Dr. Gillian Mandich
Happiness & Health Scientist | Founder, The International Happiness Institute of Health Science Research | Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, University of Manitoba
Joe O’Connor
4-Day Week Pioneer | Future of Work Strategist | CEO, Work Time Revolution
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Book Joe O’Connor, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Speaker
About This Speaker
Joe O’Connor is a globally recognized future of work expert and a leading authority on the four-day workweek, smart work design, and sustainable performance. As Co-founder and CEO of Work Time Revolution, Joe O’Connor helps organizations transition away from outdated, industrial-era work models. Why? These work models no longer fit the realities of the modern, AI-driven world. He guides companies to build agile, outcome-focused cultures. He strives to eliminate burnout, unlock new levels of productivity, and promote more effective work and more balanced lives.
Previously, Joe O’Connor was the CEO of 4 Day Week Global. Partnering with top universities like Boston College and University College Dublin, he led the world’s largest and most influential four-day workweek trials. He also pioneered the first-ever coordinated four-day week pilot in the private sector. Coincidentally, his groundbreaking research has positioned him at the center of the global conversation on reducing work time. Joe O’Connor has also served as a visiting research scholar at Cornell University’s prestigious ILR School.
As a keynote speaker, Joe O’Connor exposes how busywork, digital distraction, and outdated productivity metrics are draining employee energy and performance. He makes a compelling case for why balance—not a blend of work and life—is the foundation of sustainable performance. He provides leaders with a clear roadmap to reduce overwork, improve focus, and build a more human-centered and productive future. Audiences will learn practical strategies to eliminate low-value tasks, protect boundaries, and implement the “do more in four” principles.
He is the co-author of the book Do More in Four, published by Harvard Business Review in 2026. Through his consulting and speaking, Joe equips teams with the blueprint needed to thrive in the new era of work. He proves that we can achieve more by working less, but smarter.
Joe's booking fee range is $5,000 - $10,000
Contact an agent to get Joe's availability and ratesSpeaking Topics: Joe O’Connor
Human-Centered AI 
Why 96% of AI initiatives underperform — and how to fix it by starting with people, not technology.
In this session we will explore:
• The perception gap: why leaders and employees see AI adoption differently
• Building psychological safety for AI experimentation and learning
• The AI Stewardship Maturity model: five pillars of organizational readiness
• From tool rollout to operating capability: a human-first adoption framework
Benefits of Attending
Executives will leave with a diagnostic framework for understanding where their AI adoption is stalling and why. They will gain practical tools for building workforce trust, closing the perception gap between leadership optimism and employee anxiety, and designing adoption approaches that start with people and culture rather than technology selection.
In this session we will explore:
• The perception gap: why leaders and employees see AI adoption differently
• Building psychological safety for AI experimentation and learning
• The AI Stewardship Maturity model: five pillars of organizational readiness
• From tool rollout to operating capability: a human-first adoption framework
Benefits of Attending
Executives will leave with a diagnostic framework for understanding where their AI adoption is stalling and why. They will gain practical tools for building workforce trust, closing the perception gap between leadership optimism and employee anxiety, and designing adoption approaches that start with people and culture rather than technology selection.
AI Adoption Architecture
AI adoption is an architecture problem. The organizations that transform and those that burn cash look identical — until the architecture breaks.
In this session we will explore:
• Three failure patterns: mandates without architecture, automation of dysfunction, and culture gaps
• The five architectural foundations: strategic clarity, operational coherence, culture, governance, and enablement
• Why fixing architecture doesn't mean slowing down — cutting into the problem in narrow, targeted slices
• Building adaptive capacity: the organizational muscle that outlasts any single technology
Benefits of Attending
Executives will gain a practical lens for diagnosing why AI investments aren't delivering returns — and what to do about it. They will learn to identify architectural failures hiding beneath technology decisions, and leave with a framework for targeted interventions that deliver value while building organizational readiness for continuous change.
In this session we will explore:
• Three failure patterns: mandates without architecture, automation of dysfunction, and culture gaps
• The five architectural foundations: strategic clarity, operational coherence, culture, governance, and enablement
• Why fixing architecture doesn't mean slowing down — cutting into the problem in narrow, targeted slices
• Building adaptive capacity: the organizational muscle that outlasts any single technology
Benefits of Attending
Executives will gain a practical lens for diagnosing why AI investments aren't delivering returns — and what to do about it. They will learn to identify architectural failures hiding beneath technology decisions, and leave with a framework for targeted interventions that deliver value while building organizational readiness for continuous change.
Value Over Volume: Redefining Productivity and High Performance in the Age of AI
Efficiency isn’t the pinnacle of human productivity. The future is human effectiveness plus digital efficiency.
