KEN FOGARTY
Keynote Speaker · Author · Leadership Educator
Strategy is worthless without execution. Ken helps organizations close the gap.
Upcoming Appearance
Leading With AI. Navigating Our Way.
IREM Las Vegas, Institute of Real Estate Management, August Luncheon 2026
Ken keynotes the IREM Las Vegas August Luncheon on leading teams through the AI shift with confidence, judgment, and human connection intact.
About Ken
Ken Fogarty turns strategy into execution. For more than 35 years he has led at the intersection of technology, leadership, and human performance.
A decorated U.S. Navy veteran and enterprise technology executive, Ken spent a decade at IBM, most recently as a Business Unit Executive for Business Analytics after leading IBM Cognos business intelligence sales. Today he is CEO of Dale Carnegie Nevada, Founder of First Place Leadership, creator of The Connected Execution Framework, and author of Connected Execution: The Hidden Force Behind Organizational Performance.
Career Highlights
Ken's throughline is Execution Drift — the hidden gap between leadership intent and real results. His work helps organizations rebuild the connection between leadership, trust, accountability, and execution.
Organizations Ken Has Worked With
New Book
Connected Execution
The Hidden Force Behind Organizational Performance
Most organizations do not have a talent problem or a strategy problem. They have a connection problem.
In Connected Execution, Ken Fogarty names the hidden force he calls Execution Drift — the slow disconnect between leadership, communication, trust, accountability, and execution that quietly erodes performance.
Drawing on four decades inside organizations of every size, the book shows why teams lose momentum and what it takes to get it back.
Published through First Place Leadership Press
"The gap between strategy and execution is where most organizations quietly fail."
What People Say
Watching Ken talk through 'Winning with Relationship Selling' allowed numerous areas of growth and immediate impact I can use in the real world. Highly recommend Ken Fogarty.
Paul Amodio
Business Development Executive
Ken is an outstanding speaker with exceptional leadership skills, a deep understanding of Dale Carnegie principles, and a genuine commitment to personal development. I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Emile Chamie
Corporate Operations, The ONE Group (STK Steakhouse)
Watch Ken Speak
See Ken in front of a room.
Video coming soon
Speaking Topics
Connected Execution
Most organizations have a strategy. Few execute it consistently. Ken reveals the hidden force he calls Execution Drift — the slow disconnect between leadership, communication, trust, accountability, and execution that quietly erodes performance.
- Why strong strategies still fail in the gap between plan and result
- How to spot Execution Drift before it costs you
- A practical model to rebuild alignment across the organization
Leaders leave able to diagnose their own execution gaps and a clear framework to close them.
Human-Centered AI Readiness
AI adoption does not have to mean losing what makes your team human. Ken helps organizations move past hype and fear to adopt AI with clarity, confidence, and the people skills that make it stick.
- Where AI creates real leverage versus noise
- How to bring your people along instead of leaving them behind
- The judgment, trust, and human skills machines cannot replace
Teams leave ready to embrace AI with confidence, without sacrificing the human edge.
The Future of Work
The workplace is being redrawn in real time by AI, automation, and a shift in what people expect from their jobs. Ken maps where work is heading and what it means for leaders, teams, and careers.
- The forces reshaping work over the next five years
- The human skills that grow more valuable as machines take on more
- How to position yourself and your organization to thrive
Audiences leave with a clear picture of the road ahead and how to get in front of it.
The Solo Operator
One person. Real companies. Built and shipped in the age of AI. Ken shares how he builds, launches, and scales ventures solo — and what it signals about the future of work.
- How AI lets one operator do the work of a full team
- The build, launch, and scale loop Ken runs in practice
- What this shift means for founders, leaders, and careers
Audiences leave seeing what is now possible for a single motivated builder, and how to start.
Let's Put Ken on Your Stage
Available for keynotes, corporate events, leadership programs, and workshops.