New York Times bestselling author
The Lean Startup and
Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great

Over the last two decades, Eric Ries’s ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices. He is the creator of the Lean Startup method, and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, The Leader’s Guide, The Startup Way, and Incorruptible.

As a founder, he has put his own ideas into practice with The Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE); Answer.AI, an AI R&D lab; Virgil, a legal services startup; and IMVU. On The Eric Ries Show, he talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, and executives building for the long-term. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.

Head of the Work AI Institute, Glean
Author, Your Best Meeting Ever

Rebecca Hinds, PhD, leads the Work AI Institute at Glean, where she studies how artificial intelligence is transforming the way people work. Her research focuses on collaboration, productivity, and how emerging technologies reshape workplace behavior. She is also the author of Your Best Meeting Ever, a book that explores how organizations can design more effective and meaningful meetings.

Before joining Glean, Rebecca spent years researching workplace collaboration and leadership practices, helping organizations better understand how people interact and make decisions. Her work bridges academic research and practical application, helping leaders rethink how work happens in the age of intelligent tools.

Collaboration in the Era of AI

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how work happens—from how information is accessed to how teams collaborate and make decisions.

In this session, Rebecca Hinds will explore what these changes mean for leaders and organizations. Drawing on research and real-world examples, she will examine how AI tools are influencing workplace dynamics, productivity patterns, and knowledge sharing. The talk will also address how leaders can thoughtfully integrate AI while maintaining human judgment, collaboration, and trust.

CEO at D'Artagnan Advisors
Co-Founder at Vibrancy
Author of The No-Limits Enterprise

Doug Kirkpatrick is a leadership advisor, author, and long-time advocate for self-management and organizational freedom. He spent more than two decades at Morning Star, the world’s largest tomato processing company, where he helped develop one of the most widely studied examples of a self-managed organization. At Morning Star, Doug helped pioneer systems that replaced traditional management hierarchies with peer commitments, personal responsibility, and distributed decision-making.

Today, Doug is CEO of D’Artagnan Advisors and co-founder of Vibrancy, where he works with organizations around the world to design workplaces rooted in trust, autonomy, and accountability. Through consulting, writing, and speaking, he helps leaders rethink traditional management practices and build organizations where individuals take ownership of their work. He is the author of The No-Limits Enterprise, which explores how organizations can thrive when unnecessary constraints are removed.

Two Principles of Highly Effective Organizations

What if you could manage an organization of any size with just two principles? Don't use force. Keep your commitments.

Doug Kirkpatrick has spent decades studying what happens when organizations trade hierarchy for trust — and the results are hard to argue with. A pioneer of the self-management movement and author of Beyond Empowerment, Doug draws on work with companies around the world to make the case that great complexity can be navigated with remarkable simplicity. In this keynote, he explores the philosophical foundations of self-managing organizations, the role of language and conscious leadership, and why — at a moment when AI is making hierarchy look increasingly obsolete — the wave of non-hierarchical work may finally be arriving in the United States.

Organization Strategy
Alphabet

Jennifer Turner works in organizational strategy at Alphabet, where she advises leaders across the Alphabet family of companies on leadership development, organizational effectiveness, and strategic decision-making. Through coaching and mentorship, she supports leaders navigating complex challenges, rapid growth, and evolving organizational dynamics. Her work focuses on helping leaders develop the skills and systems needed to guide teams through uncertainty.

Working across a diverse ecosystem of companies within Alphabet, Jennifer helps leaders strengthen communication, refine strategy, and build cultures that support both performance and resilience. Her approach combines practical frameworks with real-world leadership experience, helping organizations build leadership capacity while remaining adaptable in fast-changing environments.

How to Not Run Around like a Chicken with Your Head Cut Off

Modern leaders are navigating an unprecedented level of uncertainty. Rapid technological change, shifting workforce expectations, and evolving markets are forcing organizations to adapt faster than ever before.

