Speakers

The Rural AI Execution Gap

Why rural adoption stalls, and what closes it.

Rural organizations are not short on interest in AI — they are short on the conditions that turn interest into working systems. This talk walks through where adoption actually breaks down: capacity, data readiness, procurement, and the absence of local technical support. It ends on what has closed the gap in practice, drawn from CRAI pilots running in rural communities today.

Rural Representation in AI Systems

Rural evidence already exists. The systems do not use it well.

Rural America is documented in detail — by extension offices, health systems, land managers, and local governments. That evidence rarely survives the trip into an AI system intact. This talk shows how rural facts get flattened by the way models are trained and evaluated, what that costs the communities on the receiving end, and what builders and institutional partners can do differently.

AI Fluency for Workforces and Classrooms

What people actually need to know, from people who use it daily.

A practical account of AI fluency for people whose job is not AI: what these tools are good at, where they fail, how to check their output, and which habits hold up over time. Built from the training CRAI delivers to rural employers, educators, and students, and adjusted to the room rather than delivered as a generic overview.

Keynote

A single narrative talk for a full-room audience, tailored to the region and sector in front of us.

Conference session

A breakout or track session with room for questions and discussion alongside the material.

Hands-on workshop

Participants work with the tools directly and leave with something they built and can reuse.

Panel or fireside

One or two of our speakers in conversation, moderated by you or by us.