Bryan Eisenberg, a New York Times bestselling author and pioneer of digital marketing, will deliver the opening keynote at the inaugural YOU x AI Summit on September 12, 2026, at The Performing Arts Community Center (The PACC) in Waco, Texas. His session, titled "Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn't Changed," will explore the enduring importance of human connection in an age of artificial intelligence.
Eisenberg's career spans over three decades, beginning in the late 1990s when he and his brother Jeffrey published more than two million words on digital persuasion. They coined the term "conversion rate optimization" and authored several bestsellers, including Call to Action and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. Eisenberg also founded the Web Analytics Association, now the Digital Analytics Association.
Eisenberg argues that AI has eliminated friction in content production, but motivation—the human element—remains the critical driver of customer decisions. "In all persuasive momentum, there are two forces you work on: reducing friction and increasing motivation," he said. "Today there is zero friction to produce content. You can generate text, images, and video automatically. Which means the only force left is motivation, and motivation is the human connection. That trust only happens between real humans."
He illustrates this with a metaphor: AI behaves like a nervous system, connecting everything and speeding up reactions, but it does not decide the business's direction or core beliefs. Those decisions belong to the people running the organization. "The more you are you, the better the AI is actually going to be," Eisenberg explained. "It's you with the AI, not the AI instead of you."
Eisenberg practices what he preaches. From his home in Round Rock, Texas, he chairs the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce Ambassador program, which he grew from 21 to 50 members, and hosts the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders podcast. He uses AI to streamline production, cutting hours of work each week while maintaining human oversight.
Fernando Labastida, founder of Viral Genius Institute and co-host of the summit, noted, "Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg were writing the playbook for digital marketing when most of us were still figuring out email. Having Bryan open the YOU x AI Summit is a statement about what this event is: practitioners who have lived through every technology wave, showing you how to make this one yours."
The YOU x AI Summit, hosted by Rogue Media Network and Viral Genius Institute, will feature 14 speakers, 8 hands-on workshops, and an AI showcase, attracting about 200 entrepreneurs, small business owners, creators, educators, nonprofit leaders, and professionals from across Texas. Registration details are available at youxai.live.
