Leading a fireside at short notice

What?

In April 2026 I was asked, at 48 hours’ notice, to stand up and lead a fireside on AI and trust at Reuters Events Pharma, Barcelona.

So what?

I was happy to help colleagues at Reuters, who have become friends over the years. I was not, however, willing to present new information at 48 hours’ notice: I always want sessions to be credible and of high quality. So I said I would work with them, but only if it could be a fireside chat with Tom Keith-Welsh of Endava, where we reflected on trust and AI, both at our respective companies, for the audiences we serve, and for society at large. The preparation drew on our own individual human skills and capabilities, augmented by AI. The session went well, and I learnt how to build more AI-enabled workflows while keeping humans at the core.

Now what?

Two changes. First, I’m building a lightweight ‘short-notice speaker kit’: a standing AI-augmented workflow (prompts, prior talking points, a bank of my own POV on AI and trust) I can draw on so a 48-hour ask becomes a reflection exercise, not a scramble. Second, I’ll offer the fireside format itself, two people thinking aloud together, prep accelerated by AI, delivery kept human, as a template Reuters and colleagues can reuse when a speaker drops out, rather than defaulting to solo slides under pressure.