IT leaders: does your day look like this?
Back-to-back meetings→strategic work→leading a team →(tactfully) dealing with their requests→meeting with vendors→the constant hum of potential cyber threats ringing in your ears→repeat.
No time to take a step back and see what’s happening in the wider world, right?
With something that moves as fast as AI, just catching up to what’s changed can be daunting. Below, you’ll find 12 influential voices with real clout in the AI sphere, who distill their expertise into streamlined posts, podcasts, videos and more.
Whether you’re shaping an AI adoption roadmap, tackling governance challenges, or looking for inspiration, these experts will help you navigate AI complexity with confidence.
1. Dr. Andrew Ng, Founder of DeepLearning.AI
A pioneer in ML education and large-scale AI deployment, Dr. Andrew Ng co-founded Coursera, the global online course platform, led the Google Brain project, and now runs DeepLearning.AI and Landing AI. Expect bite-sized ML tutorials and livestream Q&A sessions on DeepLearning.AI’s YouTube, covering everything from deep learning pitfalls to business use cases. He also publishes The Batch via DeepLearning.AI, a weekly newsletter highlighting key AI news, opinion and practical tips.
2. Dr. Lex Fridman, MIT Researcher and Podcaster
Dr. Lex Fridman has certified legend status at MSP GLOBAL. He researches human-centered AI at MIT’s Human-Robot Interaction Lab and connects academia and public discourse via his podcast. His in-depth conversations with AI pioneers, philosophers, entrepreneurs, and even the odd prime minister on YouTube regularly top a million views.
3. Cassie Kozyrkov, Former Google Chief Decision Scientist, AI Advisor and CEO, Kozyr
Cassie Kozyrkov is an expert in Decision Intelligence (yeah, it’s a thing), which combines data science with human behavioral science. She now advises organizations like NASA and Lenovo on bridging data, AI, and human judgment to drive better business outcomes. On LinkedIn, you’ll find posts on prompt engineering, bias mitigation, and decision frameworks. On her Substack, Decision Intelligence you’ll find in-depth posts on AI safety and ethics, prompts, and applied ML strategy, as well as AI news snippets.
4. Bernard Marr, Futurist and Thought Leader
Bernard Marr makes light work of interpreting the relevance of AI trends for business leaders. A bestselling author and keynote speaker, he guides companies on generative AI and data strategy. His LinkedIn is a one-stop resource shop. There are three newsletters you can subscribe to (AI & Future Tech Trends, The Intelligence Revolution and The Future of Work), plus his blog and “Future of Business and Technology” podcast, featuring key voices and leaders in AI and beyond.
5. Vin Vashishta, AI Strategist
An award-winning thought leader and founder of one of the first AI consulting firms, Vin has developed strategic frameworks to help enterprises reduce the cost of AI initiatives and make them profitable. His book, From Data To Profit, guides businesses to deliver value through data and AI.
His LinkedIn carries daily insight and opinion (with some great illustrative memes), plus mini-case studies on AI maturity, decision culture, and technical strategy. He also runs courses and webinars on AI product strategy.
6. Dr. Daniel Hulme, CEO, Satalia, and Chief AI Officer, WPP
One of the most recognized Chief AI Officers in the industry, Dr. Daniel has 25 years’ academic experience with AI and has presented several TEDx Talks exploring the interconnectivity of humanity and AI.
Expect thought leadership on AI ethics, neuromorphic computing, and machine consciousness, and case studies of optimization projects in retail, logistics, and the public sector.
7. Dr. Rana el Kaliouby, CEO, Affectiva, and AI innovator
Dr. Rana is a leading voice in human-computer interaction and is, in her own words, “on a mission to humanize technology before it dehumanizes us.” She has developed technologies that enable machines to recognize and respond to human emotions (Emotion AI) and is an advocate for diversity in AI. She’s also a TED speaker. Dr. Kaliouby’s podcast on Youtube, Pioneers of AI, brings together leading voices, creators and thinkers in tech, and she regularly posts video clips from industry conferences, plus short commentaries on the most pressing issues in AI and beyond.
8. Helen Yu, CEO, Tigon Advisory
Helen Yu is a digital transformation strategist who helps companies grow via AI, cybersecurity, IoT and customer experience. She’s a certified cybersecurity expert and a champion and mentor of women and minorities in tech. Helen’s YouTube series, CXO Spice, invites industry thought leaders to share their real-world experiences of how to make innovation happen in the real world. The accompanying LinkedIn newsletter offers practical advice, frameworks and best practices on AI, cybersecurity, and more.
9. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Stanford Professor and human-centered AI champion
Dr. Fei-Fei Li is one of the most recognized voices in AI and computer science. She co-founded Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute and created ImageNet, the large-scale dataset that has led to huge developments in the accuracy of AI with real-life data.
More of a voice to seek out than a regular poster, Dr. Li shares announcements of academic papers, large-scale datasets, and ImageNet challenge results, as well as snippets from keynote speeches and interviews.
10. Aishwarya Srinivasan, Head of AI Developer Relations – Growth, Fireworks AI
A Microsoft, Google and IBM alumnus, Aishwarya is a prominent voice on AI, ML, data science and GenAI applications. She’s built a community of more than half a million followers on LinkedIn and is an advocate for women and girls in tech and open-source technologies. Her weekly AI With Aish newsletter covers major releases, M&A, and report breakdowns. If Instagram is your thing, she posts hands-on tutorials and inspirational stories on Reels, and over on YouTube you’ll find her Ctrl + Alt + AI podcast series, featuring leading voices in AI.
11. Steve Nouri, Founder, AI4Diversity, and CEO and Co-Founder, GenAI Works
Data science evangelist Steve Nouri amplifies diverse voices in AI through community-driven education and collaboration. He co-founded GenAI Works, the world’s largest AI hub, and is a sought-after speaker and contributor to Forbes Technology Council and Harvard Business Review. His AI Frontier newsletter on LinkedIn offers a witty take on AI news and innovations. He’s known for his viral carousels and roundup posts, and offers tools, tips, and tricks. Also, he regularly links to GenAI Works courses.
12. Dr. Philippe Pasquier, Professor of Creative AI, School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University
If you’re interested in the intersection of AI and creative practices, Philippe is the guy to follow. He leads the Metacreation Lab for Creative AI at Simon Fraser University, and his research bridges fundamental AI theory with applied and artistic practice (think computational creativity, generative music and interactive media). He also runs a popular online course on Generative Art and Computational Creativity via Kadenze. He was an early pioneer in turning computers into rave DJs, and has made art using people’s brainwaves.
Expect thought-provoking snippets on AI and creativity, links to his online courses, and stories of Metacreation Lab alumni successfully applying creative AI in commercial settings.
October 22-23, 2025 – 
PortAventura Theme Park (Barcelona), Spain