One AI use case live.
Running in your business with a before-and-after number attached: hours saved, cycle time cut or errors down.
Founding cohort · 16 seats · Forming now
For Manhattan & Brooklyn mid-market leaders · Sept 2026 – June 2027
AI CHAMPION
VISTAGE GROUP
By June, your P&L shows what AI did: costs out or revenue in. One number. No handwaving.
Not a training. Not theory. A peer cohort where your team deploys AI in your actual business, with vetted experts and other leadership teams holding you to it.
THE OUTCOME1
number you can defend.
An audited ROI result your leadership team can say out loud in the toughest room you sit in.
2×more likely to be highly productive
2.3×more likely to produce high-quality work
3.2×more likely to drive process improvements
The gap isn’t the tools. It’s proficiency.
Employees proficient with AI across multiple use cases. Gartner, 1Q26 survey of 12,004 employees and managers across 40 countries.The promise — three measurable milestones
A roadmap your team signed.
A 12-month AI roadmap with owners and budget attached—aligned to strategy, readiness and responsible adoption.
Audited ROI + certification.
A number you can defend, plus a leadership team certified to keep building without relying on consultants.
Nine months. Six sessions. One number you can defend.
How the program runs
Build. Pressure-test. Implement.
Six sessions every other month, with virtual faculty office hours and peer accountability in between.
SEPT 2026Wed · Sep 16
Launch — AI strategy & roadmap
Daniel Townsend · Strategy
NOV 2026Wed · Nov 18
Secure the build — AI governance & data protection
Mike Foster · Governance
JAN 2027Wed · Jan 20
Build & implement — turn the roadmap into running systems
Faculty to be announced
MAR 2027Wed · Mar 17
Scale — hands-on tools & automation across your organization
Faculty to be announced
MAY 2027Wed · May 19
Drive adoption — change management that sticks
Faculty to be announced
JUNE 2027Date TBA
Graduation — audit your ROI number & certify
Consolidate results. Graduate as AI Champions.
Faculty
Experts who have implemented at scale.
Practical operators and trusted Vistage speakers—not commentators.
AI Strategy & Roadmap
Daniel Townsend
Founder, Copilot Innovations · GO GROWAn applied-AI strategist who helps leadership teams move from curiosity to clear priorities and measurable execution. His work spans high-growth businesses and enterprises including NASA and Humana.
- Assess organizational AI readiness
- Prioritize high-value use cases
- Build an AI Strategy Canvas and roadmap
AI Security & Governance
Mike Foster
Vistage Speaker Impact Award · 1,500+ engagementsA cybersecurity and AI security advisor known for translating complex risk into decisions leaders can act on. Featured in Forbes, USA Today and The New York Times.
- Protect data and intellectual property
- Create practical governance frameworks
- Configure AI tools and incident plans safely
AI Implementation & Executive Success
Ross Hartmann
2023 Top New Speaker · 2023–2025 Top PerformerAn AI technology leader who has helped companies from $2M to $500M design and implement AI roadmaps, with more than a decade building in the AI industry.
- Find practical applications across the workforce
- Build an AI-ready organization
- Connect AI investment to ROI
Agentic AI & MCP
Severin Sorensen
11× #1 bestselling author · 600+ Vistage presentationsCEO of ePraxis and author of The AI Whisperer series. Severin makes agentic AI, custom GPTs and MCP connections practical for non-technical business leaders.
- Map agentic automation workflows
- Connect AI to business systems through MCP
- Build custom GPTs and an implementation plan
Why a cohort?
AI tools can tell you what’s possible. They cannot hold you accountable.
Your peers show you what other NYC leadership teams deployed last month. Faculty pressure-test what you build. The group asks why you didn’t do what you committed to.
“The work happens in your business—not in a hypothetical case study.”
The investment
$7,995per leader$7,196/person for 3+ from one company
Founding-cohort rate.
It will not exist for cohort two. Sixteen seats, filled first-come.
- Six expert-led sessions
- Eight faculty office hours
- Monthly peer accountability
- Professional facilitation
- AI Champion certification
Start the conversation
Next June: still experimenting with AI—or holding your number?
Tell Mark you’re interested in the founding cohort. He’ll follow up personally with program details and a short conversation about fit.
mark@marktaylor.nyc16 seats · Sept 2026 – June 2027