90% of AI transformations don’t fail because of the code - they fail because of the culture.

In the rush to deploy Agentic AI and Large Language Models, most organizations overlook the most volatile variable in the equation: Human Psychology. 

As a CEO and Executive Advisor with over 18 years of experience across Siemens, Virtana, and the GovCon/Defense sectors, I have spent my career at the intersection of high-stakes operations and emerging technology. 

I don’t just build AI; I decode the human dynamics that dictate whether technology is embraced or resisted.

What I bring to the table:

 * Agentic & Voice AI Strategy: Moving beyond chatbots to autonomous agents that drive measurable EBITDA growth and operational excellence.

 * The Psychology of Adoption: Leveraging deep insights into human behavior to navigate the fear, friction, and decision-making hurdles inherent in AI integration.

 * Mission-Critical Innovation: Applying the "Outcome-as-a-Service" model to industries where precision, security, and ethical guardrails are non-negotiable.

 * Fractional Executive AI Leadership: Bridging the gap between the Boardroom and the Engineering team to ensure AI strategy aligns with long-term business value.

From scaling startups to optimizing global P&Ls, my mission is to ensure that the Future of Work remains fundamentally human. 

Whether I’m advising a Board on AI governance, architecting voice-first solutions at APEK.ai, or speaking on the synergy between biological and artificial intelligence, I focus on one thing: results.

Let’s Connect:

I partner with forward-thinking organizations as an Advisor, Board Member, or Corporate Leader to navigate the complexities of the AI era.

 * Speaking & Keynotes: Human-AI Synergy, The Psychology of Automation, and The Future of Leadership.

 * Advisory: AI Readiness, Strategic Growth, and Operational Turnarounds.

📩 DM me here or tune in to "EVKA’s Talk @ 5" to join the conversation.


Eva Karnaukh

Progressive Business Coach for Founders, Teams & Rebels In Corporates | We boost profit & sanity beyond bureaucracy - with self-managing teams, systems & human-centric AI | $50M+ scale-ups & 9-fig exits | Keynote speaker

You’re the brave one, with everything on the line.
Whether you’re starting out, building a team, or scaling to exit, you want a trusted guide riding shotgun.
I deliver clarity in decisions, discipline in delivery, and practical human-centric AI.

Practical human-centric AI turns data into insights, automation into time back, and leads into predictable pipeline and revenue. It enhances - not replaces - your team.

Ex-SaaS CEO & PwC-trained Chartered Accountant, I've led or advised start-up to £50m+ scale ups, 9 figure exits, turnarounds, and AI rollouts for founder-led SMEs/SMBs. £75m funds raised to date. I don’t just coach it. I’ve lived it.

I work with founders, and the leaders they trust.

My no-BS, emotionally intelligent coaching clears the mental, emotional, and operational blocks that hold you back. This unlocks performance across the business.

I call out the bullsh*t, push where others won’t, and hold you to growth—without losing the big picture.

How we do it:

We use my Profit & Sanity framework - a simple Diagnose → Design → Deploy system - to turn plans into outcomes across the following core areas:

Foundations & Systems: Lock in purpose, culture, operating rhythm, and cash discipline. AI can’t be applied to a broken system.

Inclusive Culture: Build environments that harness diverse thinking to fuel innovation and sustainable growth.

AI & Automation: Apply practical tools to grow revenue, reduce cost, and scale what works.

Choose your path:

Content: 
🔔 Follow for straight-talk on leadership, AI, org design, and the emotional side of growth.

Newsletter: 
📨 Subscribe to Founder Group Therapy for disruptive strategies and real-world stories.

Engagements: 
🎤 Keynotes on the future of business in an AI world.

Advisory, Coaching & Fractional: 
💬 1:1 and more involved sessions - based around my profit & sanity framework - tailored to your business; 

🏢 Company-wide programmes fusing AI, cashflow, and practical coaching.

My mission is to remove your blockers and propel you toward durable, compounding growth. While having a life. 

Your revolution - personal and professional - starts here.

Si Conroy

The kindest leaders I meet?
Often the most dangerous.
Because they won’t tell the truth.

Why?

Because the hardest skill in business is also the simplest:

High-quality feedback.
On time.
To someone’s face.

Most people avoid it.

Even when the business depends on it.

Because feedback isn’t a “communication” skill.

It’s the ability to care about someone and still be honest.

And it matters regardless of your role or the size of your business.

If you don't learn to do feedback well, you're setting yourself up to fail.

Kim Scott's Radical Candor is a great way to navigate this:

Ruinous Empathy:
❌ You care about the person, but you don’t say the hard thing. 
❌ People feel supported, but nothing changes, and growth slows.

