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The AI Workflow Workshop for Franchise Leaders
Not a talk about what AI is. Sixty minutes of putting it to work. You sit at your laptop and build, click by click, a workflow or agent that does real work in your franchise business. You leave knowing how to do it again for the next problem.
Hosted by MetAiBlock, the official AI partner of Franchise Expo, and Sociallybuzz
Why walk into this room
Franchisors do not need another keynote about AI. You need to know how to use it against the realities of running a system.
The gap between watching AI and being run by it is not talent. It is a build. Nobody showed you the build.
Your CRM, your manuals, your reports, your inbox. Turn what is already there into work that runs without you.
This room is the practical part. One task, handed to AI, on your own screen, in a way you can repeat on Monday.
You are not behind because you do not use AI.
You are behind because you use it in a chat window.
Sixty minutes in this room closes that gap, and you watch the build happen on your own screen.
The work that eats a franchise team's week
Whether you support five units or five hundred, the shape of the problem is the same. The system runs on people repeating themselves.
The same task, again, for every franchisee
The same onboarding questions. The same support request. The same answer written out for the tenth time this month, by the person who knows it best.
Reporting that takes days and is stale on arrival
Unit performance, royalties, compliance, marketing results. Pulled from spreadsheets and emails by hand, then out of date the moment it lands.
Long, tedious jobs nobody really owns
Manual updates, field visit paperwork, follow-ups that slip. Work that is important, boring, and always behind, because a person has to push every step.
Nothing runs unless someone pushes it
The system is not automated. It is memorized. And the people holding it are the same people you need on the bigger problems.
of a franchise field visit cycle is paperwork, not the visit
franchise operators name financial visibility as their #1 challenge
of franchisors already buy AI tools, and only 25% say they trust them
Franchise industry research, 2025 to 2026. Ask us for the sources.
That is work an agent can do, and report on, in a governed way.
The pain is not that AI is missing from your business. It is that nothing has been handed to it yet. That is what you fix here.
Who this session is for
Every attendee is welcome. Three kinds of leaders get the most out of it.
The franchisor
- Founder, CEO, development, or operations lead
- Support, reporting, and onboarding run through your team
- That is the work we hand to AI first
The multi-unit operator
- Five or more units, several teams, one inbox
- Wants hours back this week
- The live build is for you
The emerging brand
- Your first one to three units, or exhibiting at the show
- Building the system before the system builds you
- The method and the 30-day plan are for you
How the 60 minutes run
Every block does a job. If you can use email and a CRM, you can build this.
Set up the tools on your laptop
- Give AI a safe way into the work you already do
- Everyone follows along, click by click
Name the task worth handing off
- One repetitive or tedious job from a real franchise business
- We choose the room's build together, from what you told us at registration
Build a workflow or agent that does that work
- Real inputs, real output, on your own screen
- Every decision narrated as it happens
Run it, check it, keep it governed
- See the output and learn how to keep it correct
- Who checks, what gets logged, what the team needs to know
Apply the same method to the next task
- What to hand off next, and who runs it
- Your first 30 days back at the business
What you walk away with
The foundations for repeatable skills, agents, and workflows. Every one of these is a working asset, yours whether or not we ever speak again.
A working workflow or agent
Built by you, in the room, doing a real piece of franchise work. Not a demo you watched. Something that runs.
The skill to build the next one
The method behind the build, so you can take it back and apply it to the next repetitive task, and the one after that.
Your map of where AI goes first
A clear view of the repetitive, tedious, and reporting work in your system, ranked by what to hand off first.
A governance baseline
How to keep what you built correct: who checks it, what it logs, and what to tell your team, your franchisees, and legal.
This is not a prompt library. Nothing here tells you how to do the work. It does the work.
What you build in 60 minutes is the surface of the method we deliver as a private engagement. The difference is you leave able to do it yourself.
This is not a first performance
Charles and Andre have taught this on expo main stages, global AI conferences, and with cohorts across the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Franchise Expo Theater. Charles and Andre on the main stage, teaching the room how to put AI to work.
Ai4, Las Vegas. Charles on stage at one of the largest AI conferences in the world.
International Franchise Expo, New York. Show Floor Theater main stage.
Together Franchise Conference. AI strategy keynote for franchise organizations.
