Jigar Desai speaking on stage in blue suit with microphone

Making people move
from inaction to action.

Keynotes, workshops, and facilitated conversations—engaging audiences from C-suite executives to graduate students to grade schoolers. Every format shares the same DNA: three sharp ideas you can act on, and one honest admission of what is still being figured out.

The Engagement

What your team leaves with.

Bring 3½ Things to your team and here is what they will have when the room empties. Not theory. Not slides. The shift you can measure in the next leadership meeting.

For AI decisions.

Stop having the same circular AI conversation. Your leaders leave with the (AI + MI) × HI framework as a common vocabulary for decisions about technology, talent, and strategy.

(AI + MI) × HI™ is an original framework developed by Jigar B. Desai.

To move forward deliberately.

The loudest fear in most firms right now is being left behind. Replace that fear with a deliberate strategy your team can defend to clients and to themselves.

For your best people.

Show your senior professionals that their judgment is the multiplier, not the legacy. Re-engage the expertise that matters most to your future.

Of what is still being figured out.

Every engagement includes the half: the thing I have not solved yet. Your team will trust the three things more when they hear that the fourth is still in progress.

Featured at events hosted by
BuiltWorlds ACEC CREW Network Villanova University AMFP ACI EMI AEC AI and Tech Strategy Podcast International Concrete Repair Institute Society for Marketing Professional Services BuiltWorlds ACEC CREW Network Villanova University AMFP ACI EMI AEC AI and Tech Strategy Podcast International Concrete Repair Institute Society for Marketing Professional Services
Upcoming
2026
Jun 3–5
Workshop
ACEC Washington State Spring Conference / Alderbrook Resort
Jun 10
Keynote Panel
AEC PM Connect NJ / Engineering Management Institute
Sep 16
Workshop
3½ Things About AI
SMPS Greater Philadelphia Chapter / Details TBA
Recent
Apr 22
Speaker
CREW Greater Philadelphia / Seasons 52  Resources →
Apr 14
Guest Lecture
Build for the Long Haul: The (AI + MI) × HI Framework for Sustainable Infrastructure
Villanova University, College of Engineering — SUSE 7112, Sustainable Engineering Master’s Program  Survey →
Apr 15
Guest Lecture
Villanova University, School of Business — VSB 2014, Principles of Managerial Accounting  Survey →

The Villanova Double-Header

In April 2026, two different Villanova colleges invited me to guest lecture within 48 hours of each other. The College of Engineering asked me to speak to students in the Sustainable Engineering Master’s Program about material intelligence, AI, and the long-haul thinking required to build infrastructure that lasts. The School of Business asked me to walk undergraduates in Principles of Managerial Accounting through how professional services firms actually measure performance—and where the numbers lie. Same campus. Different disciplines. One thread connecting them: the judgment layer that no dashboard or algorithm replaces. LinkedIn →

Mar 5
Moderator
Panel Discussion / MD Dept. of the Environment
2025
Oct
Speaker
BuiltWorlds Infrastructure Conference 2025
Sep 24
Panelist
AMFP Greater Philadelphia / Union League
May
Speaker
BuiltWorlds Buildings Conference 2025
Topics + Formats

What I speak about.

AI Adoption + Strategy

How to move from pilot projects to strategic adoption. The (AI + MI) x HI framework applied to real decisions leaders in expertise-driven firms face today.

Differentiation

Why most expertise-driven firms look identical and what to do about it. Personal branding, firm positioning, and the creative permission gap.

Leadership + Growth

From PhD to business leadership. Building and scaling multi-disciplinary teams, navigating M&A integration, and developing the next generation.

Building Science

Materials intelligence, forensic diagnostics, and the intersection of physical infrastructure with technology-driven decision-making.

If this feels like a fit, start a conversation.

Every engagement begins with understanding what your audience needs to move from where they are to where they want to be.