Obnoxious Aggression:
❌ You say the hard thing, but without care. 
❌ Standards might go up, but people get defensive, stop speaking up, and performance drops.

Manipulative Insincerity
❌ You don’t say what you really think, and you don’t show much care either. 
❌ People smile, agree, and then don’t trust each other.

Radical Candor
❤️ You care about the person and you say what needs to be said. 
❤️ Feedback is clear and timely, trust grows, and people improve faster.

This is also where psychological safety gets misunderstood.

Amy Edmondson at Harvard puts it plainly: it isn’t about being nice. It’s about making it safe to tell the truth, admit mistakes, and learn.

Google’s Project Aristotle found the same pattern: teams do better when people feel safe to ask questions, challenge decisions, and name problems early.

And yes - doing this well is hard.

You might not be liked in the moment.
You might get pushback.
You still have to say it.

Here are 4 steps to do it well (with lines you can steal):

Start with care
→ “Can I share something because I want you to do well?”
→ “I’m telling you this because I want you to do well.”
→ “I care about you, and I care about the quality of our work together.”

Be clear about expectations
→ “This is what ‘great’ looks, based on the following observable behaviours......”
→ “This is what success looks like in 2 weeks”
→ “The expectation is X by Y, measured by Z.”
→ “Here’s what ‘done’ means.”

Give feedback early
→ Think: What’s the smallest example I can point to?
→ Consider the problems that come from waiting.
→ “Quick one while it’s fresh.”
→ “When you did X, the impact was Y. Next time, try Z.”

Adjust based on how it lands
→ “What did you hear?”
→ “Do you need clarity, or reassurance?”
→ “What are you taking from this?”
→ “Where do you disagree?”
→ “What support would help?”

If you want one simple rule:
If it’s true and useful…

Say it soon.
Say it kindly.
Say it clearly.

What’s hardest for you - speed, clarity, or the emotional part?

🔔 Follow Si Conroy and ♻️ Share if you like this.

📩 Weekly sanity in my ‘Founder Group Therapy’ newsletter: https://lnkd.in/erk_vfQc

Profit & sanity for founder-led businesses | Ex-SaaS CEO, PwC-trained | Fix the basics → build systems & teams → layer human-centric AI | Founder Coach & Fractional CFO | Strategic Adviser

“Your husband’s okay with you working this much?”
“You’re really good in sales for a woman.”
“Who’s watching your kids?”

Most sexism at work does not announce itself.

It shows up as ordinary questions.

The kind people ask casually.
The kind they think are harmless.
The kind women have heard for years.

I’ve been in business since the early 90s. 

At least I do not hear “we need a man for this” said out loud as often anymore.

Unfortunately, it's now hidden as concern, praise, or a harmless question.

The amazing Lindsay Rios created a video where women repeated the exact things they have been asked by strangers, family, friends, bosses and co-workers.

Men and women.

Just everyday comments:

“Why aren’t you smiling?”
“Do you think you could handle it?”
“Take up space, but do not take up too much space.”
“Isn’t your husband an attorney? Why do you have a job?”
“Do you think you got that promotion because you’re a woman?”
“Why did you even have children if you’re not gonna raise them?”
“That woman must have closed that deal because she’s attractive.”

That is the point.

These are not harmless comments.

They are reminders that many women are still seen as less committed, less competent, less senior, and less entitled to authority.

And that matters because the cost is not theoretical.
Women pay for these assumptions before they can just get on with the job.

They pay in the extra explaining.
The extra softening.
The extra proving.
The extra self-monitoring.

It shows up when her good idea is ignored until a man repeats it.

When she says the same thing as a man and gets called sharp, difficult, or too much.

When her warmth is expected but her authority is resisted.

When ambition in a man looks like drive, but ambition in a woman still needs explaining.

When having children is treated as a professional risk she has to explain away.

When she is assumed to be junior before anyone imagines she might be leading the room.

One comment on its own can sound small.
A lifetime of them is not small.

It affects who gets listened to the first time.
Who gets the stretch role.
Who gets called difficult.
Who gets the benefit of the doubt.
Who gets to focus on the work instead of managing how the work will be received.

Most of the problem is not open hostility.

It is the steady drip of unexamined behaviour that people still do not realise women have to navigate all the time.

Intent does not cancel impact.

A comment does not have to be meant badly to do damage.

That is why this is not just about awareness.

It is about responsibility.

The moment of thinking:
I have said something like that.
I did not question it.
I can see it differently now.
I am going to stop.

That would be progress.

On International Women’s Day, that feels worth saying plainly.

If you want to know whether bias still exists, stop looking only for the obvious version.

Listen for the questions women are asked so often that people barely hear them anymore.

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Eva Karnaukh

Si Conroy

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The Battle

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Si Conroy

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