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Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker

“Eric Siegel... makes machine learning easy to understand.

—Charles Duhigg on Siegel’s The AI Playbook

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“Eric Siegel literally wrote the book on predictive analytics.”

—Walter Isaacson, Trailblazers

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“Eric Siegel is one of the field's high priests.”

—National Geographic's Breakthrough

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“It’s amazing – Eric is the Neil deGrasse Tyson of data science!”

—Karl Rexer, PhD, President, Rexer Analytics

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Eric Siegel is an AI and machine learning expert, Forbes contributor, and former Columbia University professor who won awards teaching graduate-level AI courses. He is the author of The AI Playbook and the bestselling Predictive Analytics – both acclaimed for making AI accessible and captivating. He also founded the long-running Machine Learning Week conference series and created a course with 16k registrants. [ Detailed bio ]

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2024 Highlights: Talks at Google, Big Think, and more

 

Experience: Eric has been commissioned for 160+ keynotes (full list) at events across industry sectors: ad tech, retail, sales, marketing, market research, e-commerce, manufacturing, banking, insurance, hedge fund managers, fraud auditors, high tech, news media, healthcare, pharma, gov't, human resources, human services, restaurants, travel, real estate, economics, construction, automotive, law – plus executive, university, and analytics vendor conferences.

Eric Siegel, Keynote Speaker
Making AI and machine learning accessible and captivating

Media appearances by Eric Siegel

Style and Content

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Eric's presentations on AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics are understandable to all audience members. He keeps it relevant, engaging, and entertaining.

 

And yet Eric delves down enough to concretely demonstrate how machine learning works: How it actionably delivers business value – including example case studies – and how it works under the hood. Eric's keynotes are concrete and substantive, diving deep rather than only invoking the often-heard generalities and buzzwords surrounding AI.

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Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker

Available Keynote Topics

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How Machine Learning Delivers on the Promise of AI

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The excitement over machine learning and AI has reached a fever pitch. But what is the value, the function, the purpose? The most actionable win to be gained from data is prediction. This is achieved by analytically learning from data how to render predictions for each individual. Such predictions drive more effectively the millions of operational decisions that organizations make every day. In this keynote, Machine Learning Week founder and bestselling author Eric Siegel reveals how machine learning – aka predictive analytics – works and the ways in which it delivers value to organizations across industry sectors.

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The AI Playbook: How to Capitalize on Machine Learning

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The greatest tool is the hardest to use. Machine learning is the world’s most important general-purpose technology – but it’s notoriously difficult to launch. Outside Big Tech and a handful of other leading companies, machine learning initiatives routinely fail to deploy, never realizing value. What’s missing? A specialized business practice suitable for wide adoption. In this keynote, bestselling author Eric Siegel presents the gold-standard, six-step practice for ushering machine learning projects from conception to deployment. And he illustrates the practice with stories of success and of failure, including revealing case studies from UPS, FICO, and prominent dot-coms. 

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Most Machine Learning Projects Fail to Deploy – Here's the Remedy

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Industry leader Eric Siegel's latest research shows most models generated with machine learning to improve business operations in a new way never deploy. It turns out that machine learning operationalization – which changes existing processes in order to improve them – takes a lot more planning, socialization, and change-management efforts than most ever begin to realize. The problem is more in leadership than in technology. In this talk, Eric will outline the required practice needed to run ML projects so that they successfully deploy and deliver a business impact.

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How Machine Learning Reduces Risk in Financial Services

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The gold standard method for leveraging data to reduce risk – in credit, insurance, and other lines of business – is machine learning. The predictive models this technology generates reduce risk, cut costs, and boost profit. In this keynote address, bestselling author and former Columbia University professor Eric Siegel will clearly demonstrate exactly what is learned from data and how enterprises apply what's learned to improve the business metrics that matter most in the financial services sector.

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The High Cost of AI Hype

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Machine learning has an “AI” problem. With new breathtaking capabilities from generative AI released every several months — and AI hype escalating at an even higher rate — it’s high time we differentiate most of today’s practical ML projects from those research advances. Including all ML initiatives under the “AI” umbrella oversells and misleads, contributing to a high failure rate for ML business deployments. In this keynote address, bestselling author Eric Siegel shows that, for most ML projects, the term “AI” goes entirely too far — it alludes to human-level capabilities. By unpacking the meaning of “AI,” he'll reveal just how overblown a buzzword it is.

