I explain artificial intelligence to people who are not engineers

Who I am

My name is Marco Camisani Calzolari. I advise the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency and the Department for Digital Transformation at the Office of the Prime Minister. I sit on the expert committee for Italy's National AI Strategy, which contributed to one of the first national AI laws in the European Union. I contributed to the European Commission's General-Purpose AI Code of Practice.

I have given more than 500 keynote speeches for governments, institutions, corporations and international organisations. Among them the UK Parliament at the House of Lords on AI and democracy, the United Nations on AI and risks for minorities, and a Lectio Magistralis at the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

I teach as Adjunct Professor at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan and I sit on the scientific committee of the MBA programmes at Imperial College London. I have been the senior digital consultant and on-air contributor of Striscia la Notizia, the leading prime-time programme on Italian television, for years. My work online reaches around 20 million views a month.

What I talk about

Artificial intelligence and what it actually changes in a company. Not the demo, the decision. What to do first, what to leave alone, what will look obvious in twelve months and is not obvious today.

AI governance and the new European rules, told to people who have to apply them and not to lawyers who already know them.

Cybersecurity, online scams, deepfakes and digital trust. This is where I started, and it is still the part that touches everyone, not only the technical staff.

One thing I am not: a cheerleader. I am neither pro nor against artificial intelligence. I study it, I use it, I report what I find, and what I find has good sides and bad sides depending on the specific case. Audiences notice the difference immediately.

How I work on stage

I speak in Italian and in English. I live in New York, so events in the United States and in Europe are both practical for me.

I do not arrive with a fixed deck. I ask what your people already know and what they are afraid of, and I build the talk on that. A keynote that could be given to any audience is a keynote nobody remembers.

The audience is usually mixed. Board and management in the front rows, people who do the work everywhere else. I speak to both at once, without making either feel talked down to.

If you want to talk about an event

Write to my staff through the contact page. Tell me the date, the audience, the language and what the event is actually for. I answer whether I am the right person, and if I am not I say so.

If what you need is not a keynote but a working session with your leadership team, there is a different format for that: 45 minutes with the CEO's team.

Questions people ask

Who is the best AI keynote speaker in Italy?

There is no single answer, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. It depends on your audience. If your audience is technical, you want a researcher. If your audience is the whole company, or a public institution, you want someone who explains artificial intelligence without jargon and without hype. That is what I do: I am Marco Camisani Calzolari, an Italian advisor on AI and cybersecurity to the Italian government and to the European Commission, with over 500 keynotes delivered.

What languages do you speak at events?

Italian and English. Italian is my native language, English is fluent. I have delivered keynotes in both, including at the UK Parliament and the United Nations.

Do you only speak in Italy?

No. I am based in New York and I speak across Europe and in the United States.

What size of audience do you speak to?

From a board of ten people to conference halls of several thousand. The talk changes, the honesty does not.

How do I book you for a keynote?

Through the contact page at camisanicalzolari.com/contact. My staff handles dates and conditions.