AI REALIZED WORKSHOP · WITH BLAINE MATHIEU
Retrofit or reimagine?
Where will you use agents in an operation you run?
Your team brings you ideas. Vendors pitch you every day. At some point, your plan has to say what agents will actually do for the outcomes you own. In this half-day working session with Blaine Mathieu, you set that position for one operation and leave with the strategy, the first steps, and an owner for each.
Thursday, December 3, 2026 in San Francisco · 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
$495
Exclusive workshop drawing from Blaine's private work with executive teams.
The range of what agents can do
For any one operation, there is a range of what agents can do.
At one end, you retrofit: agents speed up the workflow you already run, so the existing process gets faster and cheaper. At the other end, you reimagine: you redesign the operation from scratch. The work itself changes, and so does who does it.
| Retrofit end | Reimagine end | |
|---|---|---|
| The move | Agents take seats in the workflow you already run | The seats and the workflow are redesigned together |
| What changes | Cycle time and cost inside the existing process | What the process is, and who is in it |
| The tell | The business case improves a number by a percentage | The business case changes which numbers you report |
Most projects land somewhere in between. The right spot depends on the operation and the outcome it is measured on, and it moves as the technology gets better.
Why your position matters
Wherever you set that position, it is the foundation of your strategy for agents in that operation.
It guides your team's decisions about where to look for opportunities and what to build.
It guides your investments, so money and attention go where the position says they should.
It tells you when to adjust as the technology changes.
Every operation already sits somewhere on the range, whether or not anyone has named it. Don't let it get set by default.
Who this workshop is for
If you run an operation, you are facing this question right now. The workshop is built for senior executives who intend to use agentic AI to improve or transform an operation or function they run, at a scope where changing direction carries real cost.
C-level, VP-level roles in:
Operations and shared services
Customer care and member services
Marketing and sales operations
Claims and underwriting
Servicing, lending and revenue cycle
Supply chain
Fraud, KYC and financial crime operations
Divisional COOs and general managers
Also welcome:
CIOs, CTOs, chief transformation officers and chiefs of staff, who frequently bring line executives with them.
Questions about fit? Email info@airealizedsummit.com
What you do in the room
You bring one operation where you want agents working, and the outcome it is measured on. Most executives arrive with one already in mind, from their own thinking or from a proposal someone brought them.
Working through the framework Blaine outlined in The River Doesn't Wait, you:
Work out how much of that operation's work agents can genuinely take on.
Decide where it sits on the range between retrofit and reimagine.
Share your rationale with the other executives in the room and get their candid feedback.
Set the first steps and name an owner for each.
What you leave with by noon
Your refined strategy for one operation
Where it sits on the range, which outcome it moves, and what the position depends on, including the data, the decision rights, and the people whose work changes.A written strategy for one operation you run
Candid feedback, already worked in
Executives from other industries, with no stake in your company, hear your rationale and make the strongest case against it before you commit budget.
When to adjust
Three questions, each with an owner and a rhythm, that tell you when the technology or the landscape has moved enough to revisit your position.
First steps, each with an owner
The first things to do when you get back to the office, and who is responsible for each one.
You also leave with a nine-sheet Team Kit you can take back to your own team.
Program
Thursday, December 3
8:30 AM Check in, coffee, networking
9:00 AM Where agentic AI is genuinely moving, and why AI spending has underperformed
9:35 AM Your own outcome: how much of its work agents can genuinely take on, and defending your assessment
10:40 AM How far to take it, and the argument against you
11:25 AM Your three questions, an owner, and a rhythm
12:05 PM Lunch and open conversation
12:30 PM Close
Optional Follow-up Session - Thursday, January 14
This follow up session with Blaine is available for all workshop attendees who would like to continue the work. We will reconvene online for sixty minutes to compare what moved, what stalled, and what the three questions caught. Included with every seat.
Led by Blaine Mathieu
Author, The River Doesn’t Wait · Former Gartner analyst · Multi-time CEO, CMO, and CPO
The material in this workshop comes from Blaine’s private work with executive teams, and December 3 is the only open session.
Blaine has advised Ford, SoftBank, ABB, TotalEnergies, and China State Grid. As a former Gartner analyst he spent years analyzing the impact of technology on organizations. He first published in 1990, in AI pioneer Ray Kurzweil's The Age of Intelligent Machines, and has spent three decades turning emerging technology into business value.
The workshop uses the frameworks and method Blaine published in The River Doesn’t Wait: A Senior Executive Guide to Navigating the Surge of Agentic AI and Pulling Away From Your Competitors.
Endorsed by Morten Wierod, CEO of industrial giant ABB:
“An easy-to-read book that resonates very well with how I see AI development and implementation in the coming years.”
And by Brian Solis, Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow:
“This is a leadership mindshift moment. Blaine lays it out clearly: retrofit what benefits from optimization and reimagine the future to compete differently with AI.”
