Kate O'Neill, professional global keynote speaker

As a globally recognized keynote speaker and thought leader, I deliver transformative insights at the intersection of technology, business, and human experience. My talks inspire and equip leaders to navigate digital transformation while creating meaningful human experiences at scale.

Selected speaking engagements demonstrate impact across sectors:

- GLOBAL LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION
    - United Nations: Multiple keynotes on data-driven innovation and human experience
    - World Government Summit (Dubai): Future of work presentation to world leaders
    - Amsterdam's Future-Readiness Initiative: Strategic city transformation
- FORTUNE 500 & ENTERPRISE
    - Executive keynotes for Google, IBM, Adobe, Microsoft, Cisco
    - Digital transformation strategies for Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Charles Schwab
    - Innovation workshops for HCA Healthcare, Northwestern Mutual
- SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE
    - Tech Innovation: Talks at Google series, Etsy Engineering Day
    - Academic Leadership: Guest lectures at Cambridge, Harvard, Yale
    - Industry Events: INBOUND, O'Reilly Strata + Hadoop World London

Speaking topics include:

- • The Tech Humanist Approach to Digital Transformation
- • AI Ethics and Responsible Innovation
- • Future-Ready Leadership in a Tech-Driven World
- • Creating Meaningful Human Experiences at Scale

Available for keynotes, executive workshops, and strategic advisory sessions. Past audiences have included C-suite executives and senior leaders from Fortune 500 companies, tech innovators, and global organizations committed to responsible digital transformation.

Professional Keynote Speaker

The Tech Humanist Show

The Tech Humanist Show is a multi-format program exploring how data and technology shape the human experience. Available as both a podcast and video series, the show features in-depth conversations with influential thinkers and leaders in ethical AI, privacy, and emerging technology. Distinguished guests have included Dr. Rumman Chowdhury (former Twitter Director of ML Ethics), David Ryan Polgar (Founder of All Tech Is Human), Dr. Safiya Noble (author of "Algorithms of Oppression"), and Yanis Varoufakis (former finance minister of Greece and author of “Technofeudalism”), among other visionary voices shaping the future of technology and humanity.

Creator, Host, Executive Producer

KO Insights

KO Insights is a premier strategic advisory firm transforming how global organizations navigate the intersection of technology and humanity. We specialize in human-centric digital transformation, AI ethics, and meaningful innovation at scale.

Our expertise delivers measurable impact through executive advisory services, transformative keynotes, and strategic workshops. We help organizations harness emerging technologies while prioritizing meaningful human experiences and responsible innovation.

Select client engagements showcase our impact across sectors:

- Guided a FORTUNE 50 TECH GIANT in developing ethical AI frameworks and human-centric product strategies
- Partnered with a GLOBAL CONSUMER BRAND LEADER to revolutionize their digital customer experience across 100+ markets
- Led digital transformation strategy for a MAJOR HEALTHCARE NETWORK, focusing on patient experience optimization
- Advised a LEADING SMART CITY INITIATIVE on human-centric IoT implementation
- Facilitated strategic innovation workshops for MULTIPLE FORTUNE 100 EXECUTIVE TEAMS

Our client portfolio includes Fortune 100 corporations, global tech leaders, prestigious universities (including Harvard, Cambridge, Yale), major healthcare institutions, government agencies, and the United Nations. We've worked with recognized brands such as Google, IBM, Adobe, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's, delivering transformative insights that drive both business success and human benefit.

We share our insights globally through books, articles, and thought leadership collaborations with major organizations. My upcoming book "What Matters Next: A Leader's Guide to Making Human-Friendly Tech Decisions in a World That's Moving Too Fast" (2025, Wiley and Thinkers50) continues this tradition.

Founder & CEO / Chief Tech Humanist (Expert Consultant/Advisor, Author, Speaker)

Professional Global Keynote Speaker

Leading Authorities, Inc.

BigSpeak Speakers Bureau

Keppler Speakers

London Speaker Bureau

Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve

Have consulted on strategy projects for Fortune 500 clients, including go-to-market consumer strategy for a new pharmaceutical device, as well as providing expert input on trends for client projects from time to time.

