Electronic Press Kit · for hosts, journalists, event organizers

Harrison
Painter.

Executive AI Advisor · Indianapolis
Founder of LaunchReady.ai. Creator of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency, the measurable standard for AI-capable companies. Author of two 2026 books on the AI workforce transition.
Based in
Fishers, IN
Eastern Time
Press inquiries
Recording
Remote-ready.
StreamYard, Riverside, Zencastr, Squadcast.

Three bio lengths. Pick the one that fits.

Short (40 words)
Harrison Painter is an Indianapolis-based executive AI advisor and founder of LaunchReady.ai. He created The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency, the measurable standard for AI-capable companies, and authored two books on the AI workforce transition in April 2026.
Medium (90 words)
Harrison Painter is the founder of LaunchReady.ai, an Indianapolis executive AI advisory firm. He created The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency, the measurable standard for AI-capable companies, and built AI Law Tracker (referenced by the State of Indiana). Harrison authored two books in April 2026: "You Have Already Been Replaced by AI: What Happens Next Is Up to You" and "The White-Collar Factory is Closing." He hosts the AI Ready Podcast and writes the weekly LaunchReady Indiana newsletter. Harrison is a follower of Christ.
Long (180 words)
Harrison Painter is the founder of LaunchReady.ai, an Indianapolis executive AI advisory firm that helps mid-market companies build AI-ready teams. He is the creator of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency, the measurable standard for AI-capable companies, and the author of "You Have Already Been Replaced by AI: What Happens Next Is Up to You" and "The White-Collar Factory is Closing," both published in April 2026. Harrison built AI Law Tracker (ailawtracker.org), a live database of state AI legislation now referenced by the State of Indiana. He hosts the AI Ready Podcast, writes the weekly LaunchReady Indiana newsletter, and teaches two courses at Ivy Tech Community College. LaunchReady.ai serves CEOs and executive leadership teams at companies between 100 and 5,000 employees across manufacturing, legal, healthcare, business services, and education. Harrison is a follower of Christ and lives in Fishers, Indiana with his wife and three dogs.

"AI has all the knowledge in the world, but it doesn't have any wisdom. We bring the wisdom to the table."

Harrison Painter · Indianapolis Business Journal Q&A · April 2026

Five anchor angles. Pick one as the spine of the episode.

1

The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency: the measurable standard

The 7 Levels is the first published framework that assigns every employee a measurable position on AI capability, from Level 1 (AI Aware) through Level 7 (AI Orchestrator). It is to AI capability what CliftonStrengths is to talent and what The 7 Habits is to personal effectiveness.

Sample questions
  • Why does AI capability need a measurement spine in the first place?
  • How does a company go from "everyone is on ChatGPT" to "we know which 30 percent of our team is operating at Level 4 or above"?
  • What does a Level 7 person actually do that a Level 3 person cannot?
2

The AI super-user divide inside your own leadership team

Grant Thornton's 2026 leadership survey shows a 32-point spread between CIOs and COOs on AI readiness, sitting at the same executive table. Harrison published the underlying analysis at /insights/ai-workforce/. The story is not "are your employees ready." The story is "your own C-suite is not aligned on what ready means."

Sample questions
  • Where does the 32-point spread actually come from?
  • If the CIO and COO disagree on AI readiness by 32 points, what does the CEO do on Monday?
  • What is the fastest move a CEO can make to align the leadership team?
3

AI is already cutting jobs, and nobody planned for it

Book one ("You Have Already Been Replaced by AI: What Happens Next Is Up to You") opens on the argument economists are now reporting in Bloomberg: AI-driven displacement is happening without a workforce plan attached. Harrison built the framework that gives leaders an alternative to the layoff-or-pretend binary.

Sample questions
  • The book title is provocative. What do you mean "already been replaced"?
  • What is the single biggest thing a knowledge worker can do this month?
  • What do CEOs misunderstand about how this is playing out inside their own company?
4

AI governance for mid-market companies, not the Fortune 50

Most AI governance writing targets companies with 5,000+ employees and a Chief AI Officer. Harrison built AI Law Tracker (referenced by the State of Indiana) and published a pillar on the CARMA Adaptive Governance framework, mapping the six governance criteria from a recent academic paper down to the company-level AI committee. Practical, not academic.

Sample questions
  • What does AI governance actually look like at a 400-person company?
  • How does The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency intersect with the governance question?
  • Where do most mid-market AI policies fail?
5

The book that helps everyone else, when everyone else writes for the top quartile

Book two ("The White-Collar Factory is Closing") makes the argument that the rules-based knowledge-work era is ending and the people who feel behind on AI are the audience nobody is writing for. Harrison's positioning: be the guide for the 70 percent who feel behind, not the prophet for the 5 percent who are already there.

Sample questions
  • Who is the book actually for?
  • What is the one thing a Level 1 or Level 2 person can do this week?
  • Why are most AI books written for people who do not need them?

You Have Already Been Replaced by AI

What Happens Next Is Up to You. April 2026. Available on Amazon (paperback, hardcover, Kindle, workbook). The manifesto for professionals who feel behind on AI. Built on The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency framework.

The White-Collar Factory is Closing

April 2026. Available on Amazon (paperback). ASIN B0GYPH8D6J. The argument for why the rules-based knowledge-work era is ending and what the workforce transition means for executives, employees, and parents of teenagers.

Citable assets

Format + scope

Honorarium$5,000 to $15,000 per keynote, scaling with audience size and travel
WorkshopsThe 7 Levels Engagement (6 weeks). Standard $19,500. Enterprise $35,000.
Topic areasThe 7 Levels of AI Proficiency · AI workforce readiness · AI governance · AI Proficiency vs literacy vs fluency · The AI Super-User Divide · building AI-ready teams
Travel baseIndianapolis. CONUS available.
Lead time1 to 2 weeks for podcast guest appearances

Verified press + asset bundle

  • Indianapolis Business Journal: Susan Orr Spotlight Q&A on Harrison as AI Business Strategist, April 2026 (press page)
  • Indianapolis Business Journal: Daniel Bradley Innovation Issue feature, May 2026

Hi-res brand bundle (three headshots HP-1, HP-2, HP-3 + both book covers + both circle logos + brand color spec): email harrison@launchready.ai, delivered within 24 hours.

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Electronic Press Kit version 1.0. Last updated 2026-05-24. Maintained by the LaunchReady PR Operator.