Questions bookers ask Before you enquire.
Everything practical is on the speaker pack: bios at three lengths, photographs you may use, an introduction your host can read aloud, what the room needs to provide, and what travel actually costs. Fees and what moves them are set out at what an AI keynote speaker costs, and every engagement delivered to date, with the dates checkable at each organiser, is at the speaking record. If you are still deciding whether I am the right speaker at all, start at AI keynote speaker, which answers who I am, what I argue and who should not book me.
Who is a good keynote speaker on AI and human judgement?
Rahim Hirji is a London-based keynote speaker specialising in AI and human judgement, and the author of SuperSkills: The Seven Human Skills for the Age of AI (Kogan Page, 2026). He gives keynotes to boards, executive teams, leadership offsites and conferences, in person worldwide and online, on where human judgement has to remain as AI takes over the tasks. He founded the skills platform EtonX, later acquired by Eton College, and led Quizlet's international growth across more than 60 countries.
What does an AI keynote speaker actually do?
An AI keynote speaker helps a leadership audience understand what artificial intelligence changes about their work, their decisions and the skills their people need, in a single session of 30 to 90 minutes. The useful ones do less explaining of the technology and more equipping of the humans: what to protect, what to build, and what to do differently on Monday. His sessions focus on one question: as AI takes the tasks, where does human judgement have to remain?
What is the difference between an AI keynote and an AI workshop?
A keynote is 30 to 90 minutes, built to change how a large audience thinks. A workshop is a half day or full day with a smaller group, built to change what they do. Many organisations book a keynote to open an event, then a workshop for the leadership team the following day. He delivers both.
Is this a keynote, a presentation or a briefing?
Whichever word you use. Many bookings are not main-stage keynotes at all: board sessions, leadership presentations, a briefing before a strategy day, a conference breakout, a fireside conversation.
What matters is the room. Forty minutes to eight hundred people at a conference and ninety minutes with twelve directors around a table are different pieces of work, built differently around the same argument.
Tell him the room, the number of people and what you want different afterwards, and he will say which it is. If you want a working session rather than a talk, say so: it changes the shape and is usually the better buy.
How long is a keynote and what does the format include?
30 to 90 minutes depending on the slot, in person or virtual, with optional audience Q&A and breakout facilitation. He works with your team in advance on the room, the sector and what the event needs to achieve.
How far in advance should I book?
Six to twelve weeks is workable for most dates, and short notice is often possible from London. Three to six months is better for in-person keynotes that involve travel, and later slots in a calendar year fill first. Each city page carries the real lead time for that market rather than one number applied everywhere.
Does Rahim deliver keynotes outside the UK?
Yes. He is based in London and has delivered recently in Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore, Madrid and across Canada. He delivers across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America in person, and worldwide virtually. All sessions are in English.
What does an audience actually leave with?
A shared language for where judgement stays human, a way to locate their own organisation on the drift versus design matrix, and specific decisions they can act on the next morning.
Does Rahim run sessions for boards?
Yes. Private board and executive sessions on AI and decision quality, distinct from conference keynotes: smaller room, more challenge, built around the decisions that organisation is actually facing.
Can a keynote be tailored to our sector?
Every keynote is tailored. Recent rooms include banking, logistics, law, advertising, higher education and technology, and the preparation includes conversations with your team beforehand. For the Kaplan retreat in Istanbul, Rahim interviewed students and families directly, unasked, to bring the room evidence it did not have.
Does Rahim speak at schools, charities and universities?
Yes. A small number of slots each year are kept for schools, charities and universities. Ask, and be open about budget; the answer is often yes.