In this session we will explore:
• Value over volume: why doing fewer things better beats doing more things faster
• The productivity equation rewritten: from hours and output to effectiveness and judgment
• AI Time Dividends: reframing the conversation from job loss to time gain
• Role rebundling: redesigning work around distinctly human capabilities
Benefits of Attending
Executives will challenge deeply held assumptions about what productivity means in an AI-powered world. They will leave with a new framework for measuring and driving performance that prioritizes judgment, creativity, and human connection — and practical approaches for redesigning roles around the capabilities that matter most.
In this session we will explore:
• Value over volume: why doing fewer things better beats doing more things faster
• The productivity equation rewritten: from hours and output to effectiveness and judgment
• AI Time Dividends: reframing the conversation from job loss to time gain
• Role rebundling: redesigning work around distinctly human capabilities
Benefits of Attending
Executives will challenge deeply held assumptions about what productivity means in an AI-powered world. They will leave with a new framework for measuring and driving performance that prioritizes judgment, creativity, and human connection — and practical approaches for redesigning roles around the capabilities that matter most.
Creating Capacity: The Missing Foundation for Transformation
You can't build capability without creating capacity. Advanced AI tools with no time or headspace to use them is a Formula 1 car stuck in rush hour traffic.
In this session we will explore:
• The capacity crisis: why lack of time is the number one barrier to AI experimentation
• Attention economics: how distraction, context-switching, and meeting overload erode performance
• Protected time models : creating space for learning, experimentation, and deep work
• From capacity to capability: building the organizational conditions for sustained adoption
Benefits of Attending
Executives will understand why their people are struggling to adopt AI despite investment in tools and training. They will leave with actionable strategies for diagnosing and eliminating capacity blockers — from meeting overload to decision bottlenecks — and practical models for creating protected time that accelerates adoption and performance.
In this session we will explore:
• The capacity crisis: why lack of time is the number one barrier to AI experimentation
• Attention economics: how distraction, context-switching, and meeting overload erode performance
• Protected time models : creating space for learning, experimentation, and deep work
• From capacity to capability: building the organizational conditions for sustained adoption
Benefits of Attending
Executives will understand why their people are struggling to adopt AI despite investment in tools and training. They will leave with actionable strategies for diagnosing and eliminating capacity blockers — from meeting overload to decision bottlenecks — and practical models for creating protected time that accelerates adoption and performance.
Creating a Focused Work Environment
79% of workers get distracted within an hour. The system is set up to steal attention. Leaders who redesign for focus unlock performance others can't access.
In this session we will explore:
• The attention crisis: distraction, context-switching, and the hidden cost of busywork
• Designing your workday: aligning priority work with peak cognitive performance
• Clearing decision bottlenecks: spans of control, interdependent workflows, and the 5Cs model
• Building team-level focus: from individual discipline to systemic redesign
Benefits of Attending
Executives will leave with practical tools to audit and eliminate the distractions destroying their teams' performance. They will learn frameworks for redesigning workdays around deep work, clearing decision-making bottlenecks, and building a focused work environment that creates the conditions for both sustainable human performance and successful AI adoption.
In this session we will explore:
• The attention crisis: distraction, context-switching, and the hidden cost of busywork
• Designing your workday: aligning priority work with peak cognitive performance
• Clearing decision bottlenecks: spans of control, interdependent workflows, and the 5Cs model
• Building team-level focus: from individual discipline to systemic redesign
Benefits of Attending
Executives will leave with practical tools to audit and eliminate the distractions destroying their teams' performance. They will learn frameworks for redesigning workdays around deep work, clearing decision-making bottlenecks, and building a focused work environment that creates the conditions for both sustainable human performance and successful AI adoption.
Leveraging Flexible Work Models To Drive Innovation and Accountability
How the world’s most innovative organizations use flexible work models as strategic infrastructure to drive accountability and performance.
In this session we will explore:
• Time as the new currency: why flexibility now outranks compensation
• Lessons from Lamborghini, Unilever, and leading global organizations
• Collective flexibility by design: how outcome-focused models drive accountability and innovation
• Building readiness: the cultural traits and operational drivers of successful work redesign
Benefits of Attending
Executives will see how the world's most innovative organizations are using flexible work models as strategic infrastructure — not employee perks. They will leave with a readiness framework drawn from global research and case studies, and a practical understanding of how work redesign drives productivity, retention, and organizational resilience.
In this session we will explore:
• Time as the new currency: why flexibility now outranks compensation
• Lessons from Lamborghini, Unilever, and leading global organizations
• Collective flexibility by design: how outcome-focused models drive accountability and innovation
• Building readiness: the cultural traits and operational drivers of successful work redesign
Benefits of Attending
Executives will see how the world's most innovative organizations are using flexible work models as strategic infrastructure — not employee perks. They will leave with a readiness framework drawn from global research and case studies, and a practical understanding of how work redesign drives productivity, retention, and organizational resilience.
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