Jerry Peterson
Enterprise Agile & AI Coach · Speaker · Author · Founder, RightSide Inc.
Available for keynotes, breakout sessions, podcasts, and private events. Talks span workforce engagement, AI transformation, and human performance systems.
Watch Jerry Speak
See how Jerry commands a room — from the opening hook to the standing call to action.
The Speaker Who Turns
Zombies into Zealots
Jerry Peterson is an Enterprise Agile and AI Coach with over 30 years of practitioner experience inside Fortune 50 organizations. He is the Founder of RightSide Inc., a firm dedicated to helping organizations break free from the systems that manufacture disengagement and replace them with the conditions that produce Zealots — people who bring full energy, creativity, and commitment to their work every day.
Jerry's work is grounded in a simple but radical premise: your workforce isn't broken — your system is. The $8.9 trillion global cost of disengagement is not a people problem. It is a leadership and design problem — and it is solvable.
He is the architect of the Z Scale — a proprietary five-stage diagnostic framework that maps the full spectrum from Zombie to Zealot — and the Zealot Transformation Index (ZTI), a validated assessment tool that quantifies engagement across five organizational dimensions. His forthcoming book, Raising the Dead, translates 30 years of field-tested methodology into a practical playbook for leaders ready to stop manufacturing disengagement.
Jerry's talks are known for their provocative openings, data-backed arguments, and actionable frameworks that audiences can apply the same day. He speaks to CEOs, executive teams, HR leaders, and conference audiences on workforce engagement, AI transformation, and the human systems that determine whether organizations thrive or stagnate.
Three Talks. One Mission.
Each talk is available as an 18–20 minute keynote, 45-minute breakout, or 60-minute workshop. All include a live ZTI diagnostic invitation for the audience.
Raising the Dead
Converting Your Workforce from Zombies to Zealots
"Bad systems beat good people every time." — W. Edwards Deming
The $8.9 trillion global engagement crisis is not a motivation problem — it is a system design problem. Jerry reveals the five systemic forces manufacturing Zombies in every organization, introduces the Z Scale diagnostic framework, and shows leaders exactly how to reverse the damage. Audiences leave with a three-step action plan they can implement the next morning.
The Human System
Why Your Greatest Competitive Advantage Is Already on Payroll
"We keep hiring the right people and putting them in the wrong system."
Most organizations treat people as resources to be managed rather than systems to be optimized. Jerry reframes the entire talent conversation — from hiring and onboarding through performance and retention — through the lens of systems thinking. The result is a radical shift in how leaders design work, measure success, and unlock the discretionary effort that separates good organizations from great ones.
The Surveillance Trap
Why Monitoring Your People Is Manufacturing Your Zombies
"The moment you install the camera, you've already lost."
The rise of employee monitoring technology — from mouse-click trackers to AI surveillance dashboards — is one of the most expensive mistakes in modern management. Jerry presents the data on how surveillance destroys psychological safety, kills intrinsic motivation, and accelerates the very disengagement it claims to prevent. Then he shows the alternative: outcome-based leadership that builds trust, autonomy, and Zealot-level performance.
The Zealot Transformation
Index (ZTI)
Jerry's proprietary 10-question diagnostic tool measures organizational engagement across five dimensions: Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery, Flow, and Feedback & Safety.
Results map to the Z Scale — showing exactly where a team sits on the Zombie-to-Zealot spectrum and providing a prioritized roadmap for transformation. Available free to all event attendees.
Take the Free ZTI Assessment →the Dead
Raising the Dead
Transforming Your Zombie Workforce into Zealots
Every organization has them — the walking dead. People who show up, go through the motions, and collect a paycheck while their potential sits completely untapped. They are not lazy. They are not broken. They are Zombies — and your system made them.
Raising the Dead is the definitive guide to diagnosing and reversing workforce disengagement. Built on 30 years of Fortune 50 practitioner experience and the proprietary Z Scale framework, it gives leaders a step-by-step methodology for transforming Zombies into Zealots — people who bring full energy, creativity, and commitment to their work.
What People Are Saying
Speaker testimonials are being collected. Below are representative results from Jerry's coaching and transformation engagements.
Jerry's coaching completely transformed how our teams operate. We went from constant firefighting to actually delivering value. The Z Scale framework gave us a shared language we didn't know we needed.
I've worked with a lot of Agile coaches. Jerry is different — he doesn't just teach frameworks, he diagnoses systems. Within 90 days our team velocity doubled and turnover dropped to near zero.
The ZTI assessment was a revelation. We thought we had a motivation problem. Jerry showed us we had a system design problem — and then he helped us fix it.
Event organizer and audience testimonials will be added here following upcoming engagements. To request a reference or preview engagement, contact [email protected].
Book Jerry for
Your Event
Jerry is available for keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, podcast appearances, and private executive events. Complete the form and expect a response within 24 hours.