Akerman. Hands-on AI and immersive tech with a professional-services team.
Who is teaching this
Two companies that already work as one. MetAiBlock builds the AI systems Sociallybuzz runs on to deliver its services to franchise brands. Between them: a decade in the franchise sector, and since 2022, AI taught and built for organizations across the globe.
Charles Smart · Founder and CEO, MetAiBlock
MetAiBlock is an AI agency: a team of builders, trainers, and governance specialists led by Charles. Since 2022 the team has taught and built AI solutions for organizations across the globe, from a national bank and the Government of Jamaica to franchise systems, trade agencies, and creative studios. MetAiBlock is the official AI partner of the Franchise Expo shows.
Before MetAiBlock, Charles spent more than 15 years inside large enterprises doing the work this session teaches: GDPR readiness across all of Carnival's brands, and AI governance frameworks for organizations including Macy's, CVS, and Maersk. He runs his own company the way this session describes. The systems you see are the ones his team works in every day.
Andre Kay · Founder and CEO, Sociallybuzz
Andre founded Sociallybuzz in 2008 and has spent the years since building social media, advertising, and reputation programs for franchise brands. The agency has run campaigns for brands including Domino's, Jamba, and Papa John's, and was named one of Entrepreneur magazine's Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America.
Sociallybuzz runs on AI systems MetAiBlock built, which is how the two companies know what a service provider to the franchise industry actually needs from AI. Andre is a co-founder of MetAiBlock and a fixture on the Franchise Expo stage, including the Minorities Building Wealth with Franchising panel series.
Book a one-on-one with us at the show
Twenty minutes, at our booth, about your franchise. Open to every attendee, whether or not you make the 3:00 PM session.
Bring the problem. Leave with the first move.
Charles and Andre are on the show floor both days. Sit down with us, walk through how your system runs today, and leave knowing which piece of work AI should take off your team first.
Pick a time at the booth- 20 minutes, one-on-one, at the MetAiBlock and Sociallybuzz booth
- Your systems, your reporting, your repetitive work, on the table
- No pitch. A working conversation about your business
- Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19
Event details
Friday, September 18, 2026
3:00 PM CT, 60 minutes
Franchise Expo Dallas, Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd, Irving, TX 75039
Theater 2, inside the Irving Convention Center
Your laptop and a Claude account (free or paid). We send a five-minute setup checklist before the show.
Free with your Franchise Expo Dallas badge.
Cannot make 3:00 PM? Book a one-on-one instead.
We are at the booth both days. Twenty minutes about your franchise, your systems, and where AI goes first.
Pick a timeRegister
Open to every Franchise Expo Dallas attendee. The questions help us choose the build for the room.
How registration works
- 1Register belowAbout three minutes. Every question helps us tailor the room.
- 2Get your confirmation right awayEmail with the details and a calendar file.
- 3Get your setup checklist before the showSo you walk in ready to build.
Save your seat
Free for show attendees. Takes about three minutes.
Questions, answered
Is this really free?
Yes. The workshop is free for Franchise Expo Dallas attendees. Your show badge is your ticket.
Will this be a sales pitch?
No. You leave with something you built and a 30-day path you can run yourself. If you want help going further, book a one-on-one at the show. The session stands on its own.
What exactly will we build?
A workflow or agent that does a real, repetitive piece of franchise work. We choose the build from what registrants tell us, so the room gets the one that hits closest to home.
I do not have a Claude account. What do I do?
A free account works. We send a five-minute setup checklist before the show so you walk in ready to build.
What if I am not technical?
This is for operators, not engineers. If you can use email and a CRM, you can build what we build. Every step is on screen, click by click.
I am bringing a colleague. Can they attend too?
Yes. Each person registers on this page so we can tailor the session and send them the details.
Will materials be shared if I cannot attend?
We do not record or distribute the build. We do open a follow-up channel for attendees who want to keep building after the show, and you can book a one-on-one with us either day.
My franchise uses a different tool stack. Will this still apply?
Yes. We do not fight tool stacks. Whatever you run for your CRM, project management, and marketing, what you build connects to what you already use.
Where exactly is the session?
Theater 2, inside the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. Your show badge gets you in. Come a few minutes early and get set up.