Proof AI Workshop: AI in Practice, Not Just Theory

You have been told to do something with AI. Most of what you find is theory, or a vendor pitch with a demo attached. Neither one tells you what to change on Monday. WHAT THIS IS PROOF AI Workshop is a one-day, hands-on event at Mashup Food Hall in NuLu. The day runs on working sessions rather than talks, each one led by someone who uses AI in their own business. Laptops open, real tools, real workplace problems. WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO The day opens with a single keynote for the full room, setting the tone before anyone splits off. From there, you choose sessions from four concurrent tracks: AI in Marketing and Branding, AI in Software Development, AI in Business Operations and Security, and Workflow Automation + AI Agents. Sessions run about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. SESSIONS ARE BUILT AROUND MAKING SOMETHING Every session is built around a hands-on component instead of slides. You work in the room, on your own machine, with the tools in front of you. The person running the session uses these tools in their own work. THE OPEN LAB RUNS ALL DAY An open lab runs in parallel from morning to close. It is a drop-in room with experts circulating. Bring a stalled project, test a tool, or build something start to finish with help at your shoulder. HOW THE DAY ENDS Lunch is on site and included in your ticket. Afternoon sessions follow. The day closes around 4:45 with a show-and-tell, then a happy hour at the bar. WHY NOW The pressure to do something with AI is not going away, and it keeps arriving without instructions. Your team is likely already testing tools on their own. One day of structured building moves you further than another quarter of reading about it. WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH • At least one thing you built during the day that still works when you get back to the office • A repeatable way to apply what you practiced to your own day-to-day work, not just the example used in the session • Hands-on practice with the specific tools used in each session you attend, run by people who use them in production work • Time with an industry expert in the open lab on a problem you need help with • Contacts from a room of Louisville-area leaders, operators, and builders WHO SHOULD COME • Directors and department heads who are expected to produce an AI plan and have no practical starting point • Founders and operators at small teams who will do the implementation themselves • Developers and technical practitioners who would rather work with the tools than hear a talk about them • Teams attending together, since tracks run concurrently and you can split up and cover more ground