Now booking: keynotes, workshops, and podcasts for Q4 2026 → book a talk

Speaking

Here's what we actually built.

That phrase is in every talk I give, because the industry has enough theory. I tell stories from production: real systems, real teams, real tradeoffs, told in language any audience can follow. Storytelling mode, concrete examples, zero buzzword bingo.

Book me for your event
Mike Onslow speaking

What I speak about

vCons: the PDF for conversations

Why conversations need a portable, standard container, what the vCon standard actually specifies, and what becomes possible once your calls, chats, and meetings are data instead of exhaust.

AI that does real work, with the team you already have

The playbook for shipping AI with the team you already have: teaching and coaching the people in the building, including non-engineers, to build the tools that take the busywork off their plate. What we built, what broke, and why leveling people up beat hiring a research department.

From vibe coding to agentic engineering

AI-assisted development is real, and it is not magic. This is agentic engineering done right: using AI coding agents while actually understanding the systems you are building, and turning the energy of vibe coding into software a business can run on.

Automating the mundane

Automation isn't just n8n anymore. With agentic tools like Claude, Manus, and OpenAI's Operator, it is easier than ever to hand off the repetitive parts of the job. Practical builds, not toy demos, drawn from automations running in production.

AI adoption inside a real company

Training non-engineers, building an ambassadors program, governing without strangling, and what actually changes day to day when a whole company starts working with AI.

Where I've spoken

  1. March 2026 · Dallas, TX

    Spring '26 vCon Conference

    • “Fraud Has a Pattern. vCons Have the Signal” Solo talk on surfacing fraud signals from conversation data with vCons

  2. December 2025 · Washington, DC

    Fall '25 vCon Conference

    • “The Conversational Code Review: Fostering Empathy in a Virtual World” Solo talk
    • “Lessons Learned: Building & Deploying vCon Apps & Services” Panel with Eugene Tcipnjatov (Phound) and Thomas McCarthy-Howe (Vconic), moderated by Andy Abramson

  3. October 2025 · Detroit, MI

    Data in the D

    • “From Vibe to Value” Conference talk introducing vCons to Detroit's data community

  4. July 2025 · Detroit, MI

    VibeCoding Meetup

    • “Building Voice-Enabled Apps with AI” Live demo, later covered by The Barefoot Dev

  5. April 2025 · Cape Cod, MA

    Spring '25 vCon Conference

    • “Enhancing Business Intelligence with Voice: Practical Applications of vCons in Franchises and Call Centers” Solo case study

  6. March 2025 · Pontiac, MI

    Michigan Technology Conference (MITechCon)

    • “Automating the Mundane with n8n + Generative AI” Solo talk on wiring n8n and generative AI into real workflow automation
    • “The Impact of AI on Software Development” Birds of a Feather conversation co-hosted with Onorio Catenacci, co-organizer of Detroit TechWatch

  7. January 2025 · Michigan .NET community

    MIDOTNET

    • “Build Custom GPTs and Assistants with OpenAI” Hands-on developer talk on building custom GPTs and assistants

Podcasts and media

Need a speaker who ships?

Conferences, executive offsites, meetups, and podcasts. Tell me about your audience and I'll bring a story they can use on Monday.

Check my availability