sandy carter.

Keynote 02 · The 5 Deadly Sins of AI Keynote

The 5 Deadly Sins of AI

Why most AI projects fail, and how to make yours pay off

Her newest talk. Most AI projects stall for reasons that have nothing to do with the technology. The five mistakes Sandy sees again and again, including the ones she made herself, and how to avoid each one.

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Keynote 2026: The 5 Deadly Sins of AI.

About this keynote

Sandy does not just write about AI agents, she runs them. She has put agents to work in her own company, and rebuilt one marketing agent three times before it earned its keep. That experience, her weekly reporting on AI for Forbes and her work as CEO of Equs are where this talk comes from.

She walks through the five mistakes that quietly sink AI and agent projects, with a real example of each, and the practical moves that get a project from pilot to payoff. Audiences leave knowing which of the five they are committing right now, and what to do about it on Monday.

Your audience will leave with

  1. 1The five mistakes that stall most AI and agent projects, and how to spot them early
  2. 2Lessons from building, breaking and rebuilding a working AI agent
  3. 3A checklist to pressure-test the AI initiatives already running in your business
  4. 4Where to put your next AI dollar, and what to stop funding

Before the event, several people told me what an awesome speaker she was, so my expectations were high. But Sandy knocked it out of the park: she was brilliant, funny, insightful, and gave a masterful presentation. My only regret was that I didn’t give her a bigger slot!

Byron ReeseAI publisher and author

The research behind the talk

Sandy’s latest thinking on Forbes.

This keynote is updated continuously from Sandy’s weekly column, so your audience hears what changed this month.

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