Waco is set to host its first artificial intelligence conference, the YOU × AI Summit, on September 12, 2026, with BrainTrust Partners as the founding title sponsor. The event aims to equip local businesses with the knowledge to implement AI solutions that are secure, private, and tailored to their unique brand identity.
Tim Hayden, CEO of BrainTrust Partners, will deliver a keynote titled "Your Data, Your AI, and Your Future" at 9:50 a.m. He plans to guide business owners through evaluating their current operations to identify AI use cases before making new purchases. Hayden emphasizes that many companies have untapped data within their systems that represent their brand DNA, which can be used to shape AI in their own voice.
Hayden founded BrainTrust in 2016 to help companies structure data for personalization and analytics. He notes that a decade later, many firms still haven't fully unified, structured, and labeled their data, which is critical for effective AI. Without this foundation, using AI becomes more costly and less accurate. He cautions against relying solely on generic AI platforms like ChatGPT or Claude, advocating for open-weight models that can be trained on a company's own data, run privately, and be more cost-effective.
The summit will feature 23 speakers across four tracks: Build, Get Found, Sound Like You, and AI Safety. Keynote speakers include Bryan Eisenberg, who will open the day at 8:20 a.m. with "Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn't Changed." Eisenberg, a bestselling author and pioneer in conversion rate optimization, will argue that people buy stories, not rates. Dr. Hope Koch, appointed to the Texas Artificial Intelligence Council, will close with "HOPE: Human Opportunity and a Period of Exponential Change," demonstrating how non-technical individuals can leverage their business knowledge to create practical AI tools.
Other sessions include hands-on workshops where attendees can build AI assistants and explore topics like AI in crime prevention, admission inflation, and content creation. Fernando Labastida, co-organizer and founder of the Viral Genius Institute, explains the summit's name: AI is not an equalizer but a multiplier, widening gaps between businesses with strong narratives and those without. He stresses that AI combined with human insight outperforms AI alone or humans alone.
The event will take place at the Performing Arts & Community Center in downtown Waco. Tickets are $99, with discounts for teams of ten or more. For registration and more information, visit youxai.live. BrainTrust Partners, founded by Tim Hayden in Austin, has worked with major brands like Ford, Dell, and Walmart. More about their services can be found at braintrustpartners.ai.