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Five Ways to Lower Costs with Machine Learning

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Question: How does machine learning actively deliver increased returns? Answer: By driving operational decisions with predictive scores - one score assigned to each individual. In this way, an enterprise optimizes on what customers WILL do. 

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But, in tough times, our attention turns away from increasing returns, and towards decreasing costs. On top of boosting us up the hill, can machine learning pull us out of a hole? Heck, yes. Marketing more optimally means you can market less. Filtering high risk prospects means you will spend less. And, by retaining customers more efficiently, well, a customer saved is a customer earned - and one you need not acquire. 

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In this keynote, Eric Siegel will demonstrate five ways machine learning can lower costs without decreasing business, thus transforming your enterprise into a Lean, Mean Analytical Machine. You’ll want to run back home and break the news: We can’t afford not to do this.

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Uplift Modeling: Optimize for Influence and Persuade by the Numbers 

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Data driven decisions are meant to maximize impact - right? Well, the only way to optimize influence is to predict it. The analytical method to do this is called uplift modeling (aka, persuasion modeling). This is a completely different animal from standard predictive models, which predict customer behavior. Instead, uplift models predict the influence on an individual’s behavior gained by choosing one treatment over another. In this session, Machine Learning Week founder Eric Siegel provides an introduction to this growing area.

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How to Know Your Data Discoveries Are Not BS (Bad Science)

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“An orange used car is least likely to be a lemon.” At least that’s what was claimed by The Seattle Times, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal. However, this discovery has since been debunked as inconclusive. As data gets bigger, so does a common pitfall in the application of standard stats – known as p-hacking: Testing many predictors means taking many small risks of being fooled by randomness, adding up to one big risk. In this keynote, PAW founder Eric Siegel will cover this issue and provide guidance on tapping data’s potential without drawing false conclusions.

Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker
Eric Siegel, machine learning keynote speaker

More Available Keynote Topics

 

Seven Reasons You Need Machine Learning Today 

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Machine learning has come of age as a core enterprise practice necessary to sustain competitive advantage. This is the technology that enacts a wholly new phase of enterprise evolution by applying organizational learning, which empowers the business to grow by deploying a unique form of data-driven risk management across multiple fronts. In this keynote, industry leader Eric Siegel reveals seven strategic objectives that can be attained to their full potential only by employing machine learning, namely Compete, Grow, Enforce, Improve, Satisfy, Learn, and Act.

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Machine Bias: The Inequity in Predictive Models 

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In this presentation, author Eric Siegel – who has published a dozen op-eds on responsible machine learning – will show exactly what is often referred to as "machine bias": unequal false-flag rates across groups, affecting consequential decisions such as who's incarcerated and who's approved for a loan. Further, he'll also cover a more fundamental precursor issue, which strangely is rarely discussed and as-yet unresolved: discriminatory models, whereby machines explicitly base decisions on a protected class, treating people differently on that basis. Until there's consensus ruling out that practice, agreement on the more inneundoed topic of machine bias will never be possible.

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How Machine Learning Fortifies Healthcare 

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Machine Learning addresses today’s pressing challenges in healthcare effectiveness and economics by improving operations across the spectrum of healthcare functions, including: 

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  • Clinical services and other healthcare management operations such as targeting screening and compliance intervention 

  • Insurance pricing and management 

  • Healthcare product marketing

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Applied in these areas, machine learning serves to improve patient care, reduce cost, and bring greater efficiencies. In this keynote address, Eric Siegel will cover today’s rapidly emerging movement to fortify healthcare with data science’s biggest win: the power to predict.

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Pitfalls: the Seven Deadly Sins of Machine Learning

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It's the age of machine learning. Companies are seizing upon the power of this technology to combat risk, boost sales, cut costs, block fraud, streamline manufacturing, conquer spam, toughen crime fighting, and win elections. And yet, we still live in a primordial era of errors. Many or most machine learning projects fail to deliver value because, time and again, certain recurring, treacherous pitfalls derail machine learning projects. In this keynote, former professor, "Predictive Analytics" author, and industry leader Eric Siegel will cover seven common machine learning pitfalls – each one like a boobytrap, a common mistake waiting to happen. It's a deadly sin indeed if it leads you to draw a false conclusion, misinterpret results, optimize the wrong thing, or mess up the data in the first place. Circumventing these major pitfalls is the lifeblood of machine learning because to avoid them is to get machine learning to actually work.
 

