What happens when we bring more humanity—and humor—into technology, leadership, and the systems that shape our world? In this episode, discover how we can do good better amidst complexity, disruption, and AI-driven change.

In this episode, Kate O’Neill welcomes author, comic, and advisor Jess Pettitt to explore how imperfect people and organizations can “do good better.” Together, they tackle topics from confronting bias in technology and leadership, to creating cultures where dissent—and learning from failure—are possible. Jess Pettitt shares high-stakes humor and vulnerable stories, unpacking why “good enough now” is sometimes vital and sometimes not enough.

Topics covered:

• Using humor to open up difficult conversations
• The limits of certainty and performance in leadership
• Organizational values and aligning intention with action
• The power of curiosity and the “Prepare, Recognize, Respond” framework
• Navigating positional power and fostering inclusive cultures
• Exposing neutrality and hidden power in technology and policy
• Redefining hope, agency, and responsibility in complex environments
• Generosity and actionable steps for failing together in the right direction

Connect with Jess Pettitt
Website


Episode Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:19 Guest Introduction: Jess Pettitt and Body of Work
03:19 A Flamingo, Complexity, and Unexpected Human Moments
05:21 Humor’s Role in Difficult Conversations
09:11 Learning, Language, and Avoiding Performative Efforts
12:16 Organizational Values, Shared Goals, and Truth Telling
15:24 Discomfort with Complexity and the Realities of Safety
17:00 Making Room for Dissent and Practicing Curiosity
19:41 Feedback Loops and Real-Time Adjustment
24:08 AI Tools, Accuracy, and Personal Responsibility
26:44 Cultural and Conscious Response vs. Habitual Reaction
29:42 “Good Enough Now”—Progress, Stakes, and Ethics
33:24 Humanity, Everyday Generosity, and Self-Reflection
36:30 Balancing Ego and Humility in Driving Change
39:09 Power, Voice, and Cultural Structures in Organizations
45:25 Recognizing Politics and Power Hiding Behind “Neutrality”
51:59 Imagining a Hopeful, Human-Centered Future
57:32 Reclaiming Coexistence and Forward-Looking Hope
01:01:29 Closing Remarks and Takeaways

How do data science and AI impact social justice, and what happens when massive tech infrastructure lands in local communities?

Assistant professor and author Ben Green joins Kate O’Neill on The Tech Humanist Show to discuss AI, data centers, and how technology impacts social justice, communities, and local governments. Hear insights on responsible data science, community resistance, and sustainable tech.

Topics covered:

• The relationship between data science, AI, and social justice
• Algorithmic Realism and responsible data science methods
• Public resistance and organizing against data center expansion
• Impact of data centers on small towns and local governance
• Environmental justice and the burdens of tech development
• Power grid strain and electricity cost distribution
• The opaque economics and long-term sustainability of data centers
• The role of technologists and communities in shaping technology’s future

Connect with Ben Green
Website
Signup for Algorithmic Realism

Episode Chapters:
00:04 Introduction to The Tech Humanist Show
01:29 Conversation with Ben Green Begins
02:05 Data Science and Social Justice: The Connection and Contradictions
03:49 Algorithmic Realism: Rethinking Responsible Data Science
06:13 Unlearning Optimization: Real Stories from Boston EMS
09:31 Beyond Tech: The “Smart Enough City” Philosophy
10:26 Hype, Policy, and the Expansion of Data Centers
13:49 The Power Imbalance and Role of Public Resistance
16:54 Key Findings from “What Happens When Data Centers Come to Town”
21:36 Land Use, Community Decisions, and Generational Trade-offs
24:55 Environmental Justice & Health: Who Bears the Burden?
28:25 Data Centers, Power Grid Strains, and Electricity Costs
33:17 Hardware, Supply Chain, and the Sustainability of Data Centers
36:41 Heat Generation and Local Climate Effects
38:09 How Community Organizing Shapes Technological Outcomes
42:41 Building a Bridge: Technologists, Communities, and Hope for the Future
46:21 Closing Thoughts and What Gives Hope

Can mission-driven technology and AI truly work hand-in-hand to better serve humanity?

