Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) has secured Sol Rashidi as a keynote speaker for ISE 2026. Rashidi will take the stage at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, February 4. Her participation perfectly mirrors ISE’s 2026 theme, “Push Beyond,” inviting the industry to explore every opportunity and redefine what’s possible.
Rashidi’s keynote, titled “The AI Reality Check: What It Takes to Scale and the Future of Leadership,” will take a deep dive into how AI is no longer just a buzzword — it’s a battlefield of hype, half-truths, and hard realities. Executives are under pressure to act quickly, yet many make decisions based on noise rather than fact. In this keynote, Rashidi will cut through the fiction to reveal what’s truly happening in the AI marketplace, sharing frameworks, models, and the essential role of AI Governance and cybersecurity as core enablers for scaling. Drawing on her experience, she will outline how to evaluate AI initiatives and safeguard data, workforce, and competitive advantage.
Widely known for her groundbreaking work in the field of business innovation and technology, Rashidi’s career has spanned four C-suite roles across Fortune 500 companies. As the world’s first chief AI officer for enterprise in 2016, she led AI and data initiatives at Sony Music, Merck, and Estee Lauder, before moving to Amazon as the company’s tech executive. She holds 10 patents and is the best-selling author of Your AI Survival Guide, which is listed as one of the “Top 50 AI” books. To date, Rashidi has participated in three TEDx speaker sessions with accumulated views of over 1 million and voted Forbes’ “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century,” as well as “Top 5 Leaders Taking AI to Everyone.”
Alongside her pioneering career, Rashidi developed “The Human Amplification Index” — a new way to measure ROI to determine how well companies are strengthening their business and workforce through AI. She also offers “Intellectual Atrophy” education to ensure companies and organizations outsource tasks and not critical thinking in the age of AI. Rashidi played a pivotal role in developing and launching IBM’s Watson in 2011 and now has over 200 deployments under her belt. As both a practitioner and an executive, Sol has earned accolades including “50 Most Powerful Women in Tech,” “Top 100 AI Thought Leaders,” and “Top 100 Data & Analytics Leaders.”
“The challenge isn’t adopting AI, it’s leading with it,” says Rashidi. “I look forward to ISE 2026 to show how separating hype from fact, implementing strong governance, and integrating cybersecurity makes all the difference.”
“We are honored to host Sol Rashidi ,and we can’t wait to hear her Keynote at ISE 2026,” adds Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events. “Sol’s visionary approach, extensive experience, and deep understanding of the evolving business landscape will undoubtedly inspire and empower our attendees to push beyond the general realms of AI. We’re looking forward to Sol bringing her expertise to ISE as she sits at the intersection of top-tier leadership in AI, technology, and corporate strategy while bridging innovation with business impact.”
Register for ISE 2026 here.
For more information, visit https://www.iseurope.org/.