Consulting Strategist / Member of "TalentBank" Panel of Experts

Deep Focus

Stepped in temporarily to lead strategy definition for a client roster including household-name consumer brands and global organizations.

Strategy Consultant

Known globally as the "Tech Humanist," Kate O'Neill is a leading voice on AI ethics, responsible tech, and human-centric digital transformation. As a sought-after expert, she advises Fortune 500 leaders and speaks at high-profile events worldwide on navigating our tech-driven future while prioritizing human experiences.

Kate's unique blend of "Strategic Optimism" and tech expertise has made her an in-demand consultant for organizations facing complex challenges in emerging technologies, climate change, and rapid digital transformation. Her insights help businesses innovate responsibly, balancing technological advancement with human values.

Career highlights:

- Author of six books, including the forthcoming "What Matters Next: A Leader's Guide to Making Human-Friendly Tech Decisions in a World That's Moving Too Fast"
- Shortlisted for the prestigious Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award
- Featured expert on BBC, WIRED, NPR, and other major media outlets
- Pioneering roles: First content management position at Netflix, built Toshiba's first intranet

With over 25 years of cross-functional expertise in technology, strategy, and innovation, Kate has consistently been at the forefront of digital industry practices. Her work spans from data analytics and IoT to AI and machine learning, always with a focus on creating meaningful, scalable human experiences.

Recognized as "Technology Entrepreneur of the Year" and "Strategist of the Year," Kate continues to shape the global conversation on how businesses can thrive in the digital age while making a positive impact on humanity.

For more information, visit: http://www.koinsights.com/about/about-kate-oneill/

Latest book available for pre-order at: 
https://www.amazon.com/What-Matters-Next-Human-Friendly-Decisions/dp/1394296428/

Kate O'Neill

Columbia University School of Professional Studies

If the products created by an organization reflect its organizational structure, then is the inverse true? Columbia University's Masters in Technology Management enables students to gain competitive advantage through a technology-centered curriculum.

I'm teaching two courses in the Executive Masters program: Digital Strategy and Leadership; and the Executive Seminar on Product, the first phase of three that leads to the creation of a new business pitch.

Course Lecturer

Chair, Program Curriculum Committee, Technology Management

Associate Professor of Practice, Technology Management

Associate Program Director, Technology Management

NEW ENGLAND COMMISSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INC

The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a peer-review accreditation agency that reflects the diversity of higher education, accrediting both public and private institutions, open access and graduate-only institutions, liberal arts colleges and research universities. NECHE is comprised of over 200 member institutions assuring the quality of education, supporting innovation, and providing value to institutions and to the public. Member institutions are primarily from the six New England states but open to institutions across the United States and internationally. Commission Members serve as NECHE's Board and help make accreditation decisions and set policy.

Public Member

Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

CACF's is one of the most exciting organizations serving Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the nation. Our mission is to advance equity for AAPI people, one of the poorest and most underserved ethnic groups. Our model is based on our coalition of community-based organizations that advocate for policy change and funding to shrink the gap between our size and public funding. We are currently focused on New York, where we are 11% of the population but receive less than 2% of social services funding.

Chair of the Board of Directors

Founders Registry Inc

I'm so delighted to support the amazing entrepreneur Ana Pompa Alarcon in this genius service that fills a major void in the startup support infrastructure, especially for historically underserved founders.

Advisor

City of New York

I ran for Mayor because New York City has to work for everyone, to be a city where everyone belongs and where our differences are celebrated. Our problems are connected and that’s the key to solving them. I believed that New Yorkers might be ready for change, for a government that works for everyone. I ran on my leadership experience building teams and organizations to further democracy and take care of the most vulnerable, starting with front-line workers and the people they serve. 

I wrote the most comprehensive and forward-looking tech policy, including a Digital Bill of Rights and a Digital Services Agency, and the only candidate whose policies were molded by the effect of technology of all aspects of our lives.

Campaigning laid bare the existential crises that confront our city: the end of the eviction moratorium; the steady erosion in trust in a democratic system that doesn’t work for anyone; the massive inequities caused by our over-reliance on the private sector; and structural impediments to reforming broken systems, ranging from elections to policing to innovation. 

Campaigning made me love my city even more. The Millenials and Gen-Zers who bring fresh perspectives to our problems give me optimism and hope.