Join Kate O’Neill as she brings The Tech Humanist Show live to the SAFe & AI Summit with a compelling conversation featuring Lindsay Ann Wirthlin, who leads enterprise agile transformation at the American Red Cross.

Lindsay shares powerful stories about weaving technology into mission-driven work when every minute counts. Discover how the American Red Cross uses SAFe patterns and agile practices as the backbone for AI adoption and organizational change.

Topics Covered

• Mission-driven technology at the Red Cross
• The role of SAFe patterns in AI adoption
• Prioritization in high-urgency organizations
• Tackling change and adoption fatigue
• Overcoming the human barriers to AI
• Partnerships between Agile and AI teams
• Measuring business value in technology transformation
• Practical workshops for AI intake and adoption
• Building trust and conflict resolution between teams
• Success stories and the importance of scaffolding
• The core of agile: people and relationships

Connect with Lindsay Ann Wirthlin
The American Red Cross
Lindsay Ann’s Instagram

Connect with Scaled Agile on LinkedIn
SAFe by Scaled Agile, Inc
AI-Native Training by Scaled Agile, Inc.


Episode Chapters
00:04 Introduction and context at the AI Summit
01:13 Mission-driven technology in action
02:17 Technology and the human experience at the Red Cross
03:34 What is SAFe and why it matters for leaders
04:06 Prioritization in urgent, mission-critical settings
05:21 Integrating AI: fears, realities, and professional impact
07:01 Navigating AI and Agile priorities
08:38 Signals & strategies for closing collaboration loops
09:42 Adoption fatigue and the human side of new tech
12:01 Bridging AI and organizational change management
13:17 Agile transformation as scaffolding for AI
15:28 From idea to outcome: real-world application of agile + AI
17:40 Forging practical partnerships between Agile COE and AI
19:11 Team linkages, intake models, and coaching
22:02 Decision-making boundaries and conflict resolution
24:23 Measuring effectiveness across teams
26:10 The AI intake problem-solving workshop
29:03 Lowering the adoption threshold: demos and use cases
32:15 AI coaches and bridging team learning
34:17 Tooling innovations for backlog management
35:55 Practices for Monday: inspect, adapt, and connect
38:04 The heart of transformation: people as scaffolding
39:39 Sources of hope and looking ahead
41:23 Closing remarks & credits


#SAFeSummitSanDiego #AINativeSAFe #SAFe

What if true digital inclusion started by listening to those most often left out?

In this episode of The Tech Humanist Show, Anu Bhardwaj—founder of Sheqonomi and The State of Women—joins Kate O’Neill to reveal how low-connectivity tech innovations and radically inclusive design can help unlock women’s economic power for the “bottom billion.” Discover stories, solutions, and a powerful new lens on the future of tech and equity. Don’t miss this inspiring, actionable conversation!

Topics covered:

• Digital inclusion and access for the bottom billion
• Designing tech for low-connectivity and basic devices
• The importance of listening to marginalized voices
• Data attribution vs. data extraction
• Indigenous wisdom and oral traditions
• Measuring prosperity beyond GDP: Gross National Happiness
• The role of language and localization in tech platforms
• The importance of men in supporting women’s economic power
• Aligning philanthropy, startups, and government for sustainable impact
• Lessons in resilience and adaptation as a social entrepreneur
• Personal practices for hope and perseverance

Connect with Anu Bhardwaj
SHEQONOMI
STATE OF WOMEN INSTITUTE
LinkedIn

Episode Chapters:

