I am based in Hyderabad and speak across India, in person or online. The material comes from what I write here every week, from my book, Implementing AI Agents in Your Company, and from my DBA research on pricing AI. You can read any of these arguments before you invite me, which is the simplest way to judge whether the talk suits your audience.
AI keynote speaker, Hyderabad
Talks about AI that end with a decision, not a demo
I speak to leadership teams, industry events and business schools about the AI decisions they are in the middle of making. Each talk makes one argument, backs it with named companies and real numbers, and ends with what to do on Monday.
Spoken at
- AWS ISV Ignite
- IIM Udaipur
- RAI Visakhapatnam Retail Summit
- Fintech Valley Vizag
- IIBM Institute
- Icfai Business School
25+ years building production software, from Citi in Frankfurt to startups in HyderabadAuthor of Implementing AI Agents in Your CompanyDBA research on how 371 SaaS companies price AI features
Talks I can bring to your event
01
Cheaper tokens, bigger bill: what AI really costs
Token prices keep falling and AI bills keep rising. Why that happens, who inside a company should own the bill, and when a smaller or local model is the better choice.
For CFOs, CTOs and anyone signing off an AI budget
Guide to AI costs →
02
You did not deploy an agent, you hired one
How much autonomy an AI agent should get, how to limit what it can touch, and how to know afterwards what it did.
For Leadership teams moving from an AI pilot to agents in production
Guide to deploying AI agents safely →
03
Writing code got free. Reviewing it is the job now.
What changes in an engineering organization when AI writes most of the code: review becomes the bottleneck, technical debt costs more, and someone has to decide what the agent prefers.
For CTOs and engineering leaders
Guide to leading teams that code with AI →
04
Your model was never your moat
How to run a pilot that tells you the truth, when to build and when to buy, and where advantage comes from once every competitor has the same models.
For Boards, founders and strategy offsites
Guide to AI strategy for leadership teams →
05
Pricing AI: what 371 SaaS companies actually do
Subscription, usage, credits or outcomes: how software companies charge for AI features, drawn from my DBA research and nine executive interviews, with a five-step framework for choosing.
For SaaS founders, product and revenue leaders
The research →
06
When your next customer is an AI agent
What happens to retail, payments and loyalty programs when software starts shopping on the customer's behalf.
For Retail, e-commerce and loyalty leaders
Guide to AI in retail and loyalty →
07
The AI revolution: navigating your career
Why entry-level work is moving from doing to reviewing, the frameworks for spotting where AI fits, and the skills that keep a professional relevant.
For Business schools and early-career professionals
As given at IIM Udaipur →
08
India's second tech boom will be AI implementation
India built its first technology industry on implementation. AI gives it a second run, for companies willing to sell outcomes instead of headcount.
For Industry bodies, founder communities and business schools
Read the argument →Every talk is reworked for the room: I swap the examples for your industry and adjust the depth for the audience.
Recent talks
All talks →
Formats
Keynote
30 to 45 minutes
One argument, the evidence for it, and time for questions.
Leadership workshop
Half or full day
The team works on its own AI decisions. The longer version is my AI training for leadership teams.
Fireside chat or panel
30 to 60 minutes
A conversation with a host or fellow panelists, as at AWS ISV Ignite and Fintech Valley Vizag.
Internal session
60 to 90 minutes
For an engineering, product or leadership team, built around a decision you are facing.
For organizers
Short bio, ready to use
Dr. Hitesh Sarda is an AI advisor based in Hyderabad and the founder of 256 Technologies, an applied AI lab. He has spent more than 25 years building production software, including work at Citi, Virtusa, Yash and ValueLabs, and now helps leadership teams decide what AI to build, buy or skip. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration from IIBM Institute and SIMA Switzerland, with a dissertation on how SaaS companies price AI features. He is the author of Implementing AI Agents in Your Company and has written at hitesh.in since 2009.
The About page has the longer story.
Common questions
What do you speak about?
AI decisions that leaders actually have to make: what AI really costs, how to price AI features, how much autonomy to give AI agents, how engineering teams change when AI writes the code, where the durable advantage is once everyone has the same models, and what AI shopping agents mean for retail and loyalty.
Who are the talks for?
Founders, CXOs, boards and leadership teams who need a clear view without the hype, and CTOs and engineering leaders who want the technical argument made properly. I adjust the depth to the room.
Do you tailor a talk to our industry or company?
Yes. Every talk is built around one argument and the evidence for it, and I rework the examples for your industry. For an internal session I prefer a short call with the organizer first, so the talk deals with the decision your team is facing.
Do you travel, and do you speak online?
I am based in Hyderabad and speak in person across India, and abroad when the event justifies the travel. Online keynotes and workshops are fine too.
How do we book you?
Use the form on this page with the event date, audience and format. I reply personally, usually within a couple of working days.
Organizing something that does not fit these formats? Write to me and we can work it out.
Invite me to speak
Tell me the date, the audience and what you want them to leave with. I reply personally, usually within a couple of working days.
Prefer email? Write to hitesh@256tec.com or reach me on LinkedIn.