The best moments in a keynote are often the small human stories: an anecdote, an unexpected encounter, something someone said that stuck. They rarely come from research. They come from serendipity.

Here is my favourite example. In 2022 I wrote a Matrix-inspired opening film for Dr. Werner Vogels’s re:Invent keynote. I wrote the first draft in Brighton, then went to Amsterdam to talk it through with Dr. Vogels, along with the keynote itself. That evening I was at a loose end, so I did what I often do in another city: found a comedy show and went to watch it on my own. Sad, I know, but it has given me some amazing nights. One of my favourite haunts in Amsterdam is Boom Chicago, and I came away incredibly impressed by one of the improvisers, Terrance Lamonte Jr.

The next day I was on a call with the producers. I wanted to shoot in a studio in Amsterdam, to make things easier around Dr. Vogels’s schedule, and they were worried about finding an American actor there to play Morpheus. I thought Terrance would be perfect, so I passed his name to the casting team. He got the part, and he was brilliant.

A camera monitor on set showing Terrance Lamonte Jr. as Morpheus, in round mirrored sunglasses, sipping a strawberry milkshake through a straw.
Terrance Lamonte Jr. as Morpheus, on set in Amsterdam.

None of that was planned. But you only get lucky like that if you put yourself in the way of it. Meet people you wouldn’t normally meet, call people you wouldn’t normally phone, ask brilliant people why they are good at what they do, and every so often go and watch a show on your own.