In this interactive workshop, Jennifer Turner will share frameworks and leadership tools she uses with leaders across Alphabet. The session will explore how leaders can make thoughtful decisions when the path forward is unclear, how to communicate during times of change, and how to create alignment across teams facing complex challenges. Participants will also reflect on their own leadership approaches and explore practical techniques for guiding teams through uncertainty while maintaining clarity and trust.

Organizational Designer
Airbnb

Tim Casasola is an organizational designer at Airbnb, where he works on large-scale initiatives focused on organizational structure, leadership systems, and change management. Over the course of his career, he has helped organizations rethink how teams are structured, how decisions are made, and how companies adapt during periods of growth and transformation. His work sits at the intersection of strategy, organizational development, and design.

A longtime member of the Responsive community, Tim has spent years exploring how organizations can move beyond traditional management models toward more adaptive and resilient structures. At Airbnb, he applies these ideas in practice by helping the company evolve its organizational systems while maintaining the flexibility required to operate in a rapidly changing global environment.

The Architecture of Organizations

Organizations today are constantly evolving. New technologies, shifting markets, and changing employee expectations require companies to rethink how they structure teams and make decisions.

In this session, Tim Casasola will share lessons from his work designing organizational systems at Airbnb. He will explore how companies can adapt structures without losing clarity, how leaders can guide teams through transformation, and how thoughtful organizational design can support innovation and resilience. Attendees will gain insight into how large organizations evolve over time and how leaders can approach structural change in ways that strengthen collaboration rather than disrupt it.

Founder and General Partner, 1517 Fund
Co-founder, The Thiel Fellowship

Danielle Strachman is the founder and general partner of 1517 Fund, a venture capital firm that backs ambitious founders building transformative companies. Before launching the fund, she co-founded the Thiel Fellowship, a program that supports young entrepreneurs pursuing unconventional paths outside traditional educational systems. Her work has focused on identifying bold thinkers early and helping them develop ideas that challenge established industries.

Through 1517 Fund, Danielle invests in founders working across deep technology, science, and frontier innovation. She is known for championing unconventional talent and supporting individuals willing to take risks on big ideas. Her work sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, education, and venture investing, and she continues to explore how new generations of founders are building companies in an increasingly uncertain and rapidly changing world.

How to Build Unreasonable Companies in Uncertain Times

Innovation rarely follows a predictable path. Many of the most transformative companies begin as ideas that seem unconventional, risky, or even impossible.

In this fishbowl, Danielle Strachman will explore what it takes to build bold companies in uncertain times. Drawing on her experience backing early-stage founders, she will discuss how entrepreneurs identify overlooked opportunities, take calculated risks, and pursue ambitious ideas. The conversation will also examine how younger generations of founders are approaching education, experimentation, and long-term impact differently. With space for audience participation, the session invites attendees to join the discussion about how innovation actually happens.

Founder & CEO,
Late Nite Art

Adam Rosendahl is the founder of Late Nite Art, an immersive creative experience that blends art, storytelling, music, and audience participation. His events transform traditional art viewing into a shared creative experience, inviting audiences to become active participants rather than passive observers. Late Nite Art has been performed for audiences across the United States and internationally.

At the Responsive Conference, Late Nite Art has become a beloved tradition and is often described by attendees as one of the most memorable parts of the gathering. Adam’s work explores how creativity can bring people together, spark new perspectives, and create moments of connection that extend beyond traditional conference formats.

Late Nite Art

Late Nite Art returns to Responsive Conference as one of the gathering’s most memorable experiences. Created by Adam Rosendahl, this immersive event invites participants to step into the creative process and collaborate on a shared artwork.

Throughout the event, music, storytelling, and live performance unfold as attendees contribute to a large-scale collaborative painting. The experience is designed to spark creativity, curiosity, and play—reminding participants that creativity is not limited to artists alone. By the end of the session, the room will have created something that could only exist through collective participation.

