Opening Keynote
The Future Is Both Highly Autonomous and Deeply Human
Welcome & Introductions
Hey y'all. I'm so glad you're here. If we haven't met, my name is Jay Owen. I'm your host for the next couple of days, and I get the privilege of helping you go on this journey to become a future-focused leader.
Before we jump into all the content and get into AI and robots and all kinds of terrifying things - I'd love to kick us off with a prayer.
Some people ask, "Jay, this is a business event. Why would you pray over it?"
Here's the deal. A few things matter deeply to me. I love business. I love helping people grow. I love helping people get attention and acquire customers. I've run a marketing agency for 26 years - started when I was 17 years old. I love my family. I've been married to my wife Claire for 23 years, and I'd like to stay married to her the day I take my last breath on this earth. I love my kids. I want to be a dad they look up to and desire to be like when they get older. I want to tell stories about things we did together and things they learned from me. I want them to miss me when I'm gone.
And my faith matters a ton to me.
Years ago Claire challenged me. She said, "Do you pray over your meetings?" And I said, "Well, no - I don't want to make people uncomfortable." And she said some version of, "Do you really believe what you say you believe? Because if you do, then you believe in the power of prayer - and you would pray over people whether it made them a little uncomfortable or not."
She's a wise woman. And I follow that counsel.
Set the frame:
The headline for everything over the next 36 hours is rooted in this idea: the future is both highly autonomous and deeply human. I believe these are parallel roads that run at the same time. And the question for us is - how do we navigate that together?
There will be a series of talks over the next day and a half. Some will be exclusively about AI - how to leverage it for ourselves, our businesses, and our lives. Some of you are more advanced than others, and some of you are just getting started. We're going to have a blend for all of you. And if you want to get real nerdy, we might break out some Claude Code sessions in the breakouts. For some of you, I just said words that made no sense. No problem.
A few of you are also staying all week for Agency Builders Retreat, which I'm super excited about.
Set expectations:
Whenever I'm on stage, you can interrupt me at any time. My wife sometimes says interrupting is my spiritual gift. I don't think that's a good one, but I do have it - so I should be okay with other people interrupting me. Throw your hand up, ask a question. This is casual. I don't want this to feel too serious or overwhelming. I want it to be helpful. I want you to leave here and go, "That was a good use of my time."
A couple things I know are true. You have a few things in life you spend a lot of. The two biggest are probably time and money. If you have as many kids as I do, you spend a lot of the money. And none of us get any time back.
So it's a real honor that you'd take the time to spend it here. Invest it intentionally. Turn on Do Not Disturb. Close your laptop unless you're taking notes - and if you are, close all the other stuff. Whether it's Slack or iMessage or some random website about who knows what that you probably shouldn't be looking at anyway.
If you're going to be here - be here.
This is something I'm working on myself. To not be distracted. To be where my feet are.
Here's what I know. Some of you will take nothing out of today or tomorrow. You'll go back completely unchanged. Maybe you heard a few interesting things but didn't actually do anything with them. I want you to be the kind of person who takes action.
I know I can't change everyone. I know I can't help everyone. But I believe I can help at least one person do one thing - so that one year from now, you email me and say, "Hey Jay, you remember that one thing at that one place? It changed everything about everything for me."
And that's good enough for me.
Part 1: Three Times Everything Changed
Moment 1: The Internet
There have been three times in my life where I thought: this is going to change everything about everything.
The first happened when I was about eleven years old. Sitting in front of our family's Apple Performa 575 in the small study off our living room. If you're not familiar with the Performa 575, don't worry. Nobody is anymore. At the time it felt like a spaceship. Looking back, your smartphone has more computing power than a thousand of them stacked together.
I was a homeschool kid, the oldest of five. If I wasn't doing schoolwork, I was glued to that computer. I was a nerd in every sense of the word, and I don't say that as an insult. I wore it proudly, even if I didn't wear much else well.
