AI Strategist · Electrical Engineer · Attorney · Founder, MidwestCon
Rob Richardson, AI strategist, electrical engineer and attorney, has trained thousands of people. Founder of MidwestCon. Anthropic and Google AI certified.
AI keynote speaker on redesigning work, leadership and learning for the age of abundant intelligence.
Rob Richardson, AI strategist, electrical engineer and attorney, has trained thousands of people. Founder of MidwestCon. Anthropic and Google AI certified.
K-12 schools · governments · small businesses · Fortune 500 companies
Quick facts
The network
Rob Richardson operates across four ecosystems that rarely overlap — federal policy, venture capital, frontier AI, and enterprise culture. Congressional leaders, SEC commissioners, $186M fund managers, Grammy-winning producers, and AI researchers share his network because he built the connective infrastructure between their worlds: the conferences, the dinners, the task forces, the training programs, and the deal flow.
He holds an Electrical Engineering degree, a Juris Doctor, and an Honorary Doctorate — all from the University of Cincinnati, where he became the youngest Board of Trustees chairman in the school's history. He used that seat to launch the 1819 Innovation Hub, Ohio's first university innovation district. He ran for Ohio Treasurer and earned over two million votes. Then he built Disruption Now.
Bring this network to your stage.
Invite Rob to Speak"Policy without practitioners is theory. Practitioners without policy is chaos. We need both at the table."
Policy · Capital · AI · Culture
Each ecosystem has its own language, incentives, and blind spots. Rob built the bridge between all four — and every engagement draws from the full network.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Aftab Pureval, the SEC. Rob chairs the Mayor's Ascend 2030 AI Task Force with P&G, Cincinnati Children's, and 84.51°. Organizations working with Rob gain AI strategy shaped by the people writing the regulations.
Zeal Capital Partners ($186M AUM), Collab Capital, Backstage Capital, Reign Ventures. The Builders & Backers Brunch creates structured deal flow between founders and funders. Founders and enterprises gain direct access to the capital pipeline that funds AI-native companies.
Paul Grewal (CLO Coinbase), Colin Kaepernick (Lumi Story AI), 330+ projects delivered across healthcare, education, and civic innovation. Teams gain training and systems built by practitioners who ship production AI across industries.
Timbaland, Chance the Rapper, Robert Greene, John Hope Bryant (Operation HOPE, advised 3 US Presidents). Google, Microsoft, P&G as partners. Programs gain the cultural credibility and enterprise partnerships that drive adoption.
Timeline
Keynotes · Workshops · Fireside chats
Keynotes, workshops, and fireside chats for leaders, teams, educators, and communities.
Redesign Your Work for the Age of Abundant Intelligence
When intelligence is cheap and everywhere, every team has to decide which work goes to AI, which work gets redesigned, and which stays human.
5 Principles of an AI-Native Organization
An AI-native organization designs its teams, roles and workflows around AI from the start, and Rob shows how to build one.
AI for the Collective Team, Not the Individual
The biggest gains from AI come when a whole team works from shared AI systems and shared knowledge.
7 Principles for Kids and Teaching in the Age of AI
Our kids will grow up with AI. The question is whether they'll grow up able to think with it.
From Rob's guide, Teaching in the Age of AI.
Fighting Skill and Cognitive Erosion in the Age of AI
If AI does all the thinking, people slowly lose the ability to think, and this talk shows how to use AI and stay sharp.
The Human Skills That Will Continue to Matter
The human skills that matter most in an AI economy are already clear, and anyone can build them.
Featured talk
Redesign Your Work for the Age of Abundant Intelligence
When intelligence is cheap and everywhere, every team has to decide which work goes to AI, which work gets redesigned, and which stays human.
Press
“AI knows it can do almost everything, but it doesn’t know when to stop. Humans need to be there to tell it when to stop.”
“Waiting costs us more money, costs us jobs and costs us talent.”
“We have some time to catch up, but not a lot of time.”
“MidwestCon is the premier destination for anyone looking to elevate their tech skills and connect with a vibrant community of innovators, venture capitalists, corporate leaders and policy influencers.”
“AI and data are the new electricity — powering everything from health care to education, from business to daily life.”
