Member since December 2022
Alenka Znidarsic, PhD, is a speaker, systems design consultant, and engineering leadership coach who works at the intersection of AI, engineering culture, and human-centered leadership. With a PhD in Electrical Engineering, a BS in Computer Science, and decades in the tech industry across research, operations, leadership, and learning design, she brings a rare combination of technical credibility and change expertise. Alenka’s core message is that AI adoption is organizational change. Human-led, AI-accelerated organizations win by aligning how people decide, collaborate, and govern so AI can reinvent work and expand capability. She speaks on AI leadership alignment, the intersection of engineering rigor and human systems, and whole-self leadership in tech.
The topics that put a smile on my face are the ones that live at the intersection of technology, leadership, and humanity. I love exploring how AI is reshaping work, how leaders can align people and systems for meaningful change, and how engineers can thrive as whole humans, not just technical performers. I’m especially energized by conversations about AI leadership alignment, engineering culture, women in tech, sustainable leadership, and the human side of innovation. At the heart of it, I’m passionate about helping bridge the gap between people and technology in a way that expands capability, trust, and possibility.
One story I might share from stage begins with my early work in AI during my PhD in the 1990s, when I used qualitative modeling and machine learning to detect faults in technical systems. Back then, AI demanded intentional system design and a deep understanding of how complex parts work together. Decades later, after a career in tech and my own personal journey through engineering culture, leadership, and reinvention, I find myself asking a similar question in a very different AI era: are we designing AI with enough intentionality for the human systems it now touches? That story allows me to connect the past and present of AI, while exploring why today’s challenge is not only technical, but deeply human and organizational.
I got to where I am today through a journey that brought together two parts of me: a love of engineering and a deep passion for people and learning. I started in computer science and engineering, earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and built my career in tech across research, operations, leadership, and communications. Over time, I realized that many of the challenges organizations face are not solved by technology alone, but by how people lead, collaborate, and design the systems around the work. That realization led me to leadership coaching, facilitation, and systems design, where I now help tech leaders create more aligned, human-centered, and effective organizations.
One story I might share from stage begins with my early work in AI during my PhD in the 1990s, when I used qualitative modeling and machine learning to detect faults in technical systems. Back then, AI demanded intentional system design and a deep understanding of how complex parts work together. Decades later, after a career in tech and my own personal journey through engineering culture, leadership, and reinvention, I find myself asking a similar question in a very different AI era: are we designing AI with enough intentionality for the human systems it now touches? That story allows me to connect the past and present of AI, while exploring why today’s challenge is not only technical, but deeply human and organizational.
I got to where I am today through a journey that brought together two parts of me: a love of engineering and a deep passion for people and learning. I started in computer science and engineering, earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and built my career in tech across research, operations, leadership, and communications. Over time, I realized that many of the challenges organizations face are not solved by technology alone, but by how people lead, collaborate, and design the systems around the work. That realization led me to leadership coaching, facilitation, and systems design, where I now help tech leaders create more aligned, human-centered, and effective organizations.