Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — What if intelligence was a resource as abundant, on-demand, and accessible as electricity? Unmetered Intelligence—limitless cognitive power at near-zero cost as delivered by AI—has arrived, reshaping the foundations of work, education, science, art, and more. On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, AI pioneer and Santa Barbara native Zack Kass will take the stage at the Granada Theatre for a live conversation exploring the ideas and themes behind his new book, The Next RenAIssance. Tickets are on sale now, and include a complimentary book with every purchase: events.zackkass.com
Drawing on sixteen years at the frontier of artificial intelligence — including his work as Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI during the launch of ChatGPT — Kass will explore a world where cognitive power is abundant and accessible to all. Through a dynamic discussion with multiple industry leaders and an interactive audience Q&A, Kass will unpack the profound societal, economic, creative, and human implications of AI.
Audiences can expect a thought-provoking, hopeful, and deeply relevant program that invites people of all ages to reconsider how to lead, learn, and flourish in the age of AI. Kass challenges many of the working assumptions and fears surrounding AI with nuanced, non-obvious research, examining everything that becomes possible, for better and for worse, when intelligence is no longer scarce.
Kass grew up in Santa Barbara and graduated from San Marcos High School before beginning a career at the frontier of artificial intelligence. After years of global work advising leaders across dozens of industries, he recently moved back to Santa Barbara with his family and is actively engaged with local schools and community organizations.
“Connecting with students across Santa Barbara as I launch this book has reinforced just how much potential lives in this community,” shared Kass. “These young people are already imagining what’s possible in an age of unmetered intelligence. I’m grateful for the chance to build on that energy at the Granada and to explore how we can all shape the future together.”
Zack Kass: The Next RenAIssance is on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. For full event details and to purchase tickets, visit events.zackkass.com For group ticket orders of 10 or more, call the Granada Theatre box office at (805) 899-2222.
About The Next RenAIssance
The Next RenAIssance explores the arrival of Unmetered Intelligence — AI’s ability to deliver limitless cognitive power at near-zero cost — and how it is reshaping the foundations of work, education, science, art, and more. Kass reveals how this new abundance can unlock a golden age of human flourishing, offering a profound and non-obvious roadmap for a world where intelligence is infinite and humans are challenged to explore “what comes next?” Rather than telling a story about machines replacing people, the book centers on what becomes possible when human potential is unbound.
About Zack Kass
Zack Kass is a global AI advisor, researcher, keynote speaker, the former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI, and author of The Next RenAIssance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential.
At OpenAI, Kass led the teams responsible for sales, partnerships, and customer success, helping turn the company’s cutting-edge research into real-world business solutions. As an executive advisor, he has personally advised leaders spanning dozens of industries in 124 cities across 20 countries, working with Fortune 1,000 boardrooms and leadership teams — including Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley, and Amgen — to help leaders deploy AI at scale and navigate the rapidly evolving landscape.
His mission is to ensure that individuals, businesses, and governments are active participants in the AI-powered future by making AI technology both understandable and actionable. He is recognized as one of the foremost thinkers in applied AI, with insights featured in Fortune, Newsweek, Entrepreneur, AdAge, CNN, MSNBC, and Business Insider.
Beyond his advisory work, Kass collaborates with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The University of Virginia, studying the future of work and intelligence. He is also the AI for Conservation Fellow at Conservation International. He holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and currently lives in Santa Barbara, California with his family.
You must be logged in to post a comment.