“He's always been a Bearcat.”
Podcast
Rob's conversations with founders, policymakers, and technologists, including Robert Greene, Hakeem Jeffries, and Jewel Burks Solomon.
Listen to the podcast
The Midwest AI and emerging technology conference Rob founded. MidwestCon 2025 drew 741 attendees from 347 companies, with Google and Microsoft as sponsors.
Explore MidwestConCurrent work
741 attendees in 2025, 347 unique companies, 77 speakers, $1M+ in opportunities generated. Google and Microsoft as sponsors. The Mayor of Cincinnati opening. The Disruptors Dinner in Martha's Vineyard with Congressional leaders and venture capital. The Future of Data Hackathon at UC's 1819 Innovation Hub.
190+ episodes, 150+ guests, 1,000+ monthly listeners. Founders, policymakers, and technologists. Robert Greene. Hakeem Jeffries. Jewel Burks Solomon. The conversations that connect founders, policymakers, and technologists across every episode.
$45K–$135K+ per engagement. 330+ projects delivered across healthcare, higher education, civic innovation, and workforce enablement. Ohio's first municipal AI sandbox in Hilliard. Anthropic and Google AI certified. The Ascend 2030 AI Task Force shaping regional AI policy.
Signature activations
Every event draws from all four quadrants — policy, capital, technology, and culture — with structured programming designed to produce outcomes.
Martha's Vineyard + Cincinnati
An invitation-only dinner for 40 to 50 of the Midwest's top enterprise and institutional leaders, built for deal-making and connection.
Hosted by Rob Richardson and Nicole Dunbar
With the Portman Center
Direct dialogue with senators, members of Congress and government leaders on AI for citizens, from improving city services to ethical governance frameworks.
Co-hosted with The Portman Center for Policy Solutions
Students + data builders
A team-based AI and data competition where students, developers and data scientists build solutions for digital literacy and economic opportunity.
Rob opened the 2025 hackathon at UC's 1819 Innovation Hub
Creators + technologists
An interactive zone where groups make music with Suno and direct video with Google Veo 3, guided by live facilitators.
Curated by Claudia Rebola
MidwestCon
741 attendees · 347 companies
Builders & Backers Brunch
Founders meet funders
EmpowerHer Breakfast
Women leaders in tech & AI
Congressional Black Caucus
Policy activation
Common questions
Rob Richardson Jr. is the founder and CEO of Disruption Now and the founder of MidwestCon. He is an electrical engineer and attorney, was the youngest chair of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees, and is Anthropic and Google AI certified. He has trained thousands of people to use AI.
Rob Richardson speaks about how AI changes work, leadership and learning. His six signature talks cover redesigning work, building an AI-native organization, AI for whole teams, teaching kids to think with AI, preventing skill erosion, and the human skills AI can't replace. He gives keynotes, workshops, fireside chats and panels.
An AI-native organization designs its teams, roles and workflows around AI from the start, so AI is part of how work gets done every day. Rob Richardson's talk "Don't Add AI. Build Around It." covers five principles for building one, a self-assessment, and the next move for each principle.
Abundant intelligence describes a world where AI makes intelligence cheap and available to everyone. In that world, teams decide which tasks to hand to AI, which to redesign, and which stay human. Rob Richardson's talk "Redesign or Be Redesigned" walks leaders through that decision and a first 30-day redesign plan.
Schools can set clear habits for every AI use. Rob Richardson's guide Teaching in the Age of AI names seven: Show the Work, Purpose Before Prompt, Human-First for Emotions and Ethics, a Verification Habit, Box Time and Purpose, Prompt Hygiene, and Version Control. Students keep their prompt history and check AI claims against sources.
Cognitive or skill erosion is the slow loss of a skill when AI does that thinking for you every time. Rob Richardson's talk "Use It Without Losing It" covers the warning signs on a team, work habits that use AI and keep your own judgment, and ways to keep building judgment while using AI.
MidwestCon is a Midwest AI and emerging technology conference series founded by Rob Richardson. MidwestCon 2025 drew 741 attendees from 347 companies, with Google and Microsoft as sponsors. It brings founders, investors, policymakers and technologists together in Cincinnati. Learn more at midwestcon.live.
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