Bailey Parnell

Artificial intelligence will be as ubiquitous as the Internet. This can be something that excites and improves leaders—instead of intimidating them—but only if they are equipped with the skills and confidence to lead in this era. Over the next decade, leaders must navigate rapid advancements, ethical considerations, and organizational transformations, but leaders don’t know what they don’t know. Thus may not know the right questions to ask. Bailey Parnell has been studying and working with digital technologies for over a decade. In her doctoral research, she studies the intersection of organizational leadership and AI. In this keynote, Bailey explores the key shifts leaders must prepare for and gives them the lens and skills they can proactively build to lead successfully through AI-driven change.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A clear understanding of how AI is reshaping leadership, organization, and decision-making
• Insights into key challenges and opportunities over the next few years
• Early insights into Bailey’s research concerning leadership and AI
• Practical strategies for leading teams through AI-driven transformation

The most effective leaders of the future will be human-centric and AI-assisted. When used skillfully and ethically, AI can wildly enhance productivity, decision-making, and all while reinforcing human connection and judgment. In this keynote, Bailey shares her groundbreaking doctoral research on how leaders can use AI in practice to support more human-centric leadership. From automating routine tasks to fostering deeper employee engagement, our human leaders will learn how they can integrate AI into their leadership practice with practical tools and strategies.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A framework for using AI to enhance leadership effectiveness while remaining human-centric
• Early insights into Bailey’s doctoral research concerning leadership and AI
• Practical applications of AI in decision-making, communication, and productivity
• Ethical considerations and best practices for AI-driven leadership

The age of generative AI is here, and there’s no going back. For many, this is both exciting and daunting. AI has the power to transform productivity, enhance well-being, and unlock creativity, but only if used wisely. Like any powerful tool, AI itself is not the problem—its misuse is. AI is already woven into many aspects of our daily lives and businesses: smart assistants, recommendation systems, customer service, marketing, hiring, algorithmic trading, and even healthcare. But how can everyday professionals—not just tech experts—use AI to work smarter, not harder? How do we harness AI’s benefits while maintaining ethical, human-centered leadership? Bailey Parnell has been studying and working with digital technologies for over a decade. In her doctoral research, she studies the intersection of learning and AI. In this accessible and engaging keynote, Bailey Parnell combines her research with years of experience teaching organizations critical workplace skills to demystify AI. She provides practical strategies that anyone can use to boost productivity, enhance creativity, and improve well-being—all while navigating the ethical challenges of AI responsibly.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A clear understanding of generative AI’s capabilities and limitations in today’s workplace
• Insights into how AI is transforming different industries and job functions
• Practical techniques for integrating AI into daily workflows to enhance productivity and efficiency
• A framework for using AI to support employee well-being, rather than replacing human skills
• Guidance on navigating ethical considerations, biases, and responsible AI use
• Increased confidence in leveraging AI for professional and personal

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, leaders face the challenge of reacting to change, driving change, and preparing for change at the same time, and all while helping employees navigate those changes effectively. That’s a lot of change! As leaders, we want our teams to be able to make full and successful transitions to life post-change. We want them to perform well in their roles and be well as people during these transitions, and to do this, it is helpful to understand how transitions work in the first place. In this talk, Bailey Parnell uses the science of Transition Theory paired with years of experience leading her skills development company to teach leaders the strategies they can implement right away so that their teams will more easily transition through the changes they face. Ultimately, you will get closer to creating a change-friendly culture in your organization.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A deeper understanding of the biological and psychological factors behind human reactions to change
• Insights into the 4 S’s of successful transitions (Situation, Self, Support, and Strategies) and how leadership plays a role in each
• Practical strategies to support employees through change
• Techniques to empower teams with a change-friendly mindset, fostering adaptability and confidence
• Proactive steps to reduce resistance to change

Servant leadership has never been more critical. One might assume technology could get in the way of this very human-centric style of leadership, but they would be wrong. As technology transforms workplaces, employees seek more purpose-driven, people-centered leadership. The irony is that technology can also improve this kind of leadership. This keynote explores how leaders can balance digital transformation with human connection. Bailey will share her groundbreaking doctoral research on how leaders can use AI in practice to support more human-centric leadership.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A modern servant leadership framework for the digital age
• Strategies to build trust, empathy, and ethical leadership in hybrid and remote environments
• Practical ways to lead with service, purpose, and impact

Leadership is evolving faster than ever, with digital transformation, remote work, AI, and generational shifts among the many changes reshaping how leaders operate. This keynote explores the top leadership trends shaping the future and provides a future-proofing roadmap for today’s leaders. Bailey Parnell combines a decade of experience building leadership development programs for the world’s leading organizations with her doctoral research studying leadership, learning, and organizational change to provide audiences with an action-oriented perspective on the future of leadership.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• Insights into emerging leadership trends and their impact on business
• Strategies for adapting leadership styles to the evolving workforce
• Tools to develop future-ready leadership skills
• Insights into Bailey’s research concerning leadership, learning, and organizational change

