Enterprise AI · Speaker · Author

Hello.
I'm Elizabeth
Kiehner.

An Enterprise AI and Go-to-Market executive who has spent two decades at the intersection of technology, organizational design, and human behavior. I help organizations move past AI experimentation into AI that actually restructures how they operate, how they create, and how they compete.

I was building AI practices before most companies knew they needed one. Since then, I’ve co-founded an award-winning design firm, established a digital transformation office at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and built IBM’s global Interactive Experience Center of Excellence. Today, I lead enterprise GenAI customer engagement at Adobe, partnering with some of the world’s largest brands to deploy deeply customized AI models and transforming how work gets done.

The hardest part of AI transformation was never the technology. It's the people, the incentives, and the organizational courage to redesign how work actually gets done. I call this the difference between Everyday AI and Game-Changing AI — and most organizations are deeply invested in the former while believing they've achieved the latter.

"We're moving from asking 'Can AI do this?' to 'Should AI do this?'"
— Fei-Fei Li, Stanford HAI
Elizabeth Kiehner
As Featured In
Financial Times
Forbes
Fast Company
TED
United Nations
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Kiehner

Everyday AI vs.
Game-Changing AI.

I'm an Enterprise AI and Go-to-Market executive with two decades of experience at the intersection of technology strategy, human-centered design, and organizational transformation. I've co-founded a design firm, built IBM's global AI capability, led digital transformation at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and now direct enterprise GenAI customer engagement at Adobe.

At Adobe, I lead engagement management for Firefly Foundry — Adobe's enterprise GenAI platform — working with the world's largest brands navigating the real-world deployment of generative AI across NA and EMEA. Not the pilot-stage version. The kind that changes how creative teams operate, how content scales, and how organizations build durable competitive advantage through AI.

My framework — the distinction between Everyday AI and Game-Changing AI — is the intellectual thread that runs through everything I do. Everyday AI accelerates individual tasks and is rapidly commoditizing. Game-Changing AI restructures how organizations actually work and compounds value over time. Closing the gap between the two is my work.

I co-founded Thornberg & Forester in 2007 and scaled it to a $5M bi-coastal design firm building brand experiences for Samsung, REI, Khan Academy, and Ray Dalio. At IBM, I spent five years building the global design capability, launching a Center of Excellence across 35 studios worldwide that achieved $3 billion in annual revenue, co-led the joint venture with GM on a Watson-powered connected car interface, and co-led the $1.3B Red Hat acquisition pre-sales team. I was named an IBM Design Principal.

At Memorial Sloan Kettering, I co-developed the hospital's 3–5 year transformation roadmap and expanded a COVID-19 cohort monitoring program that enabled early intervention for 1,000+ patients. At Capgemini, I built a VP-level transformation practice that delivered 121% domestic revenue growth and an $80M global book of work. As Chief Strategy Officer at Nortal Americas, I owned enterprise and partner strategy, defining go-to-market with Adobe and Microsoft and driving 14% YoY revenue growth globally.

Beyond the work, I'm the award-winning author of Good Girls Don't Make History, a narrative history of the American suffragist movement, named a 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book. I write for Forbes as a member of the Forbes Business Development Council. I am the 2026–2028 Board Chair of the Polaris Project, one of the world's leading anti-human trafficking organizations, and serve on the board of JustFix and the Executive MBA Advisory Board at RIT.

I hold an Executive MBA from RIT's Saunders College of Business and certificates in AI Strategy and Applied Agentic AI for Organizational Transformation from MIT Sloan.

Board Chair: Polaris ProjectBoard: JustFixAdvisory: RIT Saunders EMBA
20+
Years in Enterprise AI
$3B
IBM Design Revenue
35
Global Studios Launched
Elizabeth Kiehner on the SXSW panel 'Built for Change: The Human OS for Enterprise Agility'
Elizabeth Kiehner in a fireside chat on orchestrating real-time journeys
Elizabeth Kiehner on the Digital Hollywood panel at CES 2026
Elizabeth Kiehner with industry peers at CES
Elizabeth Kiehner speaking on stage
Elizabeth Kiehner speaker portrait

I make AI strategy
legible.

Most AI conversations happen at two extremes: breathless hype or paralyzing fear. I work in the space between — translating what's actually happening inside enterprise AI deployment into language that executives, employees, boards, and policymakers can act on. I don't speak in abstractions. I speak from inside the work.

Download Speaker BioBook a Talk

Six topics.
One mission.

Drawing on two decades at the intersection of technology, organizational design, and human behavior — from the early days of IBM Watson through the generative AI wave reshaping creative work at Adobe today — Elizabeth knows which parts of the hype cycle are real, which aren't, and what it actually takes to move from experimentation to transformation.

01
Everyday AI vs. Game-Changing AI

Why most enterprise AI investment isn't restructuring how work gets done, and what organizations need to do differently to reach the other side of that gap.

02
The AI Transparency Gap

Why employees hide their most valuable AI workflows, what that costs organizations, and why the solution isn't a policy — it's an incentive architecture redesign.

03
AI Governance at the Speed of the Exponential

Why the policy apparatus is a year behind the capability curve, what that means for enterprise leaders, and how to close the gap before it becomes a liability.

04
Human-Centered Design in the Age of AI

Why the organizations that win with AI aren't the ones with the best models, but the ones that build systems people will actually trust and use.

05
Leading Through Technological Disruption

Lessons from two decades of 'the next big thing': what changes, what never does, and how to build an organization agile enough to survive both.

06
Executive Presence in the Age of AI

How senior leaders establish credibility, command rooms, and communicate with authority when the technology moves faster than most executive communication frameworks were built to handle.

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The Book
Good Girls Don't Make History book cover
Good Girls Don't Make History physical copyGood Girls Don't Make History book pages
🏆 2022 Social Justice Literature Award Winner
🏅 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book

Good Girls
Don't Make History

Take a roller coaster ride with three generations of unstoppable women who fought relentlessly for the simple right to vote. Designed for a young adult audience but meaningful for all ages and genders — a story about strength, resilience, and persistence. Women's rights advocates, history buffs, and anyone passionate about making a difference in the future of America will love this book.

An essential graphic novel that amplifies the voices of female legends from 1840 to the present day. These names and stories are largely unrepresented in current curricula. Building on the achievements of the fight for women's vote can help us create a better reality for generations to come. Future books in this series will cover sagas of African American, Native American, and Asian American women fighting for their freedom.

Named a 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council.

"A powerful and important examination of some key figures in the ongoing fight for equality — accounts of bravery, perseverance and courage that are truly inspiring for readers of any age."

— Mary Stephenson

"Middle schoolers seeking to get their feet wet with historical nonfiction will appreciate this work."

— School Library Journal
What People Say

Voices from the audience & page.

A powerful and important examination of some key figures in the ongoing fight for equality. Accounts of bravery, perseverance and courage that are truly inspiring for readers of any age.

Mary Stephenson
Book Reviewer — Good Girls Don't Make History

Middle schoolers seeking to get their feet wet with historical nonfiction will appreciate this work. A vital addition to any classroom or library.

School Library Journal
Featured Review

Elizabeth has an extraordinary ability to make complex topics consumable and approachable. She is a sought-after voice on gender equality, AI, and the future of work — and for good reason.

Event Organizer
Global Innovation Tour

Strategic, inspiring, and deeply human. Liz brings a rare combination of executive gravitas and genuine warmth that moves every audience she speaks to.

Conference Chair
Flex Summit — Future of Work
Get in Touch

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

Whether you're looking for a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, media contributor, or a collaborator on something new — Elizabeth would love to hear from you.