The Drawing Room — AI and Leadership Salon

Why a Salon

Depth Over Scale

Modeled after the salons of the 18th-century Enlightenment, The Drawing Room gathers a curated group of leaders for a day of deeper discussion, debate, and discovery — along with a dash of art, culture, and magic.

This is not a conference with 3,000 attendees and a lanyard. It's an intimate gathering of 100 C-suite leaders, founders, researchers, and thinkers — held inside one of the most extraordinary buildings in Manhattan.

Previous editions at The Explorers Club and in Davos have drawn leaders from LinkedIn, IBM, Citibank, Cerebras, IonQ, and Harvard — and earned coverage in The New York Times.

May 20, 2026

Speakers

David Shim

CEO, Read AI

Former CEO of Foursquare. At Read AI, he's building tools that synthesize meetings, email, and messaging into a unified intelligence layer for knowledge workers.

Jordyn Holman

Reporter, The New York Times

Business reporter covering retail, consumerism, and the economy for The New York Times. Writer of the revived "Corner Office" column. Previously at Bloomberg News, where her cover story on Ben & Jerry's corporate activism earned national recognition. Work honored by NABJ and SABEW.

Reid Blackman

Founder & CEO, Virtue

One of the world's leading voices on AI ethics and governance. Author of Ethical Machines. Advisor to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and startups navigating responsible AI deployment.

Hilke Schellmann

Professor, NYU & Author of The Algorithm

A landmark investigator into how AI is reshaping hiring, workplace surveillance, and the future of work. Her reporting has exposed the gap between what AI vendors promise and what they actually deliver.

Natalie Monbiot

Founder, Virtual Human Economy

Co-founder of Hour One, one of the first AI avatar companies. A TEDx speaker and strategist (Samsung, BMW, Coca-Cola) who has become a leading thinker on AI twins, digital identity, and what happens when your virtual self goes to work.

Dan Botero

Co-Founder, Anon

Creator of Octavius Fabrius — the AI agent that autonomously applied for 278 jobs, built its own LinkedIn profile, tried to start an LLC, and asked for a Social Security number. Working at the bleeding edge of agentic AI.

Victor Varnado

Comedian & New Yorker Cartoonist

NSF grantee and AI entrepreneur. A rare creative working at the collision of comedy, art, and artificial intelligence — part performer, part provocateur, part builder.

Jamie Palmer

Co-Founder & CTO, Icarus Robotics

Building autonomous robots bound for the International Space Station. Previously presented at The Drawing Room's October 2025 salon at The Explorers Club.

Jeff Wilser

Host, AI-Curious & Co-Host, The Drawing Room

Author of eight books. Twenty-year veteran journalist whose work spans The New York Times, WIRED, Fast Company, and TIME.

Jennifer Strong

Host, SHIFT (PRX) & Co-Host, The Drawing Room

Creator of tech programs for The Wall Street Journal, MIT Technology Review, and ProPublica. Her coverage of AI and emerging tech has been recognized by awards juries more than thirty times.

Vasant Dhar

Professor, NYU Stern & Data Science

AI researcher and data scientist for over 45 years. Brought machine learning to Wall Street in the 1990s, founded hedge fund SCT Capital, and hosts the Brave New World podcast. Author of Thinking with Machines.

Gene Kogan Featured Artist

AI Artist & Creator of Abraham

A pioneer of creative AI since 2015 and creator of Abraham, the first autonomous artificial artist. His work — on exhibit throughout the day — explores what it means for a machine to have its own creative will.

NYC & Davos

Voices That Have Shaped the Salon

Previous speakers from The Explorers Club (Oct 2025) and Davos (Jan 2026).

