My teaching and public speaking journey
My teaching experience goes back to 1996, when I started teaching at law school. My favorite class was theory of governance and lawmaking (an analogue of a similar class in U.S. law schools), where I taught the foundational laws of how legislation and governance systems are created, how they form coherent systems without contradicting each other, and how they balance rigid requirements with reforms — without infringing on personal freedom or economic self-regulation and flexibility. I absolutely loved that topic and that class, and it helped me enormously to grasp AI regulation and AI governance concepts three years ago. But now I teach a bit different courses and classes and they more related to the industrial manufacturing, industrial engineering and software developing business assurance. Here the link where you can get more information about that: https://bobkova.online/from-mba-to-aerospace-college-courses/
This that I know from my 10+ years of experience: all stages and certification for the automotive industry, from the beginning of design to the O&M and AI security: https://bobkova.online/your-car-can-be-easily-hacked-right-now/
Conference speaking
I started keynoting at conferences with 500+ in-person attendees in 2001 (online wasn't a thing back then). Speaking to 50–100 students at annual student conferences doesn't count — those events were unpaid and didn't require people to travel across the entire country. The standard for paid conferences is much higher because people dedicate their time and travel for it.
In 2003, we decided to organize our own conferences with CPE points and obtained accreditation. I started approving schedules and speakers and would step in myself if someone couldn't make it.
Once, we had terrible weather in Moscow and all five speakers couldn't reach the venue. But the venue was in a hotel building, and a lot of people had flown in from all over the country (max nonstop flight time in Russia is eight hours, or travel can take two to three days). We rebuilt the entire schedule using committee members who were already at the hotel. We delivered all three days, everyone was happy, and we received great feedback. That time I spoke for eight hours straight to around 200 people in one hall.
That's not even my record anymore. When I deliver ISO lead auditor training or conduct audits after three-day trainings, I can speak five days, eight hours each, nonstop. When I worked as a manager alongside my auditor responsibilities, I also spoke during lunch breaks and after work — leading prep training for my auditors and attending management meetings. That's a lot of speaking in one week, trust me.
I know my own capacity very well: after 10 days of daily 8-hour speaking, I can start losing my voice. After 14 days, I will lose it completely, and recovery takes five to six days where I can only whisper.
My greatest challenge
Creating a presentation or lecture that lasts five or 30 minutes on a very deep topic. Condensing is always harder than expanding.
Feedback
As a public speaker and trainer working for several companies that organize training, I collect client feedback. It's not always fully updated, but you can read it here: https://bobkova.online/training-workshops-feedback/
Honest confession about online training
I do not like online or remote training. Yes, I'm good at it — really good. I hear that often, even from experienced trainers and lecturers. But staring at a screen and speaking into a camera for eight hours each day drains all energy and joy from me.
What I absolutely love
Creating curricula, long-term semester classes, and tests and exams that students will love and remember for years. If I have the luxury to do that in person — it's something I could almost do for free. Shh... forget I said this, please don't use it against me, because I can never say no to that opportunity. Especially now, after working remotely for so long and delivering so many 1–2 hour lectures, I value opportunities to teach structured in-person classes enormously.
Policy and standards development
Earlier in my career, I was part of a legal group developing government policies and local legislation, and part of a working group developing ISO standards. This was a long time ago, but it was an incredibly valuable five years of experience.
Here the example on how I help companies: https://bobkova.online/iso-certification-what-you-need-to-know-4-important-facts/
Elena Bobkova
The unexpected medical detour
I spent two years studying in a medical lab at the University of Sydney, working with real human cadavers. I received high distinctions in neuroanatomy, anatomy, and biochemistry. That was part of a derailed career path that never fully happened, and I eventually returned to governance and auditing — but now with solid knowledge of the human body and pharmacology. This knowledge helps me understand processes related to farm animal health now. I even delivered YouTube lectures on biohacking in 2014, when hardly anyone had heard that word. Sorry, Huberman.
My core expertise
Still, my area of expertise is business assurance, certification, and governance. In simple terms: if your company wants to work with a famous brand, there are many requirements, and you must comply with all of them.
The question is how to obtain all those certifications and write policies to comply with quality, environmental, information security, AI governance (business-related certifications), UL, CE, GMP (product-related certifications) — and how not to miss vast amounts of legislation across all countries where you have customers — and then put all of this together into one perfectly functioning system. A system that adds real value to the business, not just an artificial layer built for the sake of having 10 certificates and six months of audits every year.
My strongest speaking area is explaining how to integrate new requirements — such as AI governance — into an existing management system, without hiring 10 additional people to build something on top of a system that already exists and works perfectly well. This is how the biggest and most successful companies in the world operate, and this knowledge is invaluable for students trying to find their unique place and career path. Here is the feedback from my clients: https://bobkova.online/consulting-implementation-feedback/
The question I always get
Sometimes I'm asked: "So you do health and safety, environmental management, and business continuity... wait — and information security? And AI governance?"
And I always want to reply: do you really think that when a company starts caring about information security, it abandons its environmental goals? Stops working on quality? Or that it must hire separate teams for every direction?
That's not how business works. That path leads to failure. A business must keep everything together in one perfectly operating system. That is where I am strongest. Yes, I work with environmental management — but I integrate it with AI governance, quality, and information security. It's essential for every employee, regardless of department, to see how the entire organization operates as a whole — combining environmental goals, information security, and on-time delivery KPIs, not as separate, disconnected pieces.
This is the practical guide how to add AI governance into your company business management system: https://bobkova.online/the-answer-is-42-extended-version/