The modern world is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), requiring leaders to be adaptable, innovative, and people-focused. In this world, it can feel challenging to be the kind of transformational leaders we aim to be. However, research shows transformational leadership is especially effective in times of change. So while it must be practiced differently, it is imperative leaders understand how to transform themselves, their employees, and their organizations in pace with the changing world around them. This keynote teaches leaders how to thrive amidst uncertainty by using transformational leadership principles to inspire teams, foster innovation, and build resilience. Bailey Parnell combines a decade of experience building leadership development programs for the world’s leading organizations with her doctoral research studying transformational leadership and organizational change to provide audiences with an action-oriented perspective.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A deep understanding of transformational leadership in high-change environments
• Strategies for leading with vision, empathy, and adaptability
• Practical approaches for motivating and empowering teams in uncertain times
• Strategies for applying transformational leadership practices in hybrid, remote, and global settings
• Insight into AI-assisted transformational leadership practices (Informed by Bailey’s doctoral research)

In today’s fast-paced work environment, the essence of employee engagement lies not in grand gestures but in the everyday actions of leaders. In fact, the greatest contributor to an employee’s engagement has been shown to be their direct manager. Even so, managers are not taught how to engage their employees through everyday actions and conversations. This talk is designed to transform the way leaders motivate, recognize, and empathize with their teams on a daily basis. Bailey Parnell leverages her extensive experience to present a hands-on guide that centers on M.O.R.E.: Motivation, Optimism, Recognition, and Empathy as key drivers of daily engagement. This session offers actionable strategies that leaders can immediately implement to create a more engaged, resilient, and purpose-driven team environment. Drawing on compelling stories from her background as well as an extensive research base, Bailey showcases how simple, daily interactions can become powerful tools for building an engaged workforce in a sustainable way.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A deeper understanding of how motivation and mindset contribute to workplace engagement and purpose
• Practical techniques to motivate colleagues in meaningful ways
• Strategies to cultivate optimism and create a ripple effect that positively impacts teams
• Tools for implementing meaningful recognition in daily interactions

Remote and hybrid work isn’t a temporary trend—it’s just work now. For many professionals, this is the only workplace reality they’ve ever known. Yet, leading effectively in this digital-first environment requires a distinct set of leadership skills that go beyond the in-person management that today’s leaders learned in school. How do you create an engaged, high-performing team when your employees may never be in the same room? This keynote empowers leaders to embrace the new era of leadership, where communication, trust, accountability, and engagement must be intentionally cultivated across digital platforms. Bailey Parnell shares practical, research-backed strategies for leading hybrid, remote, and global teams, ensuring that leaders can drive performance while fostering collaboration, inclusion, and a sense of belonging—no matter where their people are located.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• Best practices for leading in digital work environments to foster engagement
• Strategies for maintaining trust and communication when teams are dispersed across locations and time zones
• Techniques to create an inclusive and connected virtual culture, ensuring that all employees feel valued and heard
• Practical approaches to digital collaboration, including leveraging the right tools for productivity and engagement
• Methods for avoiding digital burnout and fostering well-being in remote teams

Nearly 90% of job seekers and employees alike value “workplace culture” as vital. At the same time, decentralized hybrid and remote work setups are increasingly becoming the norm in the future of work. But one does not have to cancel the other out. If your teams predominantly interact with each other virtually, then your virtual culture IS your company’s culture. Once we understand this, we can do what’s necessary to make that culture great. We all want vibrant organizational cultures where our people have good relationships, are engaged, and feel their work matters. When hybrid and remote workplaces are done well, these things can happen along with a boost in productivity and wellbeing. But how do we translate our offline values and culture to an online world? How do we foster collaboration and relationship-building when people don’t see each other anymore? How do we make these tools work FOR us? In this interactive keynote, Bailey Parnell combines her years of experience advising workplaces on culture (and the skills needed to do it well) with her background in digital communications to truly provide you with a holistic take on creating culture in your organization.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• Recognition of how digital culture is formed and sustained in remote and hybrid environments
• Strategies to transfer organizational values and culture from in-person to digital workspaces seamlessly
• Practical techniques to enhance collaboration, communication, and camaraderie in dispersed teams
• Insights into the direct impact of digital culture on productivity, employee satisfaction, and organizational well-being

