Carl Taylor · AI Keynote Speaker · Australia
Most AI speakers talk about the future. Carl builds it in front of you.
Carl Taylor is an Australian AI keynote speaker, two-time author and the founder of Automation Agency. He speaks to small business owners and entrepreneurs about using AI practically... and he's been building the real thing since 2014: 1,340+ clients, around 700,000 tasks delivered. On stage, he doesn't predict what AI might do. He shows your audience what it's already doing inside his own business.
Keynotes from $10K + GST (AUD) · Based on the Central Coast, NSW · Speaks Australia-wide and internationally
Why event organisers book Carl
A practitioner on stage, not a commentator
Plenty of speakers can explain AI. Very few run their entire company on it. Fewer still can take a room of non-technical business owners into the tech without losing a single person... and still geek out with the developers at the back. That bridge is Carl's home ground. A business owner since 15 and a tech guy his whole life, he translates in both directions.
He runs his business on this
Carl's company, Automation Agency, runs on the exact systems he speaks about: an AI executive assistant managing his inbox, AI designers producing creative, and a multi-agent platform working alongside his human team. The talk is a tour of a working machine, not a slide deck of predictions.
Receipts, not theory
Since 2014 Automation Agency has served over 1,340 businesses and delivered around 700,000 marketing tasks. Carl had AI classifiers in production back in 2016, before "AI agents" was a phrase. When he says what works, it's because he's watched it work at scale.
Built live, in the room
Carl is at his best in front of a live problem. In workshops and demonstrations he builds AI systems on the spot, in front of the audience, using their real scenarios. People leave with something they watched happen, not something they were told about.
Keynotes & workshops
From operator to orchestrator
Carl's flagship keynote answers the question every business owner is quietly asking: "AI is clearly a big deal... so why hasn't it actually changed my week?"
The answer isn't another tool. It's a shift in role. Operators do the work. Orchestrators direct a team that does the work... and now that team can include AI members you hire like staff, not software you have to program.
Other topics include The 5 Levels of AI, Hire AI team members, don't program tools, and The AI Business Brain. Every talk is calibrated to your audience on a briefing call beforehand.
About Carl
Twenty-five years of building. Twelve of them with AI and automation.
Carl started his first business at 15, sold an IT company at 25, and founded Automation Agency in 2014 to give small businesses a delegated marketing team. When large language models arrived, he rebuilt the whole company around AI... and then started teaching business owners to do the same.
He's the author of Red Means Go (2010) and Becoming Bulletproof (2020), a former podcast host, and a dad who measures the value of AI in afternoons back, not buzzwords.
What people say
In their words
I attended his recent Claude AI bootcamp and got lots of ideas and great value. I am very happy to recommend Carl's advice for any business owner wanting to get their business future ready.
I thought that project would take me years, if not months. With what I learned in the Lab I knocked over 128 years of the association's history in less than a day. All indexable, all at your fingertips. Mind-blowing.
Carl is brilliant at what he does. He's the entrepreneur's entrepreneur. He has an uncanny natural ability to see a vision in how to help take a business to the next level. If he has time on his schedule, grab it, you'll thank me for recommending him.
Insights
Latest from Carl
8 July 2026
How much does an AI keynote speaker cost in Australia?
Real fee ranges, what drives them up or down, and the questions that change the quote.
Read more →
9 July 2026
The 5 Levels of AI: where is your business, actually?
Carl's maturity model, from the sidelines to AI-run business functions. You can't skip a level.
Read more →
9 July 2026
What is an AI Business Brain?
The Brain is your filing cabinet. The chat is your table. Why AI feels generic without one.
Read more →
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions
Who is Carl Taylor?
Carl Taylor is an Australian AI keynote speaker, author of Red Means Go and Becoming Bulletproof, and the founder and CEO of Automation Agency. He started his first business at 15, founded Automation Agency in 2014, and has served over 1,340 businesses with automation and AI. He is based on the Central Coast of NSW.
What does Carl Taylor speak about?
AI for small business owners, entrepreneurs and their teams: going from operator to orchestrator, hiring AI team members instead of programming tools, the 5 Levels of AI, and building an AI Business Brain so AI actually works inside a real business. Practical, demonstration-driven, and drawn from running his own company on these systems. He's not a machine-learning researcher and doesn't pretend to be... his gift is bridging the technical and the non-technical.
How much does it cost to book Carl?
Keynotes typically start at $10K + GST (AUD), depending on format, customisation and travel. Workshops, executive briefings and virtual keynotes are quoted per engagement. Enquire here for a fast answer.
Where is Carl based, and does he travel?
Central Coast of NSW, about an hour north of Sydney. He speaks across Australia and New Zealand, travels internationally for the right engagements, and delivers virtual keynotes worldwide.
I'm not booking a speaker... I want Carl's help with AI in my business.
You want the other door: Work With Carl. It starts with the 3-hour AI Install Workshop ($97 USD), where you install your first working AI agent live with Carl.
Give your audience the AI talk they'll still be using next quarter
Tell Carl about your event, your audience, and the shift you want them to make. You'll get a straight answer on fit, availability and fees.
Enquire about booking Carl