Julie Holmes

Julie Holmes delivers high-energy, high-impact keynotes built for leadership conferences, association stages, corporate events, sales kick offs and executive summits where teams need to leave with more than inspiration. They need to leave ready to act. Blending real-world technology experience, proprietary frameworks, and storytelling, she creates rooms that think bigger and move faster.

Across industries and organizations of every size, Julie kept seeing the same pattern: the companies getting the most from AI weren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most advanced tools. They were thinking differently about what AI could do, how their people could grow with it, and the opportunities that open up when the two come together.

From that insight came the Second Story Strategy: when AI raises the floor for everyone, the best build a second story. A self-described now-ist, Julie doesn’t deal in distant predictions. She equips audiences with what works today, and her proprietary frameworks give them clarity, shared language, and practical tools that are still being used long after the event ends.

Julie has spent over 25 years building, selling, marketing and advising on technology, from start ups to global enterprises including JDE, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. With a Master’s in Communication and a career spent on both sides of the technology divide, she brings the rare combination of a builder’s rigor and an instinct for how people actually change. Leaders and teams from hundreds of companies use Julie’s strategies and frameworks, including Oracle, Keller Williams, Pernod Ricard, WebMD, American Express, and Expedia.

Julie co-founded Rivet Labs, an AI agency where her frameworks are continuously tested against real business challenges, not just conference stages. Splitting her time between Milton Keynes, UK and Denver, Colorado, she has delivered keynotes across five continents and is the author of the best-selling 101+ AI Tips series.

When organizations need their people energized, aligned, and ready to leverage AI with confidence, capability, and creativity, they book Julie.

Keynote Descriptions

Beyond Faster: Use AI to Stand Out, Not Just Keep Up

Everyone has AI. The floor is rising and companies everywhere are getting faster, more productive, and more capable. But getting good isn’t the same as getting ahead. This keynote introduces the Second Story Strategy, built on decades of technology experience and research into what the most AI-forward organizations do differently, and shows teams and leaders how to use AI to strengthen strategy, elevate performance, and create true competitive advantage.

Becoming AI-Empowered: Lead Smarter, Serve Better, and Win More

AI is moving fast and most professionals are barely keeping up. Even fewer are pulling ahead. This session shows teams and leaders how to use AI with more confidence, more creativity, and more competitive edge, no matter where they’re starting from. Available as a keynote or as an interactive AI adventure with live AI elements.

Quicksilver or Quicksand: Navigate the Five AI Shifts Rewriting Your Industry Right Now

AI is reshaping how clients find, evaluate, and choose who they work with. Some organizations will move with those shifts. Others will get buried by them. This keynote breaks down the specific changes reshaping your industry and gives teams and leaders a clear, prioritized path from reacting to leading. Fully tailored by sector.

From Chaos to Coherence: The Leader’s Playbook for Creating AI Alignment

Most AI initiatives don’t fail because of bad technology. They fail because of misalignment. This keynote gives leaders the practical architecture for aligning strategy, people, and systems so AI strengthens the organization instead of fracturing it. Leaders leave ready to create clear principles, policies, and playbooks to get everyone aligned and moving in the same direction.

Think Like an Inventor: Seven Ways to Think Bigger and Be Bolder with AI

Most people use AI to do things faster. Inventors use it to think differently. This keynote equips leaders and teams with seven practical approaches to use AI as a true strategic and critical thinking partner, not just a productivity tool. Teams and leaders leave ready to use AI to see around corners, challenge assumptions, and build something genuinely new.