[00:00:04] Introduction to The Tech Humanist Show
[00:00:37] Meet Anu Bhardwaj: Origin story and Sheqonomi’s mission
[00:02:06] Homeschooling during COVID sparks global digital access questions
[00:05:16] Designing technology for low-connectivity realities
[00:07:10] Misconceptions about the “bottom billion” and true listening
[00:08:44] Practical approaches to digital inclusivity
[00:11:38] From data extraction to data attribution
[00:12:45] Advancing women’s economic power and global policymaking
[00:13:22] The difference between access and agency
[00:14:39] Rethinking prosperity: From GDP to Gross National Happiness
[00:16:19] Smartphone access as a default—and its pitfalls
[00:17:41] Language, localization, and the global reach of tech
[00:20:13] The crucial role of men in women’s economic empowerment
[00:23:14] How organizations can audit AI for inclusion
[00:27:27] Philanthropy, startups, government: Moving from aid to sustainability
[00:30:38] Lessons from the social entrepreneurship journey
[00:34:07] Staying grounded and hopeful in challenging times
[00:36:43] Where to find more about Anu Bhardwaj and Sheqonomi
[00:38:14] What keeps Anu hopeful and inspired
[00:40:01] Closing and show credits

Are you struggling to make complex ideas clear and drive real adoption in a world full of noise and rapid change?

Tamsen Webster and Kate O’Neill dive deep to discover how leaders can design understanding, foster sensemaking, and communicate authentically—especially in the age of AI and cognitive overload.

Topics Covered

Designing understanding vs. leaving it to chance
Avoiding manipulation and supporting agency
Sensemaking vs. persuasion
Communicating complexity and change in organizations
Framing messages for genuine adoption
Human information processing and the role of curiosity
AI-mediated communication: risks, opportunities, and bell curves
Cognitive overload and capturing productive attention
Transfer of ideas and the importance of commonly-held beliefs
Transparency, uncertainty, and the power of theory-based communication
Sensemaking vs. meaning-making
What keeps us hopeful about the future of human connection

Connect with Tamsen Webster

Website
”Say What They Can’t Unhear” (book page)
LinkedIn
Instagram

Episode Chapters

00:04 Introduction: The Tech Humanist Show and today’s challenge for leaders
02:15 Tamsen Webster’s journey into message design
05:48 Alignment and complexity in communication
07:01 Where leaders go wrong with complexity
09:18 Avoiding oversimplification—layering information
12:28 Persuasion vs. genuine sensemaking and learning
16:15 The cost of coercive persuasion and non-coercive approaches
21:00 Communicating in the age of AI: leaders’ new challenges
27:06 Human brains, AI, and the limits of insight
29:06 Coping with fragmented attention and cognitive overload
33:59 Building curiosity and harnessing reciprocity
34:20 Communicating uncertainty and theory-based leadership
38:44 Juxtaposition, innovation, and clarity
39:16 Where to find Tamsen’s work
40:00 Lightning round: favorite questions, books, and hope for the future
44:10 Closing and show credits

What if AI could help managers see the whole human, not just the numbers?

Discover how technology is reshaping performance management to be more personalized, supportive, and genuinely human-focused in this conversation between two Kate O’Neills (O’Neil and O’Neill).

Topics covered:

• The confusion and connection of sharing a nearly identical name
• The mission and approach of Opre in performance management
• The challenges and insights from building an AI-powered HR tool
• How AI can complement (not replace) human judgment in management
• The pitfalls of traditional performance reviews
• Identifying and using the right signals for employee growth
• Addressing bias and ensuring fairness with AI in the workplace
• The impact of local culture (Nashville) on tech company building
• Dimensionalizing the human experience at work
• The importance of patience and hope in the future of work and AI

Connect with Kate O’Neil
Website
LinkedIn

Episode Chapters:
00:04 Introduction: The Two Kate O’Neills
03:07 Opre’s Mission and Origins
05:36 Personal Story: Management Firsts and Professional Growth
07:41 What Software Hasn’t Helped With & Insights from Management Practice
10:09 Reimagining the Performance Review
12:10 What Signals Matter in Evaluating Performance?
14:14 Where Humans Must Take the Lead Over AI
17:09 Skills, Systems, Culture & Human Judgment
20:32 Addressing Power Dynamics and Bias in Performance Management
23:09 Improving Performance Without Flattening People
25:19 Dimensionality, Data, and Learning from Knowledge Graphs
29:51 Platform-Mediated Identity & Selfhood
36:00 Nashville’s Influence and the Power of Collaboration
42:10 The Future of Opre and What’s Still Hard at Work
46:24 What This Moment in Work and AI Asks of Us
48:19 Where to Connect with Opre
48:45 Credits and Closing

What can weird fiction teach us about navigating a reality shaped by technology, environmental crisis, and the shifting boundaries between human and non-human perspectives?

