people time to learn, assign ownership, and measure results. Together, we’ll use a custom AI assistant to create an initial adoption plan for your company, with clear priorities and a first project.
Russ RenbargerFounder & CEO, RedTagWhat to bringLaptop, Claude subscription
Watch me Work: Building an AI Employee
I'm not an engineer. Watch me build a working AI employee live — an onboarding buddy, right inside Slack, that answers all the questions every new hire fires off in week one — using Claude as my pair programmer the whole way through. You'll see me ask questions, get unstuck, and ship something real in real time. If you've been told you need to "learn to code" before you can build with AI, this is the counterargument.
Stef HoganProduct Lead, SlingshotWhat to bringLaptop, AI subscription
- AI in Business Operations and SecurityAdvanced Business Solutions Room 003 · Large Conference · 2nd floor
Build your AI Brand Library in Microsoft Copilot
A custom brand kit in Copilot that can be used with company logos and color schemes
Brandon WurthManager of Consulting, ABSChad TappSenior Architect/Consultant, ABSWhat to bring- Microsoft 365 work account
- Microsoft 365 Copilot license
- Access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app
- Permission to create Brand Kits
How to Build a Revenue Agent
Learn what it takes to build an AI agent around your revenue process, from defining its role and responsibilities to connecting systems, automating work, and keeping opportunities moving.
Bronson CordleVice President of Marketing, Vsimple
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Agenda
Sessions run in four time slots, each with one session from every track. Times and rooms are on each session above. The AI Lab is open from 9:15 to 3:45 on the first floor.
- 8:00 AM – 9:15 AMDoors and Check-in
Check in at registration on the first floor. Coffee and grab-and-go snacks are available all day.
- 9:15 AM – 9:45 AMOpening Keynote
Nat Irvin, for all attendees
- 9:15 AM – 3:45 PMOpen Lab
Drop in any time at the AI Lab on the first floor, with experts circulating.
- 9:45 AM – 12:15 PMMorning Track Sessions
Two time slots: 9:45 to 10:55 and 11:05 to 12:15. Four sessions run in each, one from every track.
- 12:15 PM – 1:15 PMLunch
Lunch is included with your ticket.
- 1:15 PM – 3:45 PMAfternoon Track Sessions
Two time slots: 1:15 to 2:25 and 2:35 to 3:45. Four sessions run in each, one from every track.
- 4:00 PM – 4:45 PMShow-And-Tell
Drink tickets are handed out at the doors as you leave.
- 5:00 PM – 6:00 PMHappy Hour at the Bar
What you take home
- Something you built during the day that still works when you are back at the office
- A method you can apply to your own tasks the following week
- Practice with the specific tools each of your sessions uses
- Time in the open lab with an expert, on a problem you bring
- Contacts from a room of Louisville-area leaders, operators and builders
Who it's for
- Directors and department heads
- You've been asked for an AI plan and need a place to start.
- Founders and operators
- You run a small team and will set up the tools yourself.
- Developers and technical practitioners
- You learn a tool by using it.
- Teams attending together
- Split up across the tracks, then compare what you built at the show-and-tell.
Mashup Food Hall
750 East Jefferson Street Suite 101, Louisville, KY 40202
In NuLu, just east of downtown Louisville. Lunch is on site, and the day wraps with a happy hour at the bar.
Inside Mashup
Check in at registration on the first floor. Sessions are in four rooms across two floors. The stairs and elevators are in the middle of the building.
- Room 001 · Gallery
- 1st floor
- Room 002 · Stadium
- 1st floor
- Room 003 · Large Conference
- 2nd floor
- Room 004 · Small Conference
- 2nd floor
- AI Lab · drop-in help
- 1st floor, by the entrance
Hosted by
Thank you for building with us
PROOF AI Workshop 2026 happened on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at Mashup Food Hall. Slides and files from the sessions are collected on the resources page.