Description

Doors open at 11:30 and presentations start promptly at Noon. 

Are you curious about how AI can transform your business and career? Join us at the VIATEC AI Meetup, where local thought leaders and innovators come together to explore the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and its practical applications. 

Join us for this session as Jennifer Huffnagel from Hufnagel Consulting presents and leads discussion on: 

Empowering Your Workforce: Building AI Awareness, Readiness, and Adoption 

It’s really all about your people.

It’s 2025, and we’re still on the left side of the technology adoption curve, just like we were with the Internet in 1996. AI represents a fundamental transformation in how we work, make decisions, and deliver value in how we work, make decisions, and deliver value. But here’s the catch: if you don’t bring your people along for the ride, AI adoption will fail. 

This practical, people-first workshop is for leaders, changemakers, and teams looking to build real momentum with AI without leaving their workforce behind. We’ll examine what it means to be truly “AI ready,” starting with strategy, governance, and mindset. We'll explore how to set up internal Communities of Practice (AI COPs), create safe spaces for learning and experimentation, and define clear policies to guide responsible AI use. 

We’ll also unpack the deeper business readiness that’s often skipped: mapping workflows, reviewing existing tools, aligning your online presence, and preparing your team to shift from FOMO to informed action. You’ll learn how to support your team through the unknown, avoid top-down tech rollouts that backfire, and build adoption through involvement and trust, not pressure or fear. 

You’ll leave with: 

• A better understanding of AI’s risks and opportunities in your context 
• Steps to assess your organization’s AI readiness 
• Tools to kickstart your AI adoption journey the right way 
• Ideas for building your own AI community of practice (AI COP) 
• Tips to avoid common rollout failures 

Whether you're leading a large team or just starting to explore what’s possible, this session will give you the clarity and confidence to take your next steps, strategically and humanely - remember it’s all about your people. 

Feel free to grab a bite at the Fort Cafe, located on site.

About Our Speaker

Jennifer is an Operations Consultant, AI Readiness Specialist & Education and certified AI Futurelab Mastermind Trainer. Jennifer brings over 25 years of professional experience with a focus on corporate training, instructional design, facilitation, business analysis, and system and process improvement. She has spent the last 2 years honing her skills in the AI space, and leading AI Training on Vancouver Island. Specializing in LLMs and ChatGPT. To date Jennifer has delivered training presentations to 1000+ users in person or online (to a worldwide audience). She is a sought after speaker on AI delivering sessions at VIEA, RIEP, COO Alliance, WeBC, AWE and a facilitator with the New School of Fundraising. She leads AI Training & Education on Vancouver Island and is a sought after speaker on AI Awareness and AI Readiness. 

She has had the privilege to hold corporate roles at some of the top companies in Canada. As a Learning & Development Specialist at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? (now O2E), Manager of Training & Franchise Support (Men in Kilts) and Learning & Development Consultant (Frogbox). Additional roles include working at QuickMobile (CVENT), Qtrade (Senior Advisor Training Specialist), as a Senior Training and Enablement Specialist and a Sales Enablement Training Specialist at Hootsuite. Her audiences have ranged from internal teams, entrepreneurs, franchise owners and operators, to international enterprise Fortune 100/500 companies including Walmart, Whirlpool, KPMG, Intuit and VISA. 

As the General Manager of Innovation Island, she co-created the DER3 program successfully scaled to 1000+ business in British Columbia. She worked directly with chambers, community future offices, and economic development agencies. 

She holds Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurship from the University of Victoria, training and instructional design certifications from the BCIT, VCC and Langevin Learning. 

About the Organizers

This event is organized by Steve Harris, a local IT leader and AI specialist and Robert Cooper, Founder of PlusROI Online Marketing, along with the generous support of VIATEC. This is your chance to connect, learn, and lead in the world of AI innovation. 

Spots are limited—RSVP today and be part of Victoria’s AI-powered future: 

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/viatec-ai-meetup-business-track-may-8th-tickets-1329196766309