Kate O’Neill

Chief Tech Humanist and CEO of KO Insights, Author of Tech Humanist

Topics: Technology, Innovation, Futurist, Artificial Intelligence, STEM, Entrepreneur, Thought Leadership, Women Leaders, Best Selling Author, Strategy, Branding & Marketing, DE&I – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Biography

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Kate O’Neill is a globally recognized technology and strategy expert known as the “Tech Humanist,” helping leaders build future‑ready organizations where innovation advances human outcomes. As founder and CEO of KO Insights, she advises executive teams and boards on AI transformation, data strategy, governance, and the future of human experience. She is the author of What Matters Next, named to the Thinkers50 Best New Management Books of 2025, and host of The Tech Humanist Show, winner of the Web Excellence Award for Best Tech Podcast. She has been named to the Thinkers50 ranking of global management thinkers.

Kate O’Neil’s work centers on a bold vision of “10,000 Boardrooms & 1 Billion Lives,” which focuses on empowering the C-suite with guardrails and decision frameworks that drive responsible AI adoption, ultimately delivering measurable human impact at scale.

Kate O’Neill has guided leaders at Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Zoom; iconic brands like Coca‑Cola, McDonald’s, and Colgate‑Palmolive; forward‑thinking cities including Amsterdam and Austin; top institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge; and intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations. From high‑impact keynotes and executive roundtables to hands‑on toolkits, her engagements turn strategy into repeatable operating patterns and trustworthy metrics that leaders can act on immediately.

Before founding KO Insights, Kate helped shape category‑defining companies and programs. As one of Netflix’s first 100 employees, she created the company’s first content management role. She also developed Toshiba America’s first intranet and founded the analytics and digital strategy firm [meta]marketer.

Sought after for translating complex technology shifts into executive‑level choices, Kate O’Neill often delivers keynotes on responsible AI, human‑centered design, and outcome‑based instrumentation for long‑term value, resilience, and reputation. On stage, she combines sharp strategic clarity with pragmatic momentum, making the “so what” unmistakable and the “now what” achievable—equipping leaders to act with confidence and integrity.

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Videos

Preparing for the Future in a Tech-Driven World with Kate O'Neill

AI and Human Experience: Kate O'Neill - Tech Humanist & Future-Ready Business Strategist (2024 reel)

Kate O'Neill, the Tech Humanist - virtual keynote speaking reel

Tech Humanist reel - bureau-friendly

Kate O'Neill - Behind the Scenes on media interviews for Tech Humanist around New York City

Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

What Matters Next: Better Tech Decisions in a Fast-Paced World

Move Forward Confidently.
Making future-ready decisions that acknowledge the impact of technology and respect human needs and values can be a challenge. Identifying the tools you need to gain strategic clarity and make better choices is an important step to secure the future of your organization.

Discover how the right framework can help you harness the benefits of modern technology while prioritizing humanity.

Align Business Objectives with Human Experience
Improve business outcomes and learn how to make ethical tech decisions that benefit your business and the people it serves. This presentation can help you uncover how to make better strategic decisions by moving from questions to insights and foresights.

We can also discuss creating a model that aligns focus, purpose, values, and resources across your organization and much more—all to ensure that digital transformation and innovation efforts frame the future in human terms.

Strategic Optimism for Smart Cities

As delivered at Smart City Expo Barcelona.

Smart city initiatives often prioritize technology over people. This keynote reframes "smart" around human outcomes—livability, equity, sustainability, and community resilience. Drawing on work with cities like Amsterdam and Austin, Kate shows how to build urban innovation strategies that put residents first and use technology as a tool, not a goal.

Key themes:
* Human outcomes as the core of “smart”
* Tech + community design
* Inclusive digital futures
* AI for public good
* Urban innovation frameworks

The Tech Humanist Future: Creating Meaningful Experiences at Scale

As AI and algorithms increasingly shape customer interactions, organizations risk losing the human connection that builds loyalty and trust. This keynote explores how to design technology-enabled experiences that feel genuinely human—scaling personalization without sacrificing meaning, and leveraging AI while preserving authentic human engagement.

Key themes:
* AI + customer experience
* Human-machine collaboration
* Experience strategy
* Ethical data use
* Organizational culture shifts

AI Strategy for Leaders: From Hype to Human-Centered Impact

The gap between AI's promise and its practical implementation is wide—and getting wider. This keynote cuts through the noise to give leaders a clear framework for AI adoption that prioritizes readiness, governance, and human outcomes. Audiences leave with actionable insights on bridging the "Alignment Gap" between technology delivery and organizational capability.

Key themes:
* Board-level AI literacy
* Risk, readiness, and governance
* Human skills and the future of work
* The Alignment Gap
* How to make better tech decisions

Testimonials

I definitely recommend Kate as a keynote speaker at any type of professional event. Her experience creates an arsenal of expert subjects she can share to inspire a variety of audiences.

– Event Organizer

Thank you for the amazing Keynote presentation. You have a brilliant vision for how society and business can innovate and mature data creation, ownership and use. Your perspective on dystopian and utopian analysis in deploying new solutions or technology was eye opening and provides clues to help resolve opposing views that have previously been elusive. I connected with your messages and your call for us to own what we put into code and how we use data! Well done!

– Michael Landau Michael Landau, Strategic National Account Manager, Veritas Technologies LLC