Human-Centered Design • Cognition and Learning • Digital Technology • Data
Human-Centered Design • Cognition and Learning • Digital Technology • Data
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The Knowledge Forge is a boutique consultancy owned and operated by Sae Schatz. She delivers keynote speeches, designs professional development seminars, and offers advisory consulting, with a focus on human-centered innovation and emerging technologies.
Our customized workshops include presentations, group discussions, practical exercises, and optional assessment opportunities. Perfect for team development or client retreats.
Just looking a little advice? We also offer consulting services right-sized to your needs, whether one-time use, periodic engagements, or on a retainer basis.
What are others saying?
What are others saying?
MSc H.K.E. (Hillery) Hommes, Head of Centre of Expertise Digital Learning, Dutch Royal Army
“Without exaggeration, Sae’s keynote presentations are excellent. She is able to break down complex topics in an understandable way. She has a clear vision, adds some humour and interacts with the audience. She’s also both culturally and politically sensitive, adjusting her message in a way that reaches and inspires different audiences.”
Michael DiCenso, Director,
Startup Week Louisville
“Having Sae as a speaker at our event in 2022 was one of the best decisions we could have made. Not only does she have incredible experience in a range of fields for us to learn from but she taught us strategies on how to absorb it all.…For a conference focused on entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs and how to grow an ecosystem around them, Sae was a perfect fit to bring in and equip us.”
William “G.” Harris, CEO, Association of Test Publishers (ATP) Global
“Dr. Sae Schatz opened ATP’s 25th Innovations in Testing Conference.…During her world-class keynote, she shared insightful LearnOps examples to buttress the claim of greater efficiency and improved learning outcomes. Her outstanding presentation had more than superb content; it came with an equally magnificent performance. Dr. Schatz skillfully engaged the ATP audience for 45 minutes, and her conclusions were some of the key takeaways of the 3-day Innovations Conference.”
What’s new?
What’s new?
June 2026 • What does it mean to be human in the 21st century? Part meditation, part map, Unreconciled: Being Human in the 21st Century (June 2026, Sea Salt Publishing) examines the tensions between technological progress and human connection, between individual identity and collective belonging, between our natural landscapes and our digital ecosystems. The book is written in collaboration with Dr. Julian Stodd and available in hardback, paperback, e-book, and audiobook from all major online retailers.
May 2026 • Georgia Tech’s National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE) and Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) hosted Sae for a Distinguished Lecture on building lifelong learning systems in the AI age. The challenge is real: worker skills now have a five-year half-life, yet most institutions still operate on 18th-century Prussian models of one-and-done education. A packed 9th-floor atrium at the CODA Building and engaged post-talk reception suggested the topic resonated deeply, sparking discussion on the digital divide, keeping humanity centered in AI-enabled systems, data sovereignty, and emerging models for the future of work and learning.
May 2026 • Following her keynote at the ASU Learning Engineering Research Network Convening, Sae was invited to present an encore to the EdPlus Action Lab team at Arizona State University. Hosted by Annie Hale, PhD, Executive Director of the Action Lab, the presentation explored how exponentiality, convergence, and ubiquity are reshaping adult learning and workforce development. Topics included the 60-Year Curriculum, AI-augmented personalization, verifiable credentials and self-sovereign identity, multimodal learning analytics, and challenges facing early-career professionals.
March 2026 • Sae is speaking at Siren Fusion 2026, a summit convening senior investigators, national security leaders, and AI innovators to discuss geopolitical instability, AI, and cognitive warfare. Sae joins a distinguished lineup including Lieutenant General (Ret.) Michael Groen, former Director of the DoD Joint Artificial Intelligence Centre, and leading Ukrainian security expert Oleksandr V. Danylyuk. 🗓️ Dates: March 24–25, 2026 📍 Location: Galway, Ireland
March 2026 • Sae will deliver a keynote on cognitive security at the MIT Universal AI Summit in Warsaw. The presentation explores how AI is transforming the threat landscape, while examining the market opportunities emerging in trust infrastructure, detection tools, and cognitive resilience solutions. The summit convenes researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs working at the frontier of AI. 🗓️ Dates: March 23–24, 2026 📍 Location: Warsaw
March 2026 • Sae recently joined John Randles on the Siren Investigates podcast to talk about cognitive security in the AI age. In the episode, called “Our Thinking Is Under Attack: Cognitive Resilience in the 4th Industrial Revolution,” we dig into: why LLMs are designed to manipulate us, the cognitive science of exploitation, how adversaries weaponize information abundance, what cognitive resilience looks like, and the emerging market for trust infrastructure. You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast on your favorite platform.