Most afternoons you could find me in that study, bathed in the glow of that chunky beige monitor, waiting for the magic to happen. And by magic, I mean the modem. If you're old enough to remember dial-up internet, you remember the sound. That unholy screech and crackle as your computer tried to handshake with the outside world. It sounded like a fax machine having a nervous breakdown.
I was logging into what were called bulletin board systems - the great-grandparents of Reddit. One afternoon, scrolling through one of those boards, I stumbled across an article. The headline talked about something called the World Wide Web. It described a future where you could type an address into your computer, something with a ".com" at the end, and just go there.
I remember sitting back, staring at the screen, thinking: this is going to change everything.
Not long after, I built my first website. It was terrible. But it was mine. And that moment became the foundation of the business I still run today, over twenty-five years later.
Moment 2: The iPhone
The second moment. Steve Jobs on stage. Doing what Steve did best - building anticipation.
"Today, we're announcing three revolutionary products." A widescreen iPod with touch controls. The crowd cheered. A revolutionary mobile phone. More cheering. A breakthrough internet communications device.
Then he repeated them. iPod. Phone. Internet communicator. iPod. Phone. Internet communicator.
"Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device."
I waited in line for hours to get the first one. It didn't even have an App Store yet. But the first time I put two fingers on that screen and pinched to zoom, and the image just moved - I thought it was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen.
Now it's so normal we don't think about it.
Years later, my oldest son Hayden was about three. He walked up to our TV and tried to pinch and zoom on the screen. When it didn't respond, he looked confused. In his mind, that's just how screens worked. He didn't understand why this one was broken.
That's how fast "revolutionary" becomes "obvious."
The iPhone changed everything. Some for good, some for bad. It gave us freedom and connection. It also made us slaves to the buzz in our pocket. We're constantly available now, which isn't always the gift we pretend it is.
Moment 3: AI
And the third. The first time I logged into ChatGPT.
I'll confess - the first thing we used it for was writing Taylor Swift songs about our lives. I'm not a Swiftie, for the record. My thirteen-year-old daughter might be, but that's her story to tell. We wrote songs. We wrote fake movie trailers. We asked it to explain quantum physics in the voice of a pirate.
But somewhere between the jokes and the experiments, something clicked. I asked it a real question. The answer came back structured, thoughtful, useful. Not perfect - but genuinely helpful. And fast.
Within minutes, things that had become completely normal - like googling for an answer and sifting through ten blue links - seemed ancient. Like using a rotary phone. Like waiting for a modem to screech its way online.
The Two Reactions
Naturally, people have two distinct reactions. Fear - I've seen it with copywriters, designers, video editors. People thinking, "This is going to take my job." And excitement - most entrepreneurs I know see the possibilities.
And look, I don't know - maybe AI will destroy the world. But I can't control that, and I can't stop it.
The question we should be asking is: what does this make possible? And how can I use it for good?
The Dyslexia Story
Let me tell you why I believe that.
I was in seventh grade. Sitting at our kitchen table late at night. Everyone else was asleep. A single lamp, a grammar workbook, and I was close to tears. I'm dyslexic. Have been my whole life. Back then I didn't have a name for it. I just knew something in my brain worked differently. I could hold the highest average in every class - except spelling and grammar. Those subjects made me feel like I was broken.
My son Oliver is also dyslexic. And when I watch him use AI tools to help with writing, something shifts in my chest. The barrier that defined so much of my early experience is simply... gone for him. AI didn't replace his thinking. It removed a barrier that used to block it.
Ditches still need to be dug. We just don't have to dig them with shovels anymore. We have backhoes. The tool accentuates our abilities.
Part 2: Ai Fundamentals
Audience Poll #1
Pull out your phones. Scan this QR code. I want to see who's in the room.
Poll: On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you using AI in your work right now?
Look at that range. That's exactly why we're here. Whether you're a 3 or a 7, you're going to leave here further down the road.
