Un Unexpected Treasure: A Keynote That Reframed AI Risks / Opportunities Narrative

As I stepped onto the stage to address 750 finance professionals about AI transformation, my notes brimmed with the usual corporate playbook: charts, stats, and dire warnings about falling behind.

I’d been invited to deliver this keynote, and like many before it, I planned to hammer home the urgency of embracing AI. There’s an urgency, that's true!

But something shifted that day. A last-minute nudge from an experienced and perceptive senior leader who heard me talk freely that day also preparing the fireside chat, changed everything. She asked me to weave in my own story and examples I lived, worked on and witnessed, led me to speak from the heart rather than from slides.

What emerged was an unexpected treasure—a new way to talk about AI that didn’t scare people into submission but inspired them to see risk and opportunity as two sides of the same coin.

By sharing my journey, I connected with the audience in a way facts never could, sparking a conversation that reframed AI transformation for a room full of perhaps skeptical or confused finance minds.

The Old Narrative: Fear-Driven AI Adoption

For too long, the narrative around AI in finance has been a relentless drumbeat: adopt it now or be left in the dust. True to the group behavioural theories, in the past could of years since chatGPT raise to fame, every conference, every consultant, every tech vendor leans on this fear-driven pitch—piling on stats about AI’s disruptive power and warning of obsolescence for those too slow to act.

My original keynote draft followed this script, albeit diluted, as I have never been convinced that leading with fear ever achieves anything of substance. My slides were packed with quality data and graphs designed to jolt finance professionals into action. Facts!

The message “you’re already behind” breeds fear, not progress, especially for those in finance who thrive on precision and caution. It sparks a downward spiral—hesitation, doubt and delay—rather than the urgency it intends. Instead of inspiring, it paralyzes.

I saw it in many rooms: glazed eyes, crossed arms, a silent resistance to being bludgeoned into submission. The old narrative wasn’t just ineffective; it was pushing people further from the very technology it championed.

We needed a new way to talk about AI, one that didn’t rely on fear.

Storytelling

My full shift came unexpectedly after a dry run of my keynote. A senior marketing leader pulled me aside, her feedback polite but pointed: “It’s solid, but it needs more… you. More texture, more of your experience.” I’d heard similar requests before—clients often asked me to skip slides entirely and just tell stories, especially at our regular board briefings.

In my talks, I spark people’s imaginations, transforming simple facts into visions of new possibilities. This is the best-kept secret of successful AI deployment: the opportunities it unlocks to reimagine how we approach business, operations, investments, finance—everything.

So, I took a risk. While I kept the PowerPoint slides as a roadmap for ideas, I decided to speak directly to the 750 finance professionals in the room, weaving a narrative from my own career and work.

Standing on that stage, I shared how I’d navigated my career shift from investment management to a broader role in technology and leadership. I didn’t talk about AI algorithms or processing speeds. Instead, I told a story about choices—how I’d faced uncertainties head-on, not by avoiding them but by engaging with them. I framed AI transformation not as a race to keep up but as a journey where risks and opportunities are inseparable.

The room leaned in. Literally, as photos document it.

Skeptical faces softened. By the end, I wasn’t just delivering a keynote; I was starting a conversation that resonated deeply with finance professionals grappling with AI’s complexities.

The feedback was humbling and uplifting—people approached me with gratitude, repeatedly describing the talk as inspiring.

A New Narrative: Risk and Opportunity as One

That day, I stumbled into a new way to talk about AI transformation: risk and opportunity are two sides of the same coin.

In finance, we’re trained to spot risks—market volatility, regulatory shifts, operational failures—and mitigate them. But what if we approached AI the same way? Not as a threat to dodge but as a challenge to engage.

Drawing from my days in investment management, I shared how risk management isn’t about avoidance; it’s about exhausting every avenue to understand risks, then working with them to uncover possibilities. AI, with its potential to revolutionize trading, forecasting, and compliance, is no different. It’s a landscape of uncertainties—data privacy, ethical concerns, implementation costs—but on the other side lies innovation, efficiency, and competitive edge.

This narrative clicked with the audience. Instead of scaring them with warnings of being “left behind,” I invited them to see AI as a partner in problem-solving, a partner in imagining new solutions and also a partenr to reply on to expand their role as a strategic one.

Work with the tension, I said, not against it. By embracing risks, finance professionals can shape AI’s role in their organizations, turning challenges into opportunities. The response was electric—people didn’t just hear me; they felt the message.

They saw themselves in the story, not as laggards in a tech race but as stewards of calculated risks, poised to unlock AI’s potential.

Why Stories Resonate with Finance Professionals

Why did my story land so powerfully?

Finance professionals deal in numbers—balance sheets, projections, probabilities—but numbers alone don’t inspire action. Stories do. By sharing my career pivot and lessons from managing investment risks, I made AI transformation relatable. I wasn’t preaching from a podium; I was one of them, someone who’d faced uncertainty, use it to create something new and found opportunity on the other side.

The audience connected emotionally, seeing their own fears and aspirations in my journey. After the talk, dozens approached me, saying they finally “got” what AI could mean for their work—not because I’d shown them a chart but because I’d shared a human experience.

Storytelling bridges the gap between abstract tech and real-world application. It’s not about dumbing things down; it’s about making complex ideas tangible. For finance professionals, who often face pressure to adopt AI without clear guidance, stories offer a roadmap.

They show that risks aren’t roadblocks—they’re doorways. By weaving personal narratives into discussions about AI, we can move beyond fear and inspire action that feels authentic and achievable.

Rethink AI Transformation

My keynote started as a standard pitch about AI’s urgency but became something more—a call to reframe how we talk about technology in finance. The old narrative of “adopt or be left behind” breeds fear and stalls progress.

Instead, we need stories that show risk and opportunity as inseparable, inviting finance professionals to engage with AI’s challenges as they would any investment: with diligence, curiosity, and courage.

That day, it seemed that 750 people left the room not just informed but inspired, ready to approach AI transformation as a journey, not as a race.

I urge finance leaders to embrace storytelling, to share their own experiences of navigating uncertainty.

We can shift the conversation from fear to possibility, empowering our teams to work with AI’s risks to unlock its rewards.

And …

I am grateful to the experienced senior leader who with grace, prescience and courage nudged me to create a new opportunity.

P.S. My team is seeking permission to share the name of the remarkable company that invited me to deliver their keynote. If approved, I’ll update this with full details.

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Decoding AI® by Clara Durodié is the first British digital publication dedicated to AI in financial services for business leaders, boards and investors. In circulation since 2016.

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