Mark L. Madrid Convenes Elite Panel of Global Experts, Unveiling Breakthrough Solutions for America’s Entrepreneurs

The former U.S. SBA official, Wall Street executive, and AI futurist introduced his business partners and verticals to tackle AI-era small business challenges.

AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, May 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As entrepreneurs nationwide continue navigating inflationary pressures, capital access barriers, AI disruption, workforce transformation, and increasing economic uncertainty, America’s 36.2 million small and medium-sized businesses face a defining moment in the evolution of the modern economy.

In response, Mark L. Madrid, Founder and CEO of Breakthrough Mavens LLC and former U.S. Small Business Administration head official, convened a landmark LinkedIn Live event on June 9, 2026, unveiling a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions integrating AI governance, substantive business scaling education, business transformation systems, economic innovation, strategic funding opportunities, and transformational leadership frameworks.

Madrid’s 'SMB Breakthrough Blueprint' event featured world-class business strategists, AI transformation experts, world-class business mentors, an economic development hall-of-famer, and institutional innovators delivering actionable insights to help entrepreneurs scale sustainably in today’s rapidly evolving and AI-infused economy.

Broadcasting internationally from Sardinia, Italy, the event reflected the increasingly global nature of entrepreneurship, AI transformation, and collaborative economic innovation.

Madrid, a national economic strategist, AI futurist, bestselling author, and nationally recognized advocate for America’s entrepreneurs, emphasized during the broadcast:

“America’s entrepreneurs are the backbone of the national economy. The nation’s 36.2 million small businesses represent 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses, employ nearly half of America’s private-sector workforce, and generate approximately 43.5 percent of GDP. It’s time we give them the white-glove, red-carpet treatment they have earned through their sacrifice, resilience, innovation, and impact.”

Madrid framed the event as part of a broader movement connected to America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, not only celebrating the nation’s entrepreneurial legacy, but helping shape ‘America’s Next 250’ through AI readiness, innovation, entrepreneurship, workforce transformation, and actionable economic growth.

For more details or to set up a consultation, email Madrid at mark@marklmadrid.com.

The AI Governance Imperative: Building Trust at Scale
The event opened with Lisa L. Levy, founder of Lcubed Consulting and a leading business transformation strategist specializing in AI governance.

Levy and Madrid introduced their product offering, the AI Value Path, a revolutionary framework designed to help organizations move from AI experimentation to measurable business outcomes.

"Research says 90% of companies are investing in AI, but less than 5% of them are able to show ROI," Levy stated. "The challenge is, most companies don't have a strategy; they have activity. What we're focused on together is helping them show measurable value."

Central to AI Value Path is the 10+1 Code, a governance framework ensuring that AI implementations remain transparent, ethical, and human-centered.

"If you can't scale AI and if people don't trust how it's being used, they won't use it," Levy explained. "With the 10+1 Code, we're ensuring that humans stay accountable, that what we build with AI is absolutely transparent, and that we're augmenting, not replacing, human judgment."

For small business owners overwhelmed by AI hype and uncertain about implementation, Levy says: "Don't confuse motion with progress. AI Value Path gives you speed, and the 10+1 Code makes that speed sustainable. That combination allows organizations to move faster than their competitors without taking unnecessary risks."

The Triple Helix: People, Education, and Technology
Following Levy's presentation, Guillermo Diaz Jr., former Global CIO of Cisco Systems and Founder/CEO of Conectado Inc., introduced the concept of the Triple Helix: the integration of people, education, and technology as the foundation for successful AI transformation.

"If you haven't, if you're not using AI, if you don't have your hands on it right now, you're already too late," Diaz warned. "There's never been in my career a more transformational time for technology."

Diaz's companies provide a comprehensive approach: Conectado delivers AI literacy and workforce enablement through partnerships with Stanford, Berkeley, and other leading institutions, while AigentConnect™ helps organizations deploy AI agents that create real operational impact.

"We have to bring the people along that journey," Diaz emphasized. "Some people will stay in that organization, but if you give them the tools, the education, and the upskilling, you'll be amazed. You don't have to hire tons more people. You could do it with the people that you have, as long as you bring them on that journey."

