Helen Kupp

Founder, Women Defining AI
Author, How The Future Works

Helen Lee Kupp is the founder of Women Defining AI, a global community empowering women to lead in the era of generative AI through experimentation, learning, and collective support. She is the co-author of the WSJ bestseller How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives, and a sought-after speaker and advisor at the intersection of AI, work, and inclusion. Helen brings over a decade of experience in scaling startups and shaping enterprise strategy, having served as Director of Strategy & Analytics and later Senior Director of Product Strategy at Slack, where she helped grow the company from $75M to over $1B in ARR.

She also co-founded Future Forum, a research-based consortium backed by Slack that guided Fortune 500 leaders in redesigning work for a more flexible and inclusive future. Today, Helen advises AI startups and Fortune 500 companies alike, blending hands-on experimentation with practical strategy to help teams navigate both the promise and the uncertainty of new technologies. Her work bridges human insight with emerging tools, with a focus on closing the gender gap in tech and building a future of work that works better for everyone.

From Fear to Flow: Building AI-Ready Teams Through Hands-On Learning

At Responsive Conference 2025, Helen Lee Kupp brings deep operational expertise and a community-centered lens to one of the biggest questions of our time: how do we adopt AI in a way that feels human? As the founder of Women Defining AI and co-author of How the Future Works, Helen helps leaders bridge the gap between urgent tech shifts and the emotional realities of change. With a background leading product and strategy at Slack and advising global companies on flexibility and innovation, she’s focused on creating environments where teams can experiment safely, build trust, and adapt together.

While most executives feel urgency around AI, adoption on the ground remains slow and the real obstacle isn’t the tools, it’s the fear. In this interactive session, Helen joins Brian Elliott (Future Forum) to explore the emotional undercurrents of transformation and what it takes to make AI adoption truly stick. Drawing from their experience inside large enterprises and grassroots communities, they’ll introduce a practical, team-first framework for responsible AI integration – one rooted in psychological safety, curiosity, and shared learning.