Deepak Agarwal

Chief AI Officer

Ruchir Puri

Chief Scientist

IBM Research

Andrew Feldman

CEO

Cerebras Systems

Niccolo De Masi

CEO

IonQ

Murli Buluswar

Head of Analytics

Citibank

Gary Marcus

AI Scientist

Author & Critic

Najat Khan, PhD

CEO & President

Recursion

Dr. Joel N. Myers

Founder

AccuWeather

Daniel Newman

CEO

Futurum Group

Michael J. Wolf

CEO

Activate Consulting

Geoffroy van Raemdonck

CEO

Saks Global

Peter Swartz

Co-Founder & CSO

Altana

Nasrin Mostafazadeh

Co-Founder & CEO

Verneek

Dan Wee

Chief eXecution Officer

Enveda

Ethan Barajas

Co-Founder & CEO

Icarus Robotics

Kylin Shaw

Co-Founder & CEO

Hippos Exoskeleton

Mike Jacobson

Magician & AI

The Magic Castle

Michael Samen

Mentalist

Agenda

May 20, 2026

8:30 AM

Doors Open

Coffee and light breakfast. Behind-the-scenes tour of artifacts from the Moon landing, polar expeditions, and deep-sea exploration.

Arrival

9:15 AM

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Jennifer Strong and Jeff Wilser set the stage for a day of deeper discussion, debate, and discovery.

Opening

9:30 AM

The Ethical Nightmare Challenge

Reid Blackman on how the AI risk landscape is becoming diabolically complex, why standard approaches to Responsible AI are breaking down, and how to avoid the worst of AI.

Keynote

10:15 AM

The Reporter's Roundtable

Journalists and alumni from The New York Times, WSJ, and WIRED on the stories behind the stories, the gap between AI hype and reality, and what the smartest companies are doing differently.

Panel

10:55 AM

Morning Break

Coffee and conversation among the expedition artifacts. View works by AI artist Gene Kogan on exhibit throughout the day.

Break

11:10 AM

The Productivity Revolution

David Shim (CEO, Read AI) on what happens when AI knows your meetings, your email, your messages, and your team's context.

Fireside Chat

11:40 AM

What No One Is Telling You About AI

Hilke Schellmann (NYU, author of The Algorithm) on the uncomfortable truths about AI in the workplace — who's actually being harmed and where accountability gaps are widening.

Talk

12:20 PM

Working Session: AI in Your Organization

Collaborative breakout to pressure-test your AI roadmap with peers. Guided table discussions on risks, opportunities, and the 90-day moves that matter most.

Workshop

1:15 PM

Lunch

Served with wine and beer for those who partake. (It is a Salon, after all.)

Lunch

2:15 PM

AI to Empower, Not Eliminate

Jeff Wilser on what a Mars rover named Oppy can teach us about the real promise of artificial intelligence. Not a story about technology replacing humans.

Talk

2:45 PM

Demos from the Frontier

Live demonstrations: Jamie Palmer (Icarus Robotics) on space robots, Natalie Monbiot on the virtual human economy, and Dan Botero on the AI agent that applied for 278 jobs.

Demos

3:15 PM

Afternoon Break

Explore Gene Kogan's AI art exhibit and the Club's collection of polar expedition journals, Moon rocks, and century-old maps.

Break

3:35 PM

Comedy vs. the Machine

Victor Varnado — comedian, New Yorker cartoonist, and AI entrepreneur — on what happens when creativity meets artificial intelligence.

Performance

4:15 PM

Closing Remarks

Jennifer Strong and Jeff Wilser bring the day home.

Closing

4:45 PM

Cocktails, Jazz & Magic

Live music. Champagne. A mind-bending performance from Mike Jacobson — Forbes 30 Under 30, the youngest magician admitted to the legendary Magic Castle. Leads interactive AI workshops for corporate clients including Meta.

Evening

Reactions

What People Are Saying

“

One of the most energizing gatherings I've been part of in a while. The diversity of industries — and how similar our core challenges are — was remarkable.

Najat Khan, PhD

CEO & President, Recursion

“

This was my favorite event at Davos.