Fundamentals, Not Funnels
Most AI talks jump straight to "here's how to automate your sales funnel." We're not doing that. Today is fundamentals, not funnels. Because if you understand the foundation, you can figure out any tool on your own.
Technology changes fast. Character doesn't. Values last. Tools don't.
The Progression
Rules-based: Traditional programming. If/then statements. Fixed logic. A recipe - follow the steps, get the result.
Learning-based: True AI. Pattern recognition. Adaptive responses. A chef who's eaten at 10,000 restaurants and learned what works.
Three Types in One Breath
Narrow AI: One job, does it well. Your spam filter. GPS. Netflix recommendations. You've been using AI for years and didn't know it.
Generative AI: Creates new things - text, images, video, code. This is the ChatGPT moment.
AGI: Human-level intelligence across all domains. Not here yet. Don't worry about it today.
Key Terms in Plain English
LLMs - Large Language Models. The engine behind ChatGPT and Claude.
Tokens - Word fragments the model processes. Think puzzle pieces of language.
Parameters - Knowledge points in the model. More parameters, more knowledge.
Context Window - How much the model can hold in its head during a conversation.
You don't need to memorize any of that. But now when someone throws those terms around, you won't feel lost.
The Players
ChatGPT - The original. Still great for general use, projects, research, and voice.
Claude - Best for complex writing, thinking, spreadsheets, and building things.
Gemini - Images, video, and deep Google Workspace integration.
Grok - Real-time news and sentiment from X.
Llama - Open source, integrated with Facebook and Instagram.
What AI Can Do Right Now
Let me rattle off a list. This is what one tool can do today:
Text creation. Proofing. Writing code. Creating images. Creating videos. Spreadsheet analysis. Slide creation. Idea generation. Research. Task automation. Note-taking.
That's eleven roles. One tool. And we're just getting started.
The Big Shift
But here's what really changed. 18 months ago, AI was a chatbot. You typed, it answered. Cool party trick.
Today: AI agents browse websites, fill out forms, write and run code, complete multi-step workflows without you touching anything. It went from answering your questions to doing your work.
And you no longer need to be technical. You don't need a big budget. You need to be curious.
Part 3: The Fun Stuff
"AI or Not?" Game
Alright, let's have some fun. I'm going to show you some things. Your job is simple: AI or real? Shout it out.
Round 1: Photos
Round 2: The Will Smith Spaghetti Video
This is what AI video looked like in February 2023.
Beautiful, right? Really inspiring stuff.
Now here's what AI video looks like today - three years later.
Three years. That's all. Remember Hayden trying to pinch-to-zoom the TV? That's how fast "revolutionary" becomes "obvious."
Round 3: "Guess the Year"
Audience Poll #2
After seeing all of that, how do you feel?
A) Excited B) Nervous C) Both D) I need a drink
"Both" is the right answer, by the way. This is exciting AND uncomfortable. And that's exactly why we need to talk about what comes next.
Part 4: The Bridge
So here's the thing nobody's talking about.
Everyone is focused on one side of this. Learn the tools. Get faster. Automate everything. And yes - that matters.
But here's what I believe about the future.
The future is both highly autonomous AND deeply human. And the leaders who win are the ones who get good at both at the same time.
That's not a contradiction. That's the whole point. That's why you're at a beachfront resort face to face - at an event about artificial intelligence.
Lane 1: Highly Autonomous. We need to master AI. We need to learn how to leverage it for everything that happens digitally - content, communication, research, workflows, systems. Get really good at it. Stop being afraid of it. Lean in.
I sat with some agency owners a while back. One of them rejected a great copywriter because she used ChatGPT on her resume submission. I looked at him and said, "I'd love to talk to her and hire her." He laughed. I said, "No - I'm dead serious. I want people in my organization who are leveraging these technologies for good."
AI won't take your job. But someone who uses AI will take your job.
