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About your host

Bethanie Nonami.

Founder and CEO, Marley Nonami, Inc. · Host of the AI Executive Retreat

Bethanie helps senior leaders put their hands on AI, lead their people through it, and bring their organizations with them. Her line for every room: lead the AI change. Don't chase it.

Bethanie Nonami, AI keynote speaker and trainer
Experience
35+ years in technology
Founded
Marley Nonami, Inc., 2017
Trained
21,500+ professionals
Method
The ADOPT Method™

Her story

From caregiver roots to the C-suite.

Bethanie's career started with a high school diploma and caregiver roots. She worked her way from frontline roles to Senior Vice President at IBM, over more than 35 years in technology.

Most of those years were spent in sales enablement: helping people learn new tools quickly and use them with confidence. When AI arrived, she saw the same need at a much larger scale, and the same risk of people being left to figure it out alone.

In 2017 she founded Marley Nonami, Inc. Since then she has trained more than 21,500 professionals, issued more than 2,000 AI certifications, and built AI programs for teams at organizations including IBM, Nielsen, LinkedIn, and Morgan Stanley.

Her conviction comes from her own path. When people get real access, patient guidance, and a community to learn in, they lead the change.

Nobody is unadoptable.

A case file folder labeled Baby Girl B, stamped Unadoptable

Track record

The work, by the numbers.

Years in technology
35+
Professionals trained
21,500+
Certifications issued
2,000+
Participant reviews
4,300+

Trusted by leaders at

  • IBM
  • LinkedIn
  • Walmart
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Nielsen
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • UKG
  • Grainger
  • TE Connectivity
  • Informa
  • Black Enterprise
  • ANA
  • The Ad Club
  • U.S. Small Business Administration
  • WBENC
  • NMSDC
  • Grand Valley State University
  • Delaware State University
  • TEDx Harlem speaker, 2026
  • Stevie Award, Best Training Practice
  • SHRM Recertification Provider
  • CPD (Continuing Professional Development) certified

The ADOPT Method™

AI adoption stalls for human reasons. So the method starts there.

The ADOPT Method is the sequence Bethanie teaches in every room, including both retreats. It moves people from worry to working tools to leading others.

  1. Acknowledge the fear

    Say out loud what people are worried about, before anything else.

  2. Demystify the tech

    Show how the tools work in plain language, with hands on the keyboard.

  3. Own your human edge

    Get clear on the judgment and relationships only people bring.

  4. Practice in community

    Build skill alongside peers instead of learning alone.

  5. Take the lead

    Turn practice into action your team can see, and earn the credential that shows it.

On stage

What she brings to the room.

Signature keynote

AI Strategic Fluency for the Modern Workforce

A practical, hands-on session on how leaders and their teams build real fluency with AI, use it safely, and keep people at the center of the change.

Invite Bethanie to speak
  • The trust gapWhy AI plans succeed or stall on trust inside the organization.
  • Working scaredWhat fear of AI does to performance, and how leaders lift it.
  • Shadow AIThe tools people already use without guidance, and how to set a standard.
  • Learning in communityWhy no one should learn AI alone.
Bethanie Nonami on the TEDx stage
Bethanie Nonami delivering an AI keynote to a full conference room
IMG A04Working beside a participant at a laptop. 1600 × 1067.

Faculty

Practitioners who have done the work.

Each retreat brings in guest faculty who have led AI and change inside large organizations. We name each one here once their commitment to your retreat is confirmed.

IMG F01 · Faculty portrait1200 × 1500 vertical.
Announcing soon

Enterprise AI and governance

A senior leader who has run AI programs across a global enterprise.

IMG F02 · Faculty portrait1200 × 1500 vertical.
Announcing soon

AI solutions and agents

A builder who designs the assistants and workflows leaders use every day.

IMG F03 · Faculty portrait1200 × 1500 vertical.
Announcing soon

Operations and strategy

An operator who has led change at the top of large organizations.

Be the first to hear each faculty announcement. Join the free monthly State of AI Executive Briefing.

Join the briefing

The AI Executive Retreat · 2027

Learn with Bethanie in the room.

Punta Cana is enrolling now for January. Martha's Vineyard early pricing holds with a deposit before January 1. Every retreat seat earns up to 18 SHRM PDCs.