Lead Singer
Sons of Serendip

Micah Christian is the lead vocalist of Sons of Serendip, a musical ensemble known for blending classical training with contemporary musical styles. The group first gained national attention as finalists on America’s Got Talent, where their emotional performances and distinctive sound captivated audiences. Since then, they have performed across the United States and internationally.

As the voice of the ensemble, Micah brings warmth and emotional depth to each performance, combining powerful vocals with storytelling through music. Sons of Serendip’s work blends classical instrumentation, modern arrangements, and heartfelt interpretation, creating performances that resonate deeply with audiences.

Pianist, Sons of Serendip

Cordaro Rodriguez is a pianist and founding member of Sons of Serendip, a musical group known for their unique fusion of classical, contemporary, and cinematic music. With a background in classical training, Cordaro brings expressive musicianship and thoughtful arrangement to the ensemble’s performances, helping shape the group’s signature sound.

Together with the group, Cordaro has performed for audiences around the world, creating powerful musical experiences that blend technical precision with emotional storytelling. Sons of Serendip’s performances emphasize connection, creativity, and the shared emotional power of music.

Founder & CEO
Slate

Michelle Vitus is the founder and CEO of Slate, where she advises organizations on leadership, culture, and talent strategy. Her work focuses on helping companies design leadership systems and organizational practices that support both strong performance and long-term resilience.

Michelle works closely with founders, executives, and people leaders navigating growth and transformation. By combining leadership development with organizational design, she helps teams rethink how leadership works in modern organizations and how companies can create environments where people and ideas can thrive.

AI & Talent: An Unfiltered Fishbowl

Artificial intelligence is changing not only how work gets done but also how organizations think about talent, leadership, and capability. Roles are evolving, skill requirements are shifting, and traditional career paths are being reconsidered across industries.

In this fishbowl-style discussion, Michelle Vitus, Michelle Wagner, Lucia Guillory, and Brandon Sammut will share unfiltered takes on how talent strategy is adapting to these changes. The conversation will examine how organizations are preparing employees for new types of work, how leadership expectations are evolving, and what companies must do to support both performance and human development in an AI-enabled workplace. And there's an empty seat at the table — come up, challenge something, and add your own experience to the conversation.

Chief People & AI Transformation Officer, Zapier

Brandon Sammut is Chief People & AI Transformation Officer at Zapier — the AI orchestration platform built on a 750-person, all-remote team spanning 40+ countries. As one of the first executives to hold a combined people and AI transformation role, Brandon operates from the belief that real AI transformation starts with talent and culture, not just tools. He's built Zapier into a blueprint for AI-first organizations, with 97% of employees using AI in their daily work. Before Zapier, he was Chief People & Culture Officer at LiveRamp. He holds an MBA and M.Ed. from Stanford and a BA from the University of Michigan.

AI & Talent: An Unfiltered Fishbowl

Artificial intelligence is changing not only how work gets done but also how organizations think about talent, leadership, and capability. Roles are evolving, skill requirements are shifting, and traditional career paths are being reconsidered across industries.

In this fishbowl-style discussion, Michelle Vitus, Michelle Wagner, Lucia Guillory, and Brandon Sammut will share unfiltered takes on how talent strategy is adapting to these changes. The conversation will examine how organizations are preparing employees for new types of work, how leadership expectations are evolving, and what companies must do to support both performance and human development in an AI-enabled workplace. And there's an empty seat at the table — come up, challenge something, and add your own experience to the conversation.

Chief People Officer
Virta Health

Lucia Guillory, PhD, is Chief People Officer at Virta Health, where she leads people strategy for a rapidly growing healthcare technology company. Previously, she served as Head of People at Patreon, helping guide the company through periods of growth while building a strong culture and leadership development systems.

Lucia’s work focuses on designing organizations where people can thrive while companies scale. With experience leading talent strategy in high-growth technology environments, she brings a thoughtful perspective on leadership development, culture building, and how people teams can support both performance and well-being.

