Waco is set to host its first-ever AI conference, the YOU × AI Summit, on Saturday, September 12, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Performing Arts & Community Center. BrainTrust Partners, an Austin-based firm specializing in AI and data strategy, has signed on as the Founding Title Sponsor, underscoring the event’s focus on practical, business-oriented AI adoption.
The conference arrives at a critical time when many companies are rushing to implement AI without a clear strategy. Tim Hayden, CEO of BrainTrust Partners, will deliver a main-stage talk titled “Your Data, Your AI, and Your Future” at 9:50 a.m. Hayden emphasizes that most businesses have untapped data that holds their brand’s essence. “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.” He will guide attendees on identifying AI use cases before making further purchases, cautioning that many companies are paying for the wrong AI solutions. “There’s no reason why you have to look at ChatGPT or Claude to run everything,” he noted, pointing to open-weight models that can be trained privately on a company’s own data at a fraction of the cost.
The summit opens with Bryan Eisenberg, a Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author who helped coin the term “conversion rate optimization.” His keynote, “Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn’t Changed,” will argue that storytelling remains central to marketing. “People don’t buy rates. They buy stories they can see themselves in,” his session description reads. Dr. Hope Koch, a Baylor University professor and appointee to the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council, will close the event with a session titled “HOPE: Human Opportunity and a Period of Exponential Change,” designed for non-technical attendees to turn their business knowledge into practical AI tools.
The conference will feature 23 speakers across four tracks: Build, Get Found, Sound Like You, and AI Safety. Sessions include hands-on workshops where attendees can build an AI assistant or learn to train AI on their own data. Other sessions cover topics like AI in law enforcement, using AI for college admissions, and leveraging AI for marketing. Notably, Russ Henneberry of theCLICK.ai will present “Build Your AI Marketing Operating System,” and Tommy Landry of Return On Now will discuss “The Signals That Shape What AI Says About You.”
The summit’s name, with its multiplication sign, reflects its core message: AI is not an equalizer but a multiplier. “Most people think AI is the great equalizer,” said Fernando Labastida, co-organizer and founder of the Viral Genius Institute. “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.” This philosophy aligns with Dr. Koch’s assertion that “AI plus humans is better than AI alone.”
BrainTrust Partners, founded by Tim Hayden in 2016, helps brands leverage first-party data and AI for growth. Hayden has led transformation projects for major companies like Ford Motor Company, Dell Technologies, and Walmart. The summit is produced by the Viral Genius Institute and Rogue Media Network, with a premise that the most powerful asset in the AI age is human authenticity.
Tickets are $99, with discounts for teams of 10 or more. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops for interactive sessions. Registration is available at youxai.live.