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Testimonials from Event Producers

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“Eric spoke for us across the US and Canada for a six-city dinner series, and was absolutely fantastic! The attendees thoroughly enjoyed his presentations and he is an absolute pleasure to work with. Not only is he THE expert in predictive analytics, but he delivers his message in an easy-to-consume, understandable way, so that both novices and experts come away with something valuable.”
—Joe Kaszynski Marketing Manager, IBM Business Analytics

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“Eric Siegel, Ph.D., is one of the luminaries appearing in [National Geographic TV's] Predicting the Future episode... Eric does a great job of talking about deep learning and AI from a layperson’s perspective.”
Forbes

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“Mr. Siegel, is a fine orator who can craft his knowledge to your unique industry or conference topics. Of more than 28 speakers he performed highest on our conference evaluations. We hit a home run in asking Eric to bring his wit, unique skills set and polished presentation to INMA Data Insights in Chicago.”
—Eric Hutchins, Event Manager, International News Media Association

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“Eric did an excellent job distilling the science of predictive analytics into digestible examples that resonated with our audience. I commend him on helping acclimate a roomful of legal industry professionals on one of the most complex – and daunting – trends impacting business development.”
—Nicholas Giannini, Ph.D., Conference Director, Thomson Reuters


“Eric Siegel is an engaging speaker who knows how to package complicated information so that it is interesting, relevant, and memorable. He delivered the keynote at our 2023 government Health & Human Services IT conference and he was able to reach our broad array of attendees representing the full spectrum of human services programs. It felt like each person had their own takeaway from his powerful presentation; we each left with new insight and ideas for how we could each employ an aspect of his teachings to our own work."
—Steph Bloch, Deputy Administrator, Economic Security Administration, Department of Human Services
 

“When it comes to predictive analytics and its application to companies across industries, Eric not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. His uncanny ability to translate intricate concepts into tangible tactics and actionable strategies makes him a valuable asset to any organization embarking on the lofty goal of converting massive volumes of data into bankable knowledge and foresight.”
—Alan Alper Senior Editorial Director, Cognizant Technology Solutions

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“Your excellent contribution to our International Health Forum...  credibly and very concretely presented...  about predictive analytics and its impact on German over-the-counter [pharmaceutical] companies. The persuasive and tailor-made content, and also the way you have presented, was extraordinary.”

—Lilian Susan Wilke Head of Corporate Communications, Wort & Bild Verlag

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“Eric was very knowledgeable and engaging in presenting this important and timely topic at the Property and Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference Executive Forum. His presentation was well-received by our members... a strong outcome with our very discerning audience.”
—Scott Powell, VP, Property and Liability Resource Bureau

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“The feedback from Eric's presentation has been phenomenal. Everyone loved his 'down-to-earth' style and the fact that he was willing to go under the hood to demystify predictive analytics... Eric's talk was a HUGE success.”
—April Morris, CalState Fullerton

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“Throughout the entire preparatory process, Eric was accessible and eager to learn about the event and our audience. He customized his presentation to ensure maximum value for the attendees and made certain he made our lives as event organizers as easy as possible. I would be very happy to work with Eric again and highly recommend him to anyone considering using his services.“
—Len Herstein, Brand ManageCamp

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“Eric is a great presenter, always fun to listen to, and he has done a great job bringing this to his new book.”
—James Taylor, CEO, Decision Management Solutions 

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“Eric has the gift of clarity and simplification of the ultra complex.”
—Juan Llanos EVP Operations, Unidos Financial 

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“Your talk was insightful, captivating, engaging, and thought-provoking. Your book Predictive Analytics is fabulous and a must read for all.” 
—Ana Quinn, Duke University’s Tech. & Consumer Healthcare Conference

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See also numerous authenticated testimonials on LinkedIn and endorsements of corporate workshops.

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