Who is in the room?
A small group of senior executives with operational responsibility, from non-competing companies across different industries.
The session works on one operation, run by the person in the seat. Building agents, choosing vendors and writing a company-wide AI strategy are outside its scope.
Every registration is reviewed by hand, and we seat one company per competitive set. Chatham House Rule applies, so nothing you say leaves the room attached to your name.
No vendor pitches, and nothing to buy at the end.
Cross Industry Insights
You hear the real issues from industries beyond your own. That variance across industries gives you value a book, an analyst briefing or an internal offsite cannot, because you and your leadership team sit too close to the outcome to see it differently.
We seat one company per competitive set, so no one in the room is briefing a competitor.
Your registration includes an optional second seat. The best person to bring is often the one who brought you the proposal.
It could also be whoever owns the data your operation depends on, or the peer whose function you would have to work with. Bring them and you set the position together instead of re-selling it later. A third seat is $245.
A second seat is optional
Workshop Details
| Workshop | Retrofit or Reimagine: An Agentic AI Business Strategy Workshop for Executives |
|---|---|
| Date | Thursday, December 3, 2026 |
| Time | 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM Pacific. Arrive by 8:45; lobby security requires photo ID. |
| Location | K&L Gates, Four Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. On BART and Muni. |
| Price | $495, for you, plus a second seat if you want to bring someone. A third seat is $245. |
| Included | The workshop and lunch, your nine-sheet Team Kit, a signed copy of The River Doesn’t Wait, the January 14 optional online session, and membership in AI Realized. |
| Registration | Every request is reviewed. You will hear back within two business days. |
Where will you use agents?
Set your position for one operation on December 3, with Blaine Mathieu and a room of executives working the same question.
Frequently asked questions about the Retrofit or Reimagine workshop
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A half-day working session for a small group of senior executives, each setting the agentic AI strategy for one operation they run. For any operation, agents can do anything from speeding up the workflow you run today to redesigning the work and who does it, and most projects land somewhere in between. You decide where your operation sits on that range, share your rationale with the other executives in the room, and leave with your refined strategy, the first steps, and an owner for each. Led by Blaine Mathieu, author of The River Doesn't Wait, on Thursday, December 3, 2026 in San Francisco.
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Thursday, December 3, 2026, from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM Pacific, at K&L Gates, Four Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. In person only, a short walk from BART and Muni. Bring photo ID for lobby security and arrive by 8:45. An optional 60-minute online session follows on Thursday, January 14, 2027, and is included with every seat.
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$495 for you, plus a second seat if you want to bring someone. A third seat is $245. The price includes the workshop, lunch, your nine-sheet Team Kit, a signed copy of The River Doesn't Wait, the optional January 14 online session, and membership in AI Realized.
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Senior executives who intend to use agentic AI to improve or transform an operation or function they run, at a scope where changing direction carries real cost. C-level and VP-level roles in operations and shared services, customer care and member services, marketing and sales operations, claims and underwriting, servicing, lending and revenue cycle, supply chain, and fraud, KYC and financial crime operations, along with divisional COOs and general managers. CIOs, CTOs, chief transformation officers and chiefs of staff are also welcome, and frequently bring line executives with them.
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A written strategy for one operation you run: where it sits between retrofit and reimagine, which metric it moves, and what the position depends on, meaning the data, the decision rights, and the people whose work changes. You also leave with the strongest argument against your position already answered, your first moves with an owner on each, and three questions that tell you when the strategy has gone stale, each with an owner and a rhythm.
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They are the two ends of a range. Retrofitting puts agents into the workflow you already run, making the existing process faster and cheaper. Reimagining redesigns the operation from scratch, so the work itself changes, and so does who does it. Most projects land somewhere in between. The right spot depends on the operation and the outcome it is measured on, and it moves as the technology gets better.
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No. The session is self-contained and assumes no preparation of any kind. A signed copy of The River Doesn't Wait comes with your seat, as an after-read rather than homework.
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A working session. Attendees sit at round tables of four or five, work from a printed nine-sheet kit on their own business, and spend most of the morning in pairs and small groups. Every minute is spent on your own outcome and the work behind it. Chatham House Rule applies, and we seat one company per competitive set, so nobody in the room is briefing a competitor. There are no vendor pitches and nothing to buy at the end.
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No. The workshop is exclusive to AI Realized, and December 3, 2026 is the only open session. Executives from a dozen industries answer the same question about their own businesses, and you hear every answer. No other open session has been announced.
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Register using the button on this page. Every request is reviewed and you will hear back within two business days, because we seat one company per competitive set and assign categories during review. On the registration form, select "+1 Colleague" if you want to use the included second seat, and we will email you a free ticket code for them. Select "+2 Colleagues" and we will send a free code and one for $245. If you are unsure whether this is the right room for you, email info@airealizedsummit.com and you will get a straight answer.