His warning about implementation was particularly striking: "Don't just lift and shift crap to the cloud. You don't want to just automate bad stuff, you want to drive transformation."

Entrepreneur Growth Alliance (EGA)
Rajesh Tedla, globally recognized business transformation expert and Founder/CEO of VRT Management Group, brought three decades of experience mentoring over 1,400 entrepreneurs across 28+ countries to bear on a fundamental question: Why do businesses struggle to break through?

"Small businesses, the first piece of it is the lack of clarity," Tedla explained. "Suddenly, they start seeing opportunities, and they want to be all over the place. Instead of one service, two services, three services, now suddenly they want to work with ten, and they don't have the systems."

Tedla reinforced the 7 Stages of Growth Framework, built on research involving over 650 companies, which identifies seven distinct stages businesses navigate from startup to 500 employees.

One of his most powerful insights addressed the founder bottleneck: "If you had a stage four company with approximately 50 to 60 employees, and the founder is making all the decisions, either they're under stress, or they don't have time to do anything else, and they become the bottleneck."

Together with Madrid, Tedla announced their offering, the Entrepreneur Growth Alliance (EGA), with an audacious goal:

"By December 2030, we would like to help implement our system with at least 1,000 entrepreneurs who are willing to grow and who really want to make a difference. For each one of them, we would like them to gain at least $1 million in financial benefit. So 1,000 times a million gives us $1 billion of financial impact (by 2030)."

Economic Transformation: The Einstein Project Act
Kevin Johns, award-winning economic developer and Madrid's co-author on their recent book, Interview with AI Guidebook 3: How Do You Create Entrepreneurial Excellence, Kid Economics, and $50+ Trillion in ROI, presented one of the milestone moments of Madrid’s event. You can access the book and learn more at https://finance.yahoo.com/news/book-unveils-ai-powered-50-160000864.

He focused on the Einstein Project Act, legislation designed to transform America's economic landscape by connecting 33 million businesses with 70 million children through conscious capitalism apprenticeships.

The Einstein Project Act proposes performance-based tax incentives for businesses that provide entrepreneurial apprenticeships to young people, with AI diagnostics measuring ROI.

"The taxes and businesses generated, and the reduced demand on government services, are in the range of $50 to $70 trillion in ROI," Johns explained.

"This isn't just an ideology but a performance-based economic strategic planning," he continued. "It changes the question from 'Do we raise taxes or cut services?' to 'How do we take these 70 million kids and make them the top entrepreneurs in the world?'"

Madrid and Johns issued a direct call to action: "I urge everyone to look at the Einstein Project Act. Talk to your congressman and senators. This is bipartisan legislation with measurable ROI that takes a fragmented government economic system and introduces new economic growth strategies to make our kids more competitive than any other kids on the planet."

Leveraging Innovation Funding
Stephan Poschik, Founder and CEO of CHC Group, revealed an opportunity most American entrepreneurs don't know exists: innovation grants that can fund 20% to 80% of AI, R&D, and technology projects without diluting equity or taking on traditional debt.

"We help entrepreneurs get up to 80% of their project budgets funded with grants they do not need to pay back," Poschik explained.

"This is all around innovation, technology, and AI. How cool is that? If you have a project with $1 million in project volume and you can finance up to $800,000 with grants, you're not diluting your equity. You are still the owner of your IP and of your company."

Poschik's firm works in three major areas: AI projects and SaaS products (50% of projects), med tech/biotech/health tech (25%), and renewable energy (25%).

Since opening to U.S. customers about a year ago, CHC Group has launched over 73 projects with grant sizes ranging from $220,000 to $25 million.

His examples were compelling: a device that detects 15 major illnesses through breath analysis, AI-supported trauma therapy, and energy systems that produce both power and clean water in self-contained shipping containers, perfect for disaster relief.

Poschik and CHC Group support Madrid and his company with innovative scaling strategies, including Madrid’s prestigious LinkedIn presence.