When I announced my candidacy for Mayor just over six months ago, I knew I would be a dark horse candidate in an unprecedented field of over 40 candidates. I knew victory was unlikely. I knew I had important points to make. I bet that I could find receptive audiences and have an impact. 

This week’s ranked-choice vote count makes clear that I failed to overcome the considerable obstacles in this race, and that’s not including the challenges of campaigning in a pandemic. Yet I’m closing this chapter with a sense of deep satisfaction and starting the next filled with joy and excitement.

2021 Candidate for Mayor of New York City

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

I led a program to create a new knowledge management system for the global legal department. In partnership with JPMC's technology organization, we built a small team using agile/XP, user-driven product design and modern software, including consumer-grade search, metadata stores and graph database, all ready for AI. Today, JPMC lawyers around the world can find within seconds specialized legal information wherever it exists, whether in a person or in key documents.

Managing Director

Tipping Point Partners, LLC

For over a decade, we helped dozens of entrepreneurs conceive, build and launch software startups on the belief that software, used intelligently, can change industries and society for the better. We were a full-stack team practicing agile/XP user-driven product strategies since our inception. 

We were pioneers in civic tech and helped launch New York City's tech startup community. We demonstrated that tech innovation can improve democracy with NYC Votes and how we serve the most vulnerable with Casebook.  

As an "institutional entrepreneur," I held founding or leadership roles at Casebook (government social services case management), Cookstr (food publishing and nutrition), Haystack Media (streaming music), Orchard (iOS-specific app/systems developer), and Qwire (IP management for video in post-). 


In the private sector, we focused on boutique B2B SaaS startups that provided innovation solutions, with a special focus on how enterprises in established industries empower their frontline workers for their customers' benefit. We developed a partnering strategy in which senior leadership at potential companies would be part of the inception and product development process. Tipping Point Partner exits include IGA Worldwide (RapidFire), Mobile Commons (Upland Software), Cookstr (Macmillan), Playspan (Mastercard), Everplans (National Guardian Life), RapidRatings (Spectrum Equity). Our remaining portfolio company is Qwire (media).

We formed a limited purpose broker-dealer, Tipping Point Capital Advisors, where I served as Principal and FinOp Principal.

Founder & CEO

Pivotal Software, Inc.

I joined Pivotal as an employee in 2016 after its spin-out from EMC to help its largest financial services customers accelerate internal innovation using Pivotal’s platform and methodology. During my time there, I am especially proud of my work helping a GSIB's senior leadership team strategize and implement organizational and process changes to support agile and cloud.

From 2007 until Pivotal's acquisition by EMC in 2012, I formed a partnership with Pivotal Labs. Together, we built Cookstr, Casebook, and NYC Votes. Our relationship catalyzed Pivotal’s New York City office, its first office expansion outside of its San Francisco base, and changed how I conceived, built and launched software.

Director

Qwire Inc.

Qwire is transforming asset/rights management in studio television and film by replacing today's analog process with a seamless, web-based collaboration platform. Qwire's platform is on a path to becoming the industry-wide standard supporting the production of scripted video content in network television. Qwire's technology automates the integration of IP rights data with video, for which we have received broad patents.

Co-Founder and Advisor

Orchard

In 2010, Tipping Point Partners anticipated the explosion in the adoption of iOS devices in the enterprise and founded Orchard to pursue this opportunity, built around a team of former Apple software engineers who helped start the company. We believed that mobile systems (iOS plus SaaS) would unlock the value of data in the enterprise for the benefit of front-line workers, management and the people they serve. I am proud of our work creating platforms that included large-scale agriculture, aviation, pharmacy, and point-of-sales in partnership with the senior leadership of our customers and business partners. I served as CEO until 2013.

Founder

Columbia Lecturer (M.S. in Technology Management). Board Chair at CACF.org. Former 2021 NYC Democratic Mayoral Candidate. 

I am an award-winning creative problem solver and change agent who builds and leads teams that solve social and business problems. I have 40 years of experience demonstrating that technology, used responsibly, can change industries and society for the better. Working toward Equity and a New American Dream. 

Clifton Top 5: Input - Strategic - Activator - Communication - Individualization


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