Keynotes

Michael Scheelhardt, author of The Sales Innovators, speaks at conferences, summits and company events on selling, innovation and AI.

Keynotes from A$5,000 excluding GST.

The talks

Putting purpose back into innovation

For: Sales teams that sell innovation, and the project and innovation leaders who work with them.

You leave with a way to define and apply innovation that starts with the customer's problem, not the product, and a sharper eye for the sales opportunities it opens up.

You will learn

  • What innovation is, and how it differs from invention
  • The necessity to innovate
  • Innovation as an experience
  • Open innovation
  • Platform strategy
  • Human-centred innovation
  • Innovating humans with breathwork and meditation

Next step: See the training programmes

Why 17% of sellers bring in 81% of revenue

For: CEOs, CROs and sales leaders.

You leave knowing what the 17% of sellers who generate 81% of revenue do differently: they sell the growth, not the product, finding a growth opportunity in the client's business that the client has not yet seen, and that their offering enables. Leaders also leave knowing how to build a client's growth case, turn it into a Challenger Statement that is true of that client and of no one else, and organise the function that makes both routine.

Source: Ebsta and Pavilion, 2024 B2B Sales Benchmarks Report, 4.2 million opportunities across 530 companies.

Next step: See the team version of the Quotient

Where AI agents earn trust

For: Sales and service leaders deploying AI agents, and the teams who work beside them.

You leave knowing how to use the Consent Gradient: the more permission you already have to contact someone, the more capable and defensible an AI agent is. Agents take on the preparation and follow-up, so your people spend more of their time in the conversations where trust is won.

Next step: See Voice Agents and Avatars

The sales ladder is missing a rung

For: CROs and sales leaders.

You leave knowing why the seat above Key Account Director does not exist in most organisations, and what happens when you create it.

Next step: See where your team sits on the ladder

Formats: in person keynote, virtual keynote, or a keynote with a follow-on workshop for your team. Keynotes run about 50 minutes.

Past events

PMI Sydney Event, 2026: two people standing together with a copy of The Sales Innovators

PMI Sydney Event, 2026

We had an outstanding PMISC event last night with a focus on Innovation and AI. A big special thanks to Michael Imanuel Scheelhardt for such an insightful, inspiring, interesting and engaging session that has increased our passion and understanding in this fast moving & crucial domain. We will not be replaced by AI, but by PMs that use and are good at AI!Omer Iqbal, Board Director, PMI Sydney
Practical framework to innovate. I have used this to discover value initiatives with my clients. Incredibly inspiringDavid Barros, Board Member, PMI Sydney Associate Professor, University of Sydney
AI Event, Copenhagen, 2025: a speaker with a microphone beside a screen showing a slide in Danish

AI Event, Copenhagen, 2025

Oracle AI Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 2017: a speaker presenting on stage to a seated audience

Oracle AI Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 2017

AI Summit, Melbourne, 2019: a speaker on stage beneath a slide headed "AI Is Everywhere"

AI Summit, Melbourne, 2019