AI & Talent: An Unfiltered Fishbowl

Artificial intelligence is changing not only how work gets done but also how organizations think about talent, leadership, and capability. Roles are evolving, skill requirements are shifting, and traditional career paths are being reconsidered across industries.

In this fishbowl-style discussion, Michelle Vitus, Michelle Wagner, Lucia Guillory, and Brandon Sammut will share unfiltered takes on how talent strategy is adapting to these changes. The conversation will examine how organizations are preparing employees for new types of work, how leadership expectations are evolving, and what companies must do to support both performance and human development in an AI-enabled workplace. And there's an empty seat at the table — come up, challenge something, and add your own experience to the conversation.

Operating Partner,
People and Talent at Playground Global

Michelle Wagner is Operating Partner, People and Talent at Playground Global, a deep tech venture firm. A 25-year startup executive, she previously served as CEO of Mindstrong, a healthtech company she led through a successful acquisition in 2023, and before that as a Chief People Officer. She brings a rare perspective that spans HR, the C-suite, and venture capital.

AI & Talent: An Unfiltered Fishbowl

Artificial intelligence is changing not only how work gets done but also how organizations think about talent, leadership, and capability. Roles are evolving, skill requirements are shifting, and traditional career paths are being reconsidered across industries.

In this fishbowl-style discussion, Michelle Vitus, Michelle Wagner, Lucia Guillory, and Brandon Sammut will share unfiltered takes on how talent strategy is adapting to these changes. The conversation will examine how organizations are preparing employees for new types of work, how leadership expectations are evolving, and what companies must do to support both performance and human development in an AI-enabled workplace. And there's an empty seat at the table — come up, challenge something, and add your own experience to the conversation.Description goes here

Founder & CEO
Forshay

Sally Thornton is the founder and CEO of Forshay, a talent advisory firm that helps organizations find and develop exceptional leaders. With decades of experience in executive search and leadership advisory, she works with companies navigating growth, transformation, and leadership change.

Sally is known for her ability to facilitate thoughtful and candid conversations with senior leaders. Her work focuses on helping organizations understand what effective leadership looks like in rapidly evolving business environments and how companies can build leadership teams capable of navigating uncertainty.

Leadership at Work: A CPO Fishbowl

Leadership conversations are often filtered through presentations and panels. But what happens when leaders interview each other directly?

In this session, Sally Thornton will facilitate an “interview in the round” conversation with several Chief People Officers. Each participant will interview another leader on stage, rotating through a series of candid conversations about leadership, talent strategy, and the future of work. The format is designed to surface honest insights and real experiences from leaders shaping modern organizations.

Chief People Officer
Springline Advisory

As Chief People Officer at Springline Advisory, Erin builds people strategies that accelerate business growth — and dismantles the systems, processes, and mindsets that get in the way. Her approach is grounded in the belief that when people are able to show up as their true selves, organizations grow faster, cultures get stronger, and the work gets better.

Springline Advisory is one of the fastest-growing accounting and advisory firms in the country — recognized as the 6th Fastest-Growing Firm in 2026 by Accounting Today — and Erin is building the people infrastructure to match.

Experiments with AI: An Interview in the Round

Everyone is talking about AI. Far fewer people are sharing what they’re actually doing.

In this unique interview-in-the-round session, a group of Chief People Officers will take turns interviewing one another about a real AI experiment they’ve led inside their organizations over the past year. From workforce enablement and employee training to policy, governance, recruiting, and productivity, each conversation will unpack a specific initiative: what problem they were trying to solve, what they learned, what surprised them, and what they’d do differently next time.

Facilitated by Sally Thornton, this session is designed to move beyond theory and into practice. Attendees will leave with concrete examples, hard-earned lessons, and practical ideas they can take back to their own organizations. Whether your company is just getting started with AI or already deep into implementation, you’ll gain a candid look at how people leaders are navigating one of the most significant workplace shifts of our time.