February 2026 • Sae delivered a Prometric webinar, titled Competence in Motion: Reimagining Credentialing in the Age of Acceleration. It covered practical ways for designing credentialing systems in an AI-augmented world, including portfolio-based evidence, performance assessment, and dynamic skill validation. 🗓️ 19 February 2026 at 1:00 EST
February 2026 • Sae delivered the opening keynote at the 2026 Learning Engineering Research Network (LERN) Convening, hosted by the ASU Learning Engineering Institute. The theme was “From Insights to Implementation: Learning Engineering in Action,” bringing together researchers, practitioners, and innovators. Sae’s keynote explores the “3-Accelerators” that are reshaping how we work, live, and learn: exponentiality, convergence, and ubiquity. 🗓️ Dates: 3–4 February 2026 📍 Location: Phoenix, Arizona
January 2026 • Sae has joined Shelly Blake-Plock, Megan Torrance, and Jim Goodell as the founding Board of Directors for the Institute for Infrastructure and Interoperable Data in Learning (I2IDL), an independent non-profit organization advancing open-source data systems for learning and workforce development. Join I2IDL’s first public webinar, “What Are Learning Technology Standards, and Why Do I Need Them?” 🗓️ 29 January 2026 at 12:00 EST
December 2025 • Engines of Engagement: A Curious Book About Generative AI is now available in Polish, as well as the original English and Ukrainian. Audiobook to follow soon. The book is available in both a paid and free format. You can buy it in English as a beautiful hardback book, available from all good bookstores. Or you can download it as a free digital copy from this site.
October 2025 • Sae and colleagues delivered an encore webinar to the ASIS International community on “Responsible Use of AI to Enhance Corporate Security & Intelligence, part 2.” The other panelists included Michelle d'Amico, Senior Director, Global Head of Intelligence & Insider Risk at Zoom; Buddy Jericho, CEO of Indago Technologies; Nadia Genevieve Masri, Founder & CEO of Aris Data; and Andrew Borene, Executive Director at Flashpoint.
June 2025 • Sae joined Michelle d'Amico, Senior Director, Global Head of Intelligence & Insider Risk at Zoom; Buddy Jericho, CEO of Indago Technologies; Nadia Genevieve Masri, Founder & CEO of Aris Data; and Andrew Borene, Executive Director at Flashpoint on a webinar with the ASIS International community on “Responsible Use of AI to Enhance Corporate Security & Intelligence.” Sae talked about the risks associated with bad human-systems integration between workers and AI tools.
See the video from ASIS (try jumping to 48:00)
May 2025 • Sae delivered a webinar, titled Lock It Down: Credentials, Identifiers, and Authentication on Verifiable Credentials and Digital Identifiers. This webinar is part of Prometric's thought leadership initiatives. Around 200 attendees joined the discussion about digital identity, trust, and data privacy. This webinar was based on work originally created with Alan Thiemann for the ATP Berlin conference.
April 2025 • Sae led a webinar and interactive discussion with the Cognitive Security Institute. It covered the history of information operations (from decades-old political warfare to today's hybrid landscape), and it discussed the ways that various science and technology advancements have been incorporated into it, including neuroscience, cognitive psychology, persuasion and nudge, digital systems (cyber), artificial intelligence, and even neurotechnologies.
December 2023 • We released Engines of Engagement: A Curious Book about Generative AI, co-authored with Julian Stodd and Geoff Stead and including guest interludes from Donald Clark, Mark Oehlert, and Marc Zao-Sanders. In this illustrated book, we explore central questions that Generative AI raises within our organizations, from structures and systems to identity, trust, and the nature of truth.
Here’s a link to more information, including a free digital download or options to purchase the hardcover
…looking for MORE past performance? Check out the archive.
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