A Honeycomb of Solutions
Madrid emphasized the interconnected nature of these solutions, referring to them as his company’s “honeycomb,” a network of highly credible strategic partnerships, breakthrough and AI-forward systems, distinguished expertise, and trust currency designed to support businesses and institutions entirely.

"The future economy will not be built in silos," Madrid declared. "It will be built through relationships, connections, alignment, systems, synchronicity, and trust because trust is the world's most valuable currency."

Madrid's positioning as America's go-to business-scaling champion was reinforced by his institutional partnerships, distinguished collaborators, and over three decades of experience supporting entrepreneurs, corporations, and economic ecosystems.

He serves as a fractional Entrepreneur-in-Residence at NMSDC under the leadership of President & CEO the Honorable Don Cravens Jr., working to ensure NMSDC Corporate & Corporate Plus Members and MBEs are central to America's economic present and future.

Additionally, Madrid supports First National Bank of Bastrop (Texas), led by CEO & President Stephen Lee. As Fractional Sr. Executive Advisor, he led the launch of Contigo, a community banking initiative focused on building communities by meeting FNB customers where they are.

The Personal Brand Imperative
Madrid also reinforced his PR/media vertical and addressed a truth many entrepreneurs ignore:

"Nobody cares how good you are until they know you exist. You could be the best consultant, the best founder, the best advisor, or the best expert in your entire industry. But if the market doesn't know you, you are invisible, and invisible people don't get chosen."

He emphasized that personal brand building is no longer optional: "Trust is now the currency of business, and LinkedIn is where that trust gets built publicly. Every post is a signal. Every insight is a positioning move. Every comment is a reputation asset. You are not posting content, you are building evidence."

For support with personal brand scaling, start here: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7354106550434578432

A Vision Rooted in Resilience
Broadcasting from Sardinia, an island Madrid described as symbolic of resilience, perseverance, and reinvention, the entrepreneur reflected on his own journey.

"Standing here today and looking back at that New York Stock Exchange interview and looking at where we are now, I realize those mustard seeds were already taking root through relationships, partnerships, breakthroughs, synchronicity, relentless execution, and action."

Madrid's message to America's small business owners was unequivocal: solutions exist, expertise is available, and transformation is possible.

"This is not an overnight success story," he concluded. "This is 32 years of lessons, 32 years of belief, 32 years of doing, and 32 years of building, now synchronizing."

For Corporate America, institutions, and middle-market businesses seeking these blueprints, AI integration frameworks, proven systems, and sustainable prosperity, Mark L. Madrid has assembled the team, tools, and track record to deliver superb results.

In May 2027, in Sardinia, Italy, Mark L. Madrid will debut his exclusive Breakthrough Mastermind, an elite and closely curated experience designed for entrepreneurs, executives, and visionaries ready to scale boldly, think globally, and move into their next chapter without turning back.

Limited to only 10 participants, the mastermind will combine transformational strategy, world-class relationship building, AI-forward business insights, and breakthrough-level execution in one of the world’s most inspiring settings.

To reserve one of the 10 exclusive seats, contact Mark L. Madrid at mark@marklmadrid.com.

Connect with Mark L. Madrid on LinkedIn for additional insights, thought leadership, and upcoming initiatives related to entrepreneurship, AI innovation, economic transformation, and America’s Next 250.

About Breakthrough Mavens LLC
Breakthrough Mavens is a pioneering fractional C-Suite boutique advisory firm powered by AI and grounded in human intelligence, delivering a white-glove, results-driven customer experience. Founded by Mark L. Madrid, the firm specializes in fueling excellence and longevity with white-collar experience and blue-collar DNA, serving entrepreneurs, corporations, and institutions committed to transformative and sustainable prosperity. Learn more at: https://marklmadrid.com/

For media inquiries, AI transformational support, senior executive advisory services, strategic partnerships, speaking engagements, advanced PR counsel, and/or opportunities with Breakthrough Mavens LLC and its distinguished ecosystem of partners, please contact:

Mark L. Madrid
Founder, Breakthrough Mavens LLC
mark@marklmadrid.com
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