Founding Faculty & Head of Fellow Program
Leaders in Tech

Tony Levitan is a founding faculty member and head of the Fellows Program at Leaders in Tech, where he works with emerging technology leaders to develop stronger leadership capabilities and more thoughtful organizational practices. A former Chief People Officer and leadership advisor, Tony has spent years helping organizations navigate growth, culture change, and leadership development.

Through his work in leadership education and consulting, Tony focuses on helping leaders build organizations that support learning, adaptability, and long-term human development. His approach blends practical leadership tools with deeper exploration of how people learn, collaborate, and grow within complex organizations.

How To Develop the Next Generation of Leaders

The pace of technological change is reshaping what leadership requires. Technical expertise alone is no longer enough; leaders must also cultivate emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the ability to guide teams through complexity.

In this session, Tony Levitan will share insights from his work developing emerging leaders in the technology industry. The conversation will explore how leadership development programs can support both professional growth and personal transformation. Tony will also discuss the skills and mindsets future leaders will need to build organizations that are resilient, thoughtful, and capable of thriving in rapidly changing environments.

American Conservatory Theater

J. Noble is an adaptable facilitator and coach with 25 years of experience in learning and development, creating transformative environments that enhance workforce capabilities. Drawing from his background in theatre, J. uses dynamic, rehearsal-based approaches to promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

He began his career as a professional theatre director, where he developed a deep understanding of how to bring people together to tell compelling stories. He has since translated those skills into the corporate world, helping organizations build stronger, more effective teams.

Strategic Storytelling: Stop Being a Boring Explainer

Most leaders default to explaining: more data, detail, and logic. The audience remembers nothing.

This interactive workshop challenges that instinct. Drawing on rehearsal-based techniques, participants will learn how to move from delivering information to shaping communication that drives action. Instead of asking, “What do I want to say?”, this session reframes communication around what the audience needs to do, feel, and remember.

Through hands-on exercises and real-time feedback, participants will practice structuring messages that land clearly, stick with their audience, and lead to meaningful outcomes.

Global Head of Workplace Experience, Adobe

Mirit Cohen leads the design of Adobe’s in-person, virtual, and hybrid workplace experience programs, with a focus on creating environments that help people live and work better. A champion of connection and community as an antidote to the growing epidemic of loneliness, she and her interdisciplinary team experiment with human-centered approaches to the future of work.

Before joining Adobe, Mirit worked as a chef and entrepreneur, exploring the deep relationship between food, culture, and connection. Influenced by her upbringing in the Jewish community and her graduate studies in psychology at Stanford—where she studied the origins of empathy in human and non-human primates—she developed a belief in the power of food as a tool for shaping culture intentionally, both within organizations and across communities.

The ROI of Being in the Same Room

Mirit Cohen has spent years building the business case for something most executives feel but struggle to prove: that bringing people together is one of the highest-leverage investments a company can make. In this on-stage interview, Jenny Sauer-Klein sits down with Mirit to unpack the data, the framework, and the stories behind Adobe's approach to intentional gathering — including one Halloween party that may have unlocked billions in revenue. At a moment when the rest of the tech industry is busy telling us humans are optional, this session makes the case that they're essential.

Founder
The Primary Shift

Jenny Sauer-Klein is the founder of The Primary Shift, where she designs transformational learning experiences that combine leadership development, embodiment practices, and experiential learning. Her work helps leaders reconnect with creativity, presence, and deeper forms of awareness in both personal and professional contexts.

Through workshops, retreats, and immersive learning environments, Jenny has worked with leaders and organizations around the world to explore how embodied practices can deepen collaboration, strengthen leadership, and unlock new forms of insight. Her approach blends movement, reflection, and dialogue to create powerful learning experiences.