Lane 2: Deeply Human. And at the exact same time, we need to get really good at the old-school human stuff:
Going out to dinner with people. Being at live events - like this one. Shaking hands. Looking people in the eyes when you talk to them. Having good, real conversations. Understanding personality profiles - knowing how the person across from you is wired.
Last year, a long-time client called. Her father had just died. She was overwhelmed - not about the project, about everything. She didn't need a status update. She needed someone to listen for twenty minutes while she cried. ChatGPT can write a sympathy card that sounds appropriate. It cannot sit in the mess with someone.
When everybody has AI - and everybody will - what differentiates you is your relationships, your judgment, and your empathy.
The future isn't robots or humans. It's robots AND humans. The "and" is where leaders live.
Part 5: 9 Aspirational Values
The Setup
So if the future runs on two lanes - highly autonomous and deeply human - then we need a set of values to drive by. A framework for how we operate as leaders in this new era.
I used to think core values were corporate nonsense. You know the kind - those posters in the conference room with "Integrity" and "Excellence" printed next to a stock photo of a mountain. The kind of thing that gets framed and hung and completely ignored.
What changed my mind was seeing someone actually live one out.
Over twelve years ago, I went to a leadership event at Ramsey Solutions. On the last day, my wife called. We were in the middle of adopting a little girl, and she told me the foster placement organization was coming to take the baby back. It was one of the most gut-wrenching moments of my life. I needed to get home.
I was rushing to grab my luggage when one of their leaders, Joe Lovette, noticed something was off. He asked if he could help with my bags. As we walked, he could tell I had a lot going on. He asked if it would be okay if he prayed for me. Right there. In the middle of a busy event.
One of their core values is "Family." Joe didn't just know the value. He lived it.
Values are who we say we are. Culture is the attitudes and behaviors that prove it.
I've been working on these for a while. They're the core of a book I'm writing called "Lead the AI Era." And this is the first time I'm sharing all nine publicly.
Value 1: Human First, AI Amplified
We honor the dignity, limits, and potential of people. We use AI as leverage, not a replacement.
This is the north star. Everything else flows from here.
I watched a company go all-in on AI early. Automated everything - email, content, customer service. On paper they were crushing it. Six months later, the CEO called me: "Our numbers are great but our people are miserable. And our customers keep saying we feel... different."
They optimized for speed without asking what they were speeding toward.
AI is a multiplier. It amplifies whatever you point it at. Point it at a clear strategy, you get accelerated execution. Point it at a muddled strategy, you get accelerated confusion.
Value 2: Courageous Problem Solvers
We run toward problems, not away from them. Solutions over excuses. Solutions over blame.
A few years ago one of our biggest clients called. A campaign we launched was actively hurting their brand. My first instinct was to figure out whose fault it was. That instinct is natural. It's also useless. Blame doesn't fix anything.
Instead of "whose fault is this?" I asked "what can we do right now to make this better?" War room. Real data. Three pivots by end of day. Campaign back on track by end of week. That client is still with us.
AI surfaces problems faster than ever. AI won't let you hide. The question is whether you have the courage to act on what it reveals.
Value 3: Relentlessly Curious
We ask better questions, listen deeply, and keep learning.
This is the one skill that will never become obsolete.
The half-life of AI knowledge is measured in months, not years. Remember the Will Smith video? That was barely two years ago. If you tried AI video once, got that result, and wrote it off - you missed the revolution.
The people who thrive in the AI era aren't the smartest. They're the most curious.
Value 4: Humbly Confident
We believe strongly in what we're building. We hold that confidence with humility.
I used to think you had to pick one - confidence or humility. Claire would watch me come home from meetings and say, "Did you actually listen to what they said, or were you just waiting to talk?"
AI will make you faster at being wrong. Speed is only valuable if you're pointed in the right direction.
AI amplifies whatever you already are. Humble? More effective. Arrogant? Dangerously wrong at scale.