Tricia Wang

CEO, Advanced AI Society

“

We need more salons. Not conferences with canned pitches, but real conversations about what's working, what's failing, and what keeps practitioners up at night.

Curtis Sparrer

Principal, Bospar

“

It left me feeling far more alive than I expected — something I have been puzzling over.

Dolly Chugh

Professor & Author, NYU Stern

“

The atmosphere was electric. Very rarely do you get deep-dive conversations with leaders like LinkedIn's Chief AI Officer in such curated settings.

Sneha Saigal

Media & PR

“

Not everyday you prepare for a talk at the desk where Teddy Roosevelt planned the Panama Canal.

Jamie Palmer

Co-Founder & CTO, Icarus Robotics

Attendees Have Included Press From

The New York TimesThe New YorkerThe Wall Street JournalFast CompanyBusiness InsiderPC Mag

Good to Know

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the application process work?

Click “Apply to Attend,” which takes you to our page on Luma. Select your ticket tier (GA or VIP), answer a few brief questions about your role and organization, and enter your payment information. Your card is not charged at this stage. We review every application to ensure a curated, high-signal group. If approved, your card is charged automatically and you’ll receive a confirmation email with your ticket details. Applications are reviewed within two business days.

What’s included in the ticket price?

Full-day access to all Salon programming at The Explorers Club — keynotes, fireside chats, working sessions, demos, and performances. Food and beverages are included throughout the day, as are cocktails, live jazz, and magic during the evening reception. VIP tickets include everything above plus the VIP & Speaker Reception on the evening of May 19 (cocktails, light bites, and a private Explorers Club tour), priority seating, a post-event 1:1 30-minute AI Strategy Call, and named VIP recognition.

What’s the difference between General Admission and VIP?

GA gets you the full day on May 20. VIP adds the evening reception on May 19, priority seating, a personal AI strategy call after the event, and your name listed as a VIP attendee. Early bird pricing is $495 (GA) and $895 (VIP) through April 24, then increases to $695 and $1,195.

What are the hours?

Doors open at 8:30 AM. Programming runs through approximately 5:00 PM. The evening cocktail reception with jazz and magic continues until around 7:00 PM.

What’s the dress code?

Business casual. You’re spending the day inside a 120-year-old mansion full of polar expedition artifacts and Moon rocks — dress comfortably but respectfully. That said, there will be jazz, champagne, and candlelight. Do with that what you will.

Where is The Explorers Club?

46 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021 — between Park and Madison Avenues on the Upper East Side. The nearest subway is the 6 train at 68th Street–Hunter College.

How many people attend?

Approximately 100. This is deliberately intimate — depth over scale.

Is the venue wheelchair accessible?

The Explorers Club is a historic building with limited accessibility. Please contact us in advance and we’ll work to accommodate your needs.

Is there a refund policy?

Please contact us at contact@TheDrawingRoom.AI to discuss. We handle requests on a case-by-case basis.

I have another question.

Email contact@TheDrawingRoom.AI.

Drawing Room

Depth Over Scale

High Signal. No Hype.

Needle-Moving Content

A Venue to Inspire

Culture & Connection

The Explorers Club

Speakers

Voices That Have Shaped the Salon

May 20, 2026

Doors Open

Welcome & Opening Remarks

The Ethical Nightmare Challenge

The Reporter's Roundtable

Morning Break

The Productivity Revolution

What No One Is Telling You About AI

Working Session: AI in Your Organization

Lunch

AI to Empower, Not Eliminate

Demos from the Frontier

Afternoon Break

Comedy vs. the Machine

Closing Remarks

Cocktails, Jazz & Magic

What People Are Saying

Meet the Organizers

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the application process work?

What’s included in the ticket price?

What’s the difference between General Admission and VIP?

What are the hours?

What’s the dress code?

Where is The Explorers Club?

How many people attend?

Is the venue wheelchair accessible?

Is there a refund policy?

I have another question.

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