WACO, Texas – Bryan Eisenberg, a New York Times bestselling author and one of the original architects of digital marketing, will deliver the opening keynote at the inaugural YOU x AI Summit on September 12, 2026, at The Performing Arts Community Center (The PACC) in Waco, Texas. His session, "Before the Algorithm, There Was Your Story. That Hasn't Changed," sets the tone for a one-day event centered on a principle Eisenberg has championed for three decades: technology changes the delivery mechanism, but it has never altered what makes a customer decide to trust you.
Since the late 1990s, Eisenberg and his brother Jeffrey have published over two million words on digital persuasion, predating most of today's AI models. Together, they coined the term "conversion rate optimization" and authored a string of bestsellers, including the New York Times bestsellers Call to Action and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, along with Be Like Amazon, The Rice and Beans Millionaire, and their latest release, I Think I Swallowed An Elephant. Bryan also founded the Web Analytics Association, now the Digital Analytics Association.
Eisenberg's keynote will address the shifting landscape of persuasion in the AI era. "In all persuasive momentum, there are two forces you work on: reducing friction and increasing motivation," he said. "Today there is zero friction to produce content. You can generate text, images, and video automatically. Which means the only force left is motivation, and motivation is the human connection. That trust only happens between real humans."
To illustrate this concept, Eisenberg uses a simple analogy: AI behaves like a nervous system. It connects everything, carries the signal, and speeds up every reaction in a business. What it does not do is decide where the business is going, what it believes, or who it is. Those decisions remain with the brain, heart, and gut of the people running it. Integrating AI into a business with a clear direction accelerates growth, while in a directionless business, it amplifies inefficiencies. "The more you are you, the better the AI is actually going to be," Eisenberg said. "It's you with the AI, not the AI instead of you."
Eisenberg practices what he preaches from his home base in Round Rock, where he chairs the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce Ambassador program, growing it from 21 ambassadors to its maximum capacity of 50. He also hosts the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders podcast, which shares the stories of one of the fastest-growing counties in the country through the people building it. He now uses AI to extend the reach of those local stories, cutting hours of production work each week while keeping human judgment at the center of every decision.
Fernando Labastida, founder of Viral Genius Institute and co-host of the summit, praised Eisenberg's role: "Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg were writing the playbook for digital marketing when most of us were still figuring out email. Having Bryan open the YOU x AI Summit is a statement about what this event is: practitioners who have lived through every technology wave, showing you how to make this one yours."
The YOU x AI Summit, hosted by Rogue Media Network and Viral Genius Institute, is built on the premise that AI should amplify human ingenuity, not replace it. The one-day event features 14 speakers, 8 hands-on workshops, and an AI showcase, and is expected to draw roughly 200 entrepreneurs, small business owners, creators, educators, nonprofit leaders, and professionals from across Texas. The summit takes place Saturday, September 12, 2026, at The Performing Arts Community Center (The PACC) in Waco, Texas. Registration and details are available at youxai.live.