Value 5: High Ownership, Low Drama
We bring our best energy. We don't gossip, triangulate, or stir unnecessary friction.
Triangulation is when you have a problem with Person A and instead of talking to Person A, you talk to Person B. It feels reasonable. It's almost never helpful.
I watched two team leads turn a fifteen-minute disagreement into weeks of organizational division - because they talked to everyone except each other.
AI accelerates culture. If your culture is healthy, great. If it's full of drama, you're about to have a very fast version of a very dysfunctional organization.
Value 6: Wise Stewards of Leverage
We treat time, attention, resources, data, and relationships as gifts to be stewarded.
My pastor reframed this for me years ago. He said, "Jay, you're not the owner. You're the manager. And managers give an account for what they manage."
AI gives you more power than ever. More capability requires more responsibility.
Just because you CAN automate something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Stewardship means knowing the difference.
AI Music Demo
Speaking of stewardship - let me show you something.
That was generated from a text prompt. No musician. No studio. No licensing fees.
Does that replace a worship leader? A live band? Not a chance. But could it help a small nonprofit that can't afford licensed music for their fundraising video? That's wise stewardship of leverage.
Value 7: Builders, Not Bystanders
We choose progress over comfort. Initiative over idleness.
I was sixteen years old, working for eight dollars an hour at a coffee shop. I printed some terrible business cards - the kind you get free if you let them put their logo on the back - and started introducing myself to business owners. Most said no. But some said yes. That eight-dollar-an-hour job became a business I've now run for over twenty-five years.
None of that happens if I waited for permission.
AI lowers the barrier to building. The cost of trying has never been lower. There's no excuse for bystanding anymore.
Value 8: Truthful and Kind Communicators
We speak with clarity and compassion. We tell the truth in a way that protects relationship.
I had to fire someone once. But the firing wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was all the conversations I avoided getting there. I told myself I was being patient. I was actually being cowardly. That person deserved to hear the truth early enough to do something about it.
Clarity IS kindness. Unclear feedback isn't kind - it's just comfortable for the giver.
AI can generate a thousand emails. It can't generate trust.
Value 9: Own the Outcome
We don't just complete tasks - we pursue results. "What can I do to move this forward?"
We once delivered a website that was technically perfect. Every feature implemented. But conversions were terrible. My team said, "We built what we were told to build." They were technically right. And completely unhelpful.
We completed the tasks. We didn't own the outcome.
AI handles the "what." Leaders own the "so what." As AI takes over task-level work, your value moves up - toward judgment, purpose, and results. That's what makes you irreplaceable.
All Nine Together
Human First, AI Amplified. Courageous Problem Solvers. Relentlessly Curious. Humbly Confident. High Ownership, Low Drama. Wise Stewards of Leverage. Builders, Not Bystanders. Truthful and Kind Communicators. Own the Outcome.
These aren't corporate values for a wall. These are operating principles for building teams that honor people, pursue excellence, and create meaningful impact.
Not because AI demands them. Because the people you lead deserve them.
Part 6: The Close
Yeah But vs. What If
In the book I'm writing, I talk about two types of people.
When the room goes dark - when new technology threatens to upend everything - some people lead with "Yeah, but..."
Yeah, but that won't work in my industry. Yeah, but I don't have the budget. Yeah, but my team isn't ready.
Other people lead with "What if..."
What if this actually works? What if we're early instead of late? What if the risk of doing nothing is bigger than the risk of trying something?
The "yeah-but" people aren't stupid. They're often right about the obstacles. But they're so focused on what could go wrong that they never ask what could go right.
When the telephone was invented, Western Union reportedly called it a "toy" with no commercial value. When personal computers showed up, smart people thought they'd only ever be for hobbyists.
The "yeah-but" people had reasons. They always do. But the "what-if" people built the future.
Which one are you going to be?
Set Up the Next Two Days
That was the foundation. Over the next day and a half, we're going way deeper.