Mindsets are highly contagious—whether it’s optimism, resilience, or negativity, they spread throughout an organization and effect how we all experience engagement with our work, how we get through change, how we feel about our leaders, and even if we intend to stay with an organization. This keynote explores how we each contribute to an organization’s culture and effect those around us. Bailey Parnell will combine a decade of work teaching skills in organizations with practical strategies to help you cultivate positive, change-friendly organizations that drive performance, engagement, and culture.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• Insights into how emotions and attitudes shape team culture
• Strategies for fostering optimism and resilience in uncertain times
• Techniques to counteract toxic workplace negativity

For the first time in history, we have 5 generations in the workforce at the same time. While age plays an important part in our perspectives and upbringing, it is often left out of workplace conversations around culture and diversity. More than that, we often tell people to actively NOT ask about age, but this cannot be ignored anymore. From Gen Z to Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers, these differences must be explored together, or a misunderstanding and divide will grow. So, how do we increase empathy and understanding between generations? How do we motivate different generations? How do we bridge generational divides as the world or work moves toward hybrid and remote settings? In this dynamic and humorous keynote, Bailey Parnell combines over a decade of research into multigenerational dynamics with practical experience in global workplaces to teach audiences how to foster intergenerational understanding so that all feel welcome and productive, regardless of AND because of age.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A clear understanding of each generation’s defining characteristics, values, and historical influences
• Recognition of everyday language and behaviors that contribute to generational misunderstandings and workplace divides
• Practical strategies for fostering strong intergenerational relationships and improving team collaboration
• Leadership techniques for managing and motivating multigenerational teams effectively (if applicable)
• Guidance on applying these strategies in hybrid and remote work environments to ensure inclusivity across all generations (if applicable)

The world of work is evolving rapidly—and so are the skills required to stay relevant, competitive, and effective. While technical expertise and digital literacy are valuable, it is human skills—like adaptability, critical thinking, communication, and emotional intelligence—that are the true differentiators in the workplace of the future. For over a decade, Bailey Parnell has owned and led a soft skills training company, working with some of the world’s leading organizations to develop their workforce for long-term success. Her TEDx talk on soft skills further underscores how these competencies are becoming more critical than ever, not just for career advancement, but for building organizations that thrive in change. In this engaging and hands-on keynote, Bailey not only shares what the future of work demands but actively helps attendees start building these essential skills during the session itself.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

Attendees will gain:

• A roadmap of the most critical future-ready skills for career and leadership success
• An understanding of why soft skills—such as adaptability, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence—are becoming more valuable than ever
• Insights into the intersection of soft skills and technology and how leaders can balance both
• Practical, actionable steps to start building these skills today to stay competitive in an AI-driven world

Humans are not biologically built to love change, but organizations must change to thrive in the future of work, and here lies the conundrum. As the world changes at a pace that feels more rapid than ever before, what is the role we play as individuals in how our teams navigate changes? To thrive in the face of change requires the right combination of soft skills  and no one knows these better than Bailey Parnell. As someone who leads a soft skills development company that works with the world’s leading organizations and having gone through many changes herself, Parnell asks audiences to invite M.O.R.E. in times of change. We can control how we experience change more than you might think, but only with a growth Mindset, Optimism, Resilience, and Each other! In this talk, Parnell shares a science-backed playbook of practical strategies, stories, and experiential moments that help people understand how change-friendly people come together in an interconnected way to make change-friendly teams.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• An understanding of the biological and psychological factors behind human reactions to change
• Awareness of their own mindset toward change and how it influences their teams and workplace culture
• Practical strategies to integrate a growth mindset, optimism, resilience, and empathy into their daily approach to change
• Techniques to strengthen adaptability and proactively manage transitions

Studies show the average person spends hours a day on social media, and even more the younger you go. While social media enables connections and collaboration at an unprecedented scale, there’s also a dark side to this networked world that’s laced with addiction, depression, harassment, and more. By every measure, social media is a risky behavior like alcohol or even driving. Since it’s not going anywhere, abstinence might not an option, but you can still practice #SafeSocial. How is this activity we spend so much time doing actually affecting how we think and feel? What is happening out there in the social media world and how does it influence the mental health of us and our youth? Adapted from her original TED talk with over 5M views, Bailey Parnell will draw from research and exclusive experience to illustrate the current social media landscape as it relates to mental wellbeing, explain the effects it has on us every day, and provide 5 steps towards #SafeSocial.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates a combination of short, interactive exercises to engage audiences and help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• A clear connection between social media and risky behaviors like addiction, distraction, and mental health challenges
• An understanding of 4 environmental factors that contribute to risks on social media
• Insights into up to 6 negative effects of social media on emotional and psychological well-being
• 5 actionable steps toward practicing #SafeSocial and improving their online experience
• Tools for creating a healthier digital environment that fosters well-being for themselves and their communities