Every marketing and AI leader is being asked to do the same thing right now: scale AI across teams, accelerate adoption, and show measurable results.
At the same time, expectations about what AI is and what it will deliver are being shaped by a powerful and fast-moving narrative.
Karen Hao argues it is time to re-evaluate that narrative.
At MAICON 2026, Hao, author of the New York Times bestseller “Empire of AI,” will deliver a keynote grounded in years of original reporting on how artificial intelligence is being developed, deployed, and governed.
She has been named one of the most influential people in AI by TIME and Business Insider. She leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series and co-hosts the BBC’s technology podcast The Interface.
Hao first took the MAICON stage in 2019, and her return in 2026 will bring a dramatically expanded body of reporting on how AI is shaping business and society.
“In Empire of AI,” she examines how a small group of companies has consolidated extraordinary power and influence over the direction of AI.
She also explores how the dominant narrative around generative AI and artificial general intelligence has taken hold and how it shapes how organizations think about progress, investment, and value.
Many of the ways society could benefit from AI, including advances in education, healthcare, and sustainability, rely on machine learning systems that predate today’s generative models.
At the same time, companies at the center of the current AI wave have positioned generative AI and AGI as the primary path to progress and abundance.
Hao’s work examines the gap between those narratives and the underlying realities of how AI is being built and deployed.
Shoshana Zuboff, an author and Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School, has called Hao’s book a “heroic work” and “essential public education” on the forces shaping AI.
For leaders responsible for AI strategy, adoption, and governance, these questions are not theoretical.
They directly influence decisions about:
If the assumptions behind current AI strategies are incomplete, the downstream impact can affect everything from resource allocation to long-term competitive positioning.
Hao’s perspective offers a way to more clearly understand the environment in which these decisions are being made.
Drawing on years of original reporting, Karen’s keynote will examine:
She also addresses a core question:
What role should leaders and organizations play in influencing the direction of AI, rather than simply reacting to it?
“The way we develop technology is now fundamentally broken. But I truly believe that we can fix it.”
— Karen Hao, MAICON 2026 Keynote Speaker and NYT bestselling author
This keynote is not about predictions.
It is an examination of the systems, incentives, and power structures shaping AI right now, and how those forces influence the choices organizations make every day.
For leaders working to scale AI while managing governance and risk, this perspective provides a clearer view of the landscape and the decisions ahead.
Karen Hao will headline MAICON 2026 as part of a lineup focused on real-world AI strategy, implementation, and leadership.
Follow her before MAICON 2026:
If you are responsible for how your organization adopts, scales, and governs AI, this keynote is for you. It will give you a deeper understanding of the forces shaping those decisions.
Join us at MAICON 2026 to hear Hao and 50+ other AI and business leaders. Register today.