You're going to get hands-on with tools. You're going to hear from incredible leaders. You're going to have conversations over meals and on the beach that might matter more than anything said from this stage.
That's the two lanes in action. Right here. Highly autonomous learning. Deeply human connection.
Here's what I know after 26 years of building businesses and serving alongside some of the best leaders I've ever met:
The gap in the next five years won't be between big organizations and small ones. It'll be between adaptive and static ones.
AI won't replace leaders. But leaders who ignore leverage will replace themselves.
You don't need to be an expert. You need to be a user. You need to be curious. And you need to stay connected to the people around you.
The Legacy Question
I want to leave you with one question. It came from a mentor, and it changed how I think about all of this.
"In fifty years, when you look back on how you used this technology, will you be proud?"
That question cuts through all the noise about efficiency and productivity. It asks about legacy. About impact. About whether what you're building is worth building.
Some uses of AI will age well. Helping people with disabilities access information. Freeing workers from drudgery. Connecting people across distances. Those serve human flourishing.
Other uses will not.
The technology is neutral. How we use it determines which side our choices fall on.
The future runs on two lanes. Let's make sure you're in both of them.
Stay curious. Stay connected. Let's build something that lasts.
Transition
We're going to take a quick break. Grab some coffee, stretch your legs. When you come back, Ed Roberts from Bozard Lincoln Ford is going to talk about what it looks like to innovate while enhancing culture and driving efficiency. That's the deeply human lane in real life. You don't want to miss it.
Q&A (OPTIONAL BUFFER) 10:20 - 10:30 | ~10 minutes
Before we break - let's take some questions.
Seed questions if needed:
• "If you could only pick one AI tool to start with, what would it be?"
• "How do you handle the fear factor with your team?"
• "What should we never put into AI?"
We'll go way deeper on all of this over the next two days. Let's take our break.
PRODUCTION NOTES
Key Quotes for Screen
• "Ditches still need to be dug. We just have backhoes now."
• "Technology changes fast. Character doesn't. Values last. Tools don't."
• "The biggest shift isn't the technology - it's who has access to leverage."
• "Automate tasks, not relationships."
• "AI amplifies whatever you already are."
• "AI won't take your job. Someone who uses AI will."
• "AI can't fix a toxic culture. It will expose it faster."
• "Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD."
• "Clarity is kindness."
• "AI handles the 'what.' Leaders own the 'so what.'"
• "Not because AI demands them. Because the people you lead deserve them."
• "The 'yeah-but' people had reasons. The 'what-if' people built the future."
• "In fifty years, will you be proud?"
• "Highly Autonomous. Deeply Human."
Videos to Source
• Will Smith AI spaghetti video (Feb 2023)
• 2026 state-of-the-art AI video (Sora, Runway, or Kling)
• AI vs. real photo pairs (2-3 sets)
• Midjourney "Guess the Year" comparisons (v2 vs. v6)
• AI-generated music clip (30-45 sec via Suno or Udio)
Audience Interaction Points
• [9:25] Poll #1 - AI confidence scale via Slido
• [9:37] AI or Not? photos - audience shouts answers
• [9:39] Will Smith video - laugh + jaw drop at 2026 comparison
• [9:42] Guess the Year - Midjourney comparisons
• [9:47] Poll #2 - "How do you feel?" with live results
• [~10:02] AI music reveal
• [10:20] Q&A if time allows
Timing Flexibility
• Running long: Trim AI or Not to 1 round (saves 2-3 min)
• Running long: Cut Guess the Year (saves 2 min)
• Running long: Shorten 2-3 values to principle + AI line only (saves 3-5 min)
• Running short: Add more demo rounds or live Claude demo (adds 3-5 min)
• Running short: Expand copywriter story or EntreLeadership story (adds 2 min)
• Q&A is the natural buffer - expand or drop as needed
From the Future Focused Leaders Summit · St. Augustine Beach, April 2026. Back to library →