Proof AI Workshop: AI in Practice, Not Just Theory
About this Event
You have been told to do something with AI. Most of what you find is theory, or a vendor pitch with a demo attached. Neither one tells you what to change on Monday.
WHAT THIS IS
PROOF AI Workshop is a one-day, hands-on event at Mashup Food Hall in NuLu. The day runs on working sessions rather than talks, each one led by someone who uses AI in their own business. Laptops open, real tools, real workplace problems.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO
The day opens with a single keynote for the full room, setting the tone before anyone splits off. From there, you choose sessions from four concurrent tracks: AI in Marketing and Branding, AI in Software Development, AI in Business Operations and Security, and Workflow Automation + AI Agents. Sessions run about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.
SESSIONS ARE BUILT AROUND MAKING SOMETHING
Every session is built around a hands-on component instead of slides. You work in the room, on your own machine, with the tools in front of you. The person running the session uses these tools in their own work.
THE OPEN LAB RUNS ALL DAY
An open lab runs in parallel from morning to close. It is a drop-in room with experts circulating. Bring a stalled project, test a tool, or build something start to finish with help at your shoulder.
HOW THE DAY ENDS
Lunch is on site and included in your ticket. Afternoon sessions follow. The day closes around 4:45 with a show-and-tell, then a happy hour at the bar.
WHY NOW
The pressure to do something with AI is not going away, and it keeps arriving without instructions. Your team is likely already testing tools on their own. One day of structured building moves you further than another quarter of reading about it.
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH
- At least one thing you built during the day that still works when you get back to the office
- A repeatable way to apply what you practiced to your own day-to-day work, not just the example used in the session
- Hands-on practice with the specific tools used in each session you attend, run by people who use them in production work
- Time with an industry expert in the open lab on a problem you need help with
- Contacts from a room of Louisville-area leaders, operators, and builders
WHO SHOULD COME
- Directors and department heads who are expected to produce an AI plan and have no practical starting point
- Founders and operators at small teams who will do the implementation themselves
- Developers and technical practitioners who would rather work with the tools than hear a talk about them
- Teams attending together, since tracks run concurrently and you can split up and cover more ground
Agenda
🕑: 08:00 AM - 09:00 AM
Doors and Check-in
Info: Light breakfast and coffee.
🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Opening Keynote
Info: In full room
🕑: 09:00 AM - 03:30 PM
Open Lab: drop-in, with experts circulating.
🕑: 09:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Morning Track Sessions
Info: Eight sessions across the four tracks, two from each partner.
Move Slow and Build Things: Using AI to Go Deeper
Host: Slingshot
Info: Most AI adoption is a speed play: draft it faster, clear the inbox, move on. This session treats AI as a depth tool instead, a way to interrogate your assumptions, pressure-test a decision before you commit, and see a problem from angles you would not have reached alone. Hands-on: attendees bring a real decision they're chewing on and run it through a "go deeper" sequence where AI surfaces what they're missing, argues the other side, and stress-tests the weakest assumption, then leave with the prompt scaffold.
Brand as an OS: Documenting a Strategy AI Can Work With
Host: Red Tag
Info: A document AI can load so it speaks from the brand's real thinking, not a guess. Attendees fill out a starter brand-context file live using RedTag's template: positioning, tone, 2-3 do's/don'ts, one real example. Leave with a file you can load into Claude or ChatGPT that day.
Data classification and AI Policy/Governance
Host: ABS
Info: Takeaway - An AI policy that can be applied to the business
How to add an AI Agent into Complex Operational Processes
Host: Vsimple
Info: Learn how to map complex workflows, identify the right opportunities for AI, and determine where agents can take action while keeping people in the right parts of the process.
Watch me Work: Building an AI Employee
Host: Slingshot
Info: I'm not an engineer. Watch me build a working AI employee live — an onboarding buddy, right inside Slack, that answers all the questions every new hire fires off in week one — using Claude as my pair programmer the whole way through. You'll see me ask questions, get unstuck, and ship something real in real time. If you've been told you need to "learn to code" before you can build with AI, this is the counterargument.
What Changes When AI Joins Your Crew
Host: Red Tag
Info: Real RedTag case studies showing how much tedious work disappears without a person's role disappearing with it. Framed for operations generally, not just marketing. Attendees pull one real repetitive task from their own job and draft the first prompt or workflow step to start automating it, using the same structure from RedTag's case study. Bring your own case to the open lab afterward for hands-on help.
Custom Agent Development with Microsoft Copilot
Host: ABS
Info: An agent or knowledge on creating agents to help with day to day repetitive tasks
Connecting AI to your tech stack
Host: Vsimple
Info: A crash course on how AI connects to the systems you already use. We’ll break down plugins, MCP servers, browser automation, and the tools that allow agents to work across your tech stack.
🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch & Break
🕑: 01:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Afternoon Track Sessions
Info: Eight sessions across the four tracks, two from each partner.
Stop Starting Over: Turning Your Repeat Work Into a Reusable Skill
Host: Slingshot
Info: Most people begin every AI conversation from scratch, re-pasting the same context, the same standards, the same "no, not like that." This session is about building it once so you never do it again. You'll take one task you actually repeat, your weekly report, your intake summary, your proposal boilerplate, and turn it into a reusable skill the AI loads on demand. No code. Bring the real task, leave with the working thing, and the pattern to build ten more.
AEO: Getting Found When Nobody Googles Anymore
Host: Red Tag
Info: What makes content citable by an AI answer instead of just rankable by a search engine. Attendees draft a real, basic llms.txt file for their own site, live, using a template.
Build your AI Brand Library in Microsoft Copilot
Host: ABS
Info: A custom brand kit in Copilot that can be used with company logos and color schemes
AI Wins for Business Leaders
Host: Vsimple
Info: Cut through the AI noise and focus on practical wins. Learn how to identify high-impact opportunities that reduce manual work, improve efficiency, and create measurable business value.
What Is a Dark Factory? Closed-Loop Development Explained
Host: Slingshot
Info: A dark factory runs unattended - no lights, no people, work still gets done. Drawing on a development agent we run in production, this session breaks down what these systems are and the pieces that make them work. Then we'll strip it down to a minimal version you can actually follow, so you walk out able to build your own.
Visionary in the AI Age
Host: Red Tag
Info: Russ changed how RedTag runs instead of bolting another AI tool onto what already existed. He'll cover why he made that decision, what surprised him once he did, and what he thinks is coming next for agencies that make the same move versus the ones that don't. Attendees fill out a short worksheet modeled on Russ's own decision framework: what they'd be giving up by not changing, what waiting is costing, what would have to be true to move.
Cybersecurity Controls for AI Tools
Host: ABS
Info: Tools to consider deploying to help maintain controls and security surrounding AI tools
How to Build a Revenue Agent
Host: Vsimple
Info: Learn what it takes to build an AI agent around your revenue process, from defining its role and responsibilities to connecting systems, automating work, and keeping opportunities moving.
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:45 PM
Show-And-Tell
🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Happy Hour at the Bar
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 115.06
