With over 20 years in the content industry, Alesia Harwood brings a uniquely broad perspective that spans technical writing, learning and development, change management, consulting, sales, and customer success. Her career reflects a consistent focus on helping organizations and professionals translate complex ideas into clear, actionable knowledge.

Alesia has been with Cisco for over a decade in roles across customer success and learning and development, where she supported global teams in driving adoption, capability building, and customer value.

Today, she is an AI transformation strategist, partnering with sales organizations to harness AI in practical, human-centered ways. Her work focuses on helping professionals elevate the caliber of their contributions, move up the value chain, and engage more deeply in the intellectual and strategic side of their roles. She is passionate about positioning content professionals as key enablers of clarity, trust, and adoption in the age of AI.

Carpe (the AI) Diem!

As artificial intelligence reshapes how products are built and delivered, it is also redefining the role of the people who make those products understandable.

This inspiring keynote challenges the idea that AI reduces the need for technical writers and content experts—and instead shows why their expertise is becoming more strategic and influential than ever. With a motivational “Carpe Diem—seize the day” spirit, this session encourages technical communicators to recognize that this moment is not a disruption to fear, but an opportunity to claim.

Through practical insights and a forward-looking perspective, attendees will see how their role is evolving into that of knowledge architects, trust builders, and interpreters between humans and intelligent systems. This is a call to step forward, not stand back—to seize the opportunity to shape how the future of AI is understood and trusted.

In this session attendees will learn how to:

• Recognize where human expertise remains irreplaceable in AI-driven content
• Shift from “documenting features” to designing trusted knowledge
• Contribute earlier and more strategically in product and AI development cycles
• Create effective documentation for new and unfamiliar AI-powered products
• Support responsible AI adoption through clarity, transparency, and context
• Position themselves as essential partners in making emerging technology understandable and usable
• Seize this moment of change as a career growth opportunity rather than a threat