AI Governance Playbook authors to speak at Las Vegas conference

The AI Governance World Conference returns to Las Vegas Oct. 12-14 with a focus on agentic AI, compliance and practical governance. Authors Robert Smallwood and Chris Surdak will present their case for using information governance principles to control AI risk and improve business outcomes.

Why it matters: - The conference is trying to answer a fast-growing problem: how organizations govern AI, especially agentic AI, without slowing innovation. - The agenda centers on real-world risk, including compliance, bias, trust and liability when AI systems act with limited human oversight. - The authors of The AI Governance Playbook are pushing an information governance-first model that could shape how companies build AI controls.

What happened: - The AI Governance World Conference will be held Oct. 12-14, 2026, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. - The event’s theme is “AI Governance at Work.” - Robert Smallwood and Chris Surdak will present sessions tied to The AI Governance Playbook: How to Secure, Control, and Optimize Artificial Intelligence Initiatives. - The conference is organized by the Certified Information Governance Officers Association and is billed as a global gathering on managing AI through ethical and practical governance.

The details: - Smallwood argues AI Governance should build on Information Governance’s proven principles, models and best practices instead of creating a separate governance structure. - Smallwood says the core functional groups in the Information Governance Reference Model must carry out key responsibilities across the AI software lifecycle. - Smallwood is the founder of InfoGov World Magazine and chair of the Certified Information Governance Officers Association. - Smallwood created the CIGO/AI and CIGO/AI-A curricula and certifications. - Smallwood has more than four decades of experience and has written eight books on information governance, including Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices. - Surdak is CEO and founder of ReLeaf Financial, a startup that offers AI trust software. - Surdak says the next major legal battleground is Human Authorization, or who is legally bound when an autonomous AI agent completes a transaction, signs a workflow or transfers data. - Surdak invented Proof of Intent, a platform secured by U.S. Patent 12,505,416. - Proof of Intent is designed to create a legal and technical “Trust Stack” that binds human intent to machine actions. - Surdak says the approach is meant to prevent companies from blaming AI for unauthorized automated errors or agentic fraud. - Both sessions will draw from The AI Governance Playbook from Bloomsbury, published in 2026. - The book is positioned as a practical guide for managers, policymakers, attorneys and risk and governance professionals. - The sessions will cover mitigating algorithmic bias, scaling AI governance frameworks and aligning compliance with innovation. - The conference will host more than 50 global speakers. - Speakers include executives from OpenAI, Mars, Google, Cisco, DoorDash and the U.S. Space Force. - Law firms represented include Foley & Lardner, Clarion AI Partners, DLA Piper and Baker Hostetler. - Planned topics include agentic AI governance, the EU AI Act, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, responsible innovation, AI risk management in healthcare, financial services, cybersecurity and defense, and trust between enterprises, regulators and consumers.

Between the lines: - The conference lineup shows AI governance moving from theory to operational controls, with legal, technical and policy experts sharing the stage. - Smallwood and Surdak’s message suggests many AI projects fail because governance is being added too late, not because the tools are weak. - The focus on human authorization points to a coming shift in accountability as autonomous systems make more decisions on their own.

What's next: - Attendees will hear session-specific guidance during the three-day conference in Las Vegas. - The event also includes keynotes, an executive forum, AI governance training, networking receptions and group dinners. - Organizers are positioning the conference as an annual forum for policymakers, technologists and executives working on AI readiness, privacy, cybersecurity and data governance.

The bottom line: - The conference is betting that the next wave of AI adoption will depend less on bigger models and more on tighter governance, clearer accountability and stronger controls.