In May of 2025, I took the stage at Retail Global Convention in a way that hadn’t been done before in Australia. I was invited by the team to keynote and open the event after doing a series of webinars throughout 2024 on the arrival of AI influencers as the makers of a new era in media and brand collaborations.
It was the Gold Coast Convention Centre. And for the first time, an AI and a human stood side by side to co-present a keynote, live and unscripted. Even though it was a tech risk to go live on stage in front of a packed main theatre, it was worth the shock response from the audience as Bruce Ryder entered the room and spoke freely on stage with me on the big screen.
It wasn’t my goal to present a tech demo. If truth be told, I’m actually not that technologically savvy to represent software advancements. This was more of a cultural signal to illustrate where we have arrived in narrative storytelling. Together, we took the audience on a narrative arc from Bruce’s origin story as a brand ambassador for Ducks Nuts Co, all the way through to his current chapter as a metaverse wildcard and interactive character in an evolving hyperfiction world. I introduced them to the concept of hyperfiction, not as a “content trend,” but as a new storytelling genre where characters don’t just exist on-screen, they evolve with their audience. Bruce’s fan base didn’t just follow his story; they helped shape it. From story suggestions to character reactions, their participation drove the plot forward, ultimately influencing his merchandise range and the emotional arc of his biopic.
For the first time, a mainstream audience got to witness what it means when AI stops being a backend tool and becomes the front-facing talent. Bruce didn’t just appear, he performed. In real time.
We premiered WILD CARD, Bruce Ryder’s biopic short film, for the first time in public. But in that room, on that day, it was evident to the audience: “we are not in Kansas anymore.”
I introduced the rise of AI influencers, not just as digital decorations, but as new players in the attention economy. We unpacked what happens when synthetic identities aren’t gimmicks, but full-fledged participants in marketing ecosystems, content strategy, and cultural dialogue.
People came for a keynote. What they got was a glimpse into the future of entertainment, branding, and identity creation they didn’t expect.
For the following three days of the conference was wild! I was stopped in bathrooms, held up in elevators, and approached in nearly every hallway by attendees wanting to talk about the keynote. It became the conversation of the convention. I noticed speakers across multiple panels began adjusting their content to include the arrival of AI persona’s in brand storytelling. What we presented didn’t just shock the audience, it was my intention to shift the perspective.
This moment opened a new conversation and I got to be on stage having it.
What a wild time to be alive.