The ROI of Being in the Same Room

Jenny Sauerklean has built her career on the belief that how people gather matters. In this on-stage interview, she sits down with Mirit Cohen, Head of Events at Adobe, to dig into a question that people leaders everywhere are wrestling with: how do you prove the value of bringing people together? Mirit has spent years building that case from the inside — with data, frameworks, and stories that will make you rethink what your events budget is actually buying. Including one Halloween party that may have unlocked billions in revenue.

Physicist and Author
Founder of ShepardXR

Femi Fadugba is a physicist, author, and founder of ShepardXR, which uses virtual reality to teach mathematics to neurodivergent children. His debut novel, The Upper World, explained Einstein's theory of relativity through a story set in inner-city London — and was adapted into a Netflix film. A visiting fellow at Oxford University, Femi has spoken to over 10,000 students across academia, government, and industry, and sits on the board of Rare Recruitment, one of the UK's leading diversity-focused hiring firms. He splits his time between teaching in schools and helping organizations think more clearly about change.

Quantum Physics, Special Needs Kids, and Your Existential Dread

Femi Fadugba has spent his career making the incomprehensible accessible — from writing physics fiction for kids in inner-city London, to teaching algebra to fourth graders with autism using virtual reality, to advising organizations on how to think clearly when the future stops making sense. His premise: the same frameworks that unlock mathematics for kids who've been told they can't learn it are the ones that help leaders navigate uncertainty without losing their minds.

In this workshop, Femi offers something rarer than a prediction about where AI is headed: a way of thinking about complexity that actually helps.

Co-Founder
Nestr

For more than two decades, Joost Schouten has been working to help people do work they care about. As co-founder of Nestr, he builds tools and frameworks for purpose-driven, self-organizing teams — helping organizations move beyond hierarchy toward structures that are both more human and more effective. His work sits at the intersection of organizational governance, agentic AI, and ethics, and he has spent years thinking about what it actually means to design systems that serve people rather than the other way around.

The Future of Agentic Work

At Responsive Conference, Joost will lead "The Future of Agentic Work" — opening with the case for why organizations need to change, not just adopt tools, to use AI effectively and ethically. Then the room gets to work.

Bring the task you've been complaining about for months. By the end of the session, it'll be automated. The harder question — whether you're automating something that serves you, or just making existing dysfunction faster — is what the session is really about.

Musician and Producer

M'Gilvry Allen is a fiddler, musician, and producer based in Oregon who has been playing since age four. Rooted in Old Time, Scottish, Irish, and Scandinavian fiddle traditions, he performs as a solo entertainer using a looper and a variety of instruments — weaving originals, traditional tunes, improvised soundscapes, and everything in between into something that meets the moment. 

As a producer, M'Gilvry has spent 15 years crafting music, bringing the same sensibility to the studio as to the stage: depth, restraint, tension, and homecoming. When not making music, he can be found tending the strawbale cabin he built by hand in rural Oregon.

Founder, Zander Media
Executive Director, Responsive Conference

Robin Zander grew up in his father's small business, watching from an early age how organizations work.

He spent his twenties as a professional acrobat and ballet dancer, including a stint with the San Francisco Opera, before opening Robin's Cafe in San Francisco's Mission District with no prior restaurant experience. He ran it for three years and sold it on Craigslist — and walked away knowing he hadn't done enough storytelling. That mistake became Zander Media, a narrative and video production agency serving enterprise clients and startups.

In 2015, Robin discovered the Responsive.org manifesto — a document arguing that the rate of change is accelerating and organizations need to adapt. From the manifesto, Robin started Responsive Conference, now in its 10th year, which brings together 275 CHROs, CPOs, founders, and executives to explore how do organizations — and people — adapt to change.

Robin is the author of three books, including Responsive: What It Takes To Create A Thriving Organization‍, How to Do a Handstand, and This Might Work: A Collection of How-Tos. He writes Snafu, a weekly newsletter about navigating change, and hosts the Snafu podcast.