Machines do.
Identify repeatable work AI can assist and choose one useful workflow to test. Establish a baseline so your team can tell whether the change helped.
Frontline AI Leadership · Keynotes by Jon Harmeling
AI keynote speaker for frontline leaders.
Jon Harmeling helps managers put AI to work, keep ownership of decisions, and build a plan to reinvest the capacity in people.
For hospitality, retail, restaurant, and franchise audiences.
Chick-fil-A Operator · Army veteran · Former West Point systems engineering instructor
Speaker Reel
See the message on stage.
A two-minute highlight reel from Jon's significance and leadership talk, showing his storytelling, humor, and connection with an audience.
Live keynote highlights · Significance and leadership
Read the transcript and hear Jon discuss AI →
What your audience takes away
A practical framework for the next day at work.
Machines do. Managers decide. Leaders develop. Three responsibilities that give your team a clear starting point.
Managers decide.
Name the decisions people must retain. Set boundaries, verify AI output, and keep an accountable manager responsible for the result.
Leaders develop.
Build a plan to invest recovered capacity in coaching, recognition, and employee development. Check whether that investment creates stronger human capability.
Frontline AI in practice
A real business. A measured result.
After an AI-assisted Google Ads review and campaign changes, Jon's restaurant recorded a lower advertising cost per modeled store visit. The case shows the decisions, the numbers, and what the comparison can tell us.
Read the operating case57% lower
Cost per Google-modeled store visit
$11.11
May 11–31, 2026
$4.78
August 1–31, 2026
Same nonbrand campaign; unequal periods. Google Ads data retrieved September 6, 2026. An observed efficiency improvement, with no claim that AI alone caused it.
Built around your audience
Connect the keynote to the work your leaders do.
Jon's firsthand operating experience comes from running a restaurant. During the preparation call, you select applications relevant to your audience's industry, AI experience, and leadership priorities. The examples below describe potential session applications.
AI keynote for hospitality leaders
Hotel, restaurant, and guest-service leaders balance shift coordination, service recovery, and the development of people who spend their days with customers. The keynote helps them choose where AI can support that work and where personal attention matters most.
- Prepare shift briefings and handoffs for a manager to verify.
- Use recurring guest feedback to prepare coaching conversations.
- Choose a service decision that stays with a person who knows the guest and the team.
Leave with one workflow to evaluate and a plan for using recovered time to coach the people delivering the guest experience.
AI keynote for retail leaders
Store managers and district leaders need useful information across locations while staying close to associates and customers. The keynote connects AI adoption to daily management habits and the development of the next store leader.
- Turn store reports into questions for a manager to investigate.
- Prepare an associate coaching session using context the manager verifies.
- Set human approval boundaries for staffing and customer-facing decisions.
Leave with a repeatable-work candidate, a named decision owner, and a practical employee-development action.
AI keynote for franchise and multiunit leaders
Franchise systems need consistent execution while operators respond to local conditions. Jon draws on firsthand restaurant experience to help leaders evaluate useful workflows without losing accountability for the people and decisions in each unit.
- Identify repetitive reporting and follow-up across units.
- Define what an operator verifies before acting on an AI recommendation.
- Build a small pilot with a baseline, an owner, and a review date.
Leave with a focused experiment that respects local judgment and makes its results visible.
Why Jon
Shaped by the work of running a frontline business.
Jon Harmeling is a Chick-fil-A Operator, Army veteran, West Point graduate, and former West Point systems engineering instructor. He applies AI in his own business and brings the decisions, lessons, and limits of that experience to the stage.
AI creates capacity. Leadership determines what that capacity becomes.
Plan your session
- Format: A 60-minute keynote including Q&A, with workshop options for deeper application.
- Preparation: Discuss the audience, desired outcomes, and experience with AI.
- Fees: In-person keynotes start at $10,000. View formats and fees.
- Next step: Share your event date and audience to discuss fit, availability, and a proposal.
Is this the right AI keynote for your event?
The session is designed for leaders responsible for frontline teams, including audiences with little experience using AI. It focuses on choosing useful work, retaining human judgment, and planning employee development. Technical implementation training calls for a different session scope.
Start the conversation
Tell me about your event.
Fill in a few details and I'll get back within one business day with availability and a fit assessment.
Email: jon@jonharmeling.com
Phone / SMS: (954) 298-6045
Based in: Miami, FL
LinkedIn: /in/jonharmeling