BrainTrust Partners has stepped forward as the Founding Title Sponsor of the YOU × AI Summit, marking the first artificial intelligence conference in Waco, Texas. The event is set for Saturday, September 12, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts & Community Center in downtown Waco. BrainTrust Partners, an Austin-based firm, helps brands navigate the AI era by focusing on data readiness and the implementation of private applied and generative AI systems, as well as AEO/GEO search optimization.
The conference's main stage will feature CEO Tim Hayden, who will address business owners on how to assess their operations and identify AI use cases before making further investments. He will also explain how many companies are approaching AI in ways that are secure, private, and controlled. Hayden emphasized the value of the data companies already possess: "You have intelligence sitting somewhere within the pipes of your business," he said. "That's your brand. It is your brand DNA that can shape AI in your brand voice." Hayden founded BrainTrust in 2016 to help companies structure and make sense of their data for personalization and improved analytics. He notes that many firms still have not fully accomplished this, and that unresolved data will cost more in budget and accuracy when using AI. He also warns that many businesses are paying for the wrong AI, suggesting that open-weight models trained on a company's own data can run privately and cost a fraction of enterprise subscriptions.
Hayden's presentation, "Your Data, Your AI, and Your Future," is scheduled for 9:50 a.m. He expressed enthusiasm about participating, stating, "I'm excited to join the event, hear other viewpoints, and meet folks who are on their AI journeys, actually experimenting and building." The summit will open with Bryan Eisenberg at 8:20 a.m., who helped coin the term conversion rate optimization and is a Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author. His keynote, "Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn't Changed," emphasizes that people buy stories they can see themselves in, not rates. Closing the day at 4:05 p.m. is Dr. Hope Koch, who holds the Godfrey Sullivan Endowed Chair of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business and was appointed to the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council this year. Her session, "HOPE," focuses on Human Opportunity and a Period of Exponential Change, guiding non-technical attendees to turn their business knowledge into working tools.
Between the keynotes, the summit offers a main stage plus four concurrent tracks: Build, Get Found, Sound Like You, and AI Safety. With 23 speakers, the agenda includes sessions such as "AI, Crime & Community: What You Need to Know" by Joseph Scaramucci, "Beating Admission Inflation: How We Built an AI Mentor for Every Student" by Dariia Isyk, "From the Pen to the Prompt: Making AI Work for You" by Dr. Mito Diaz-Espinoza, and "Build Your AI Marketing Operating System" by Russ Henneberry. Additional speakers include Sara Lohse, Tommy Landry, Chrissy McDannell, Jackye Clayton, Kennisha Thornton, and Mike Hamilton, who is co-organizing the summit. Several sessions are hands-on workshops, and attendees are encouraged to bring laptops to leave with functional tools.
The summit's name carries a multiplication sign to convey a core message. Fernando Labastida, founder of the Viral Genius Institute and co-organizer, explained, "Most people think AI is the great equalizer. It's a multiplier, and multipliers widen gaps. 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." He also highlighted Dr. Koch's perspective that AI plus humans is better than AI alone, or two humans alone, which encapsulates the summit's premise.
The YOU × AI Summit is produced by the Viral Genius Institute and Rogue Media Network, with BrainTrust Partners as the presenting sponsor. Tickets are priced at $99, with a discounted rate of $69 per seat for teams of 10 or more through September 10. Session recordings are available as a $99 add-on. Registration can be completed at youxai.live. For more information about BrainTrust Partners, visit braintrustpartners.ai.