In this episode of the Tech Humanist Show, the conversation focused on the power of “weirdness” as both a signal from the future and a way to make sense of our rapidly changing world. Special guest Kate Marshall, professor of English at the University of Notre Dame and author of Novels by Weird: Tales and the 21st Century, joins to explore how weird fiction, genre hybridity, and non-human narration can offer unique insights into technology, scale, and what it means to stay human as reality grows stranger.

Dive into how stories, genres, and the unexpected “weird” help us make sense of complex systems and imagine better futures.

Topics Covered

• Weirdness as a lens for the future
• The evolution of “weird fiction” and its historical context
• Non-human narration and narrative experiments
• Genre’s role in conceptual thinking
• Scale and the challenge of representing catastrophe
• The reading crisis and cultural shifts in reading
• AI, storytelling, and the transformation of narrative
• Speculative fiction as a thinking tool
• Weirdness as data and a signal from the future
• Balancing melancholy and optimism for the future

Connect with Kate Marshall
Website
Linkedin
Novels by Aliens: Weird Tales and the Twenty-First Century

Episode Chapters
00:00: Introduction to the Tech Humanist Show and the concept of weirdness
01:55: Kate Marshall on taking weirdness seriously
04:40: How 21st-century novels are getting weirder
06:09: The rise of non-human perspectives in contemporary fiction
09:48: Genre as a space for novelists to wrestle with scale
13:54: Genre fragments as creative encounters with societal wreckage
16:00: Scale: Representing catastrophe and individual experience
20:27: Tension between decentering the human and human narration
23:18: How non-human perspectives shift agency and responsibility
25:50: The contemporary crisis in reading and criticism
28:03: AI, large language models, and the future of reading/writing
31:32: Genre, language models, and the future of literary creativity
36:16: Story moves for imagining and building better futures
38:56: Treating weirdness as data, not doom
40:46: Optimism, storytelling, and hope for the future
43:22: Outro and thanks

What does it really mean for AI governance to be more than just buzzwords—and how do we build systems that are worthy of our trust?

This week on the Tech Humanist Show, we get candid with responsible AI expert and Algorithmic Justice League advisor, Rebekah Tweed. Together, we explore the not-so-glamorous (but oh-so-crucial) world of AI governance—think less “theater,” more real talk on trust, transparency, and protecting our privacy.

Topics covered:
The evolution of responsible AI as a corporate function
Balancing safety and privacy in AI applications
Algorithmic harms in everyday life (hiring, healthcare, security)
Why harm in AI is more than just a technical bug
Organizational trust and accountability in AI governance
Practical evidence of responsible AI practices
The importance of transparency, literacy, and public trust
Building AI governance that is operational—not just performative
Roles for government and open source in shaping responsible AI
What gives hope for the future of AI and public infrastructure


Connect with Rebekah Tweed
AJL Website
AJL United LinkedIn
Rebekah’s LinkedIn




Episode Chapters:
00:04 Introduction to the Tech Humanist Show
00:17 Responsible AI Becomes an Organizational Norm
01:29 Rebekah Tweed’s Journey from Music Industry to AI Governance
03:36 AI’s Impact on the Creative Arts and Early Influences
04:57 The Rise of AI Governance Teams and Job Roles
06:12 Building Responsible Tech Career Development
07:38 What Responsible AI Means in Human Terms
09:36 Algorithmic Harms in Ordinary Life and Public Response
15:38 When AI Harm is a Deeper Systems Problem
18:57 How to Build Genuine, Non-Theatrical AI Governance
25:16 Evidence That AI Governance Is Real
29:12 Cultural Weirdness, Systems Strangeness, and Literacy
35:13 Speed, Trust, and What Leaders Need to Know
37:42 What Gives Hope for a Responsible AI Future
40:22 Outro and Credits