Michelle K. Lee

Michelle K. Lee has spent her career building and advising some of our country’s most innovative, AI/data-driven companies (Amazon and Google), which gives her unique perspectives into the opportunities and applications of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. She also understands first-hand the challenges of bringing AI to non-digitally-native companies. As the head of the 200 year-old U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, she led over 10,000 people to implement an agency-wide AI strategy, increasing the quality, speed and consistency at which patents issue. Today, she’s the CEO and Founder of Obsidian Strategies, where she helps Fortune companies identify and implement their highest return-on-investment AI opportunities.

AI will impact every business in every industry and many aspects of our lives, she says. In Michelle’s engaging talks, you will learn about the art of the possible and practical in AI. She helps business leaders understand how AI can and will impact every business and provides the inspiration and practical steps needed to realize their AI opportunities. Drawing on her long career, she offers concrete, practical examples from the top levels of technology, law, business, government, and more.

Most recently and relevantly, she was a senior executive at Amazon, and the Vice President of the Machine Learning Solutions Lab at Amazon Web Services (AWS). She led a global team of business consultants and data scientists who helped clients from a broad range of industries to spot and implement their most fruitful AI/machine learning applications. She also played a key role in addressing policy, regulatory, and ethical risks associated with AI services and applications, and was the founding business executive lead for AWS’s responsible AI efforts. Through both her industry and government experiences, Michelle has a unique understanding and ability to balance the opportunities and risks in AI, an area of active interest to regulatory and legislative bodies as well as society.

Before Amazon, Michelle served as the presidentially-appointed Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, one of the largest intellectual property offices in the world, and brought AI and data analytics to the agency to enhance its operations. Prior to public service, she spent eight years as an executive at Google. She has testified before Congress multiple times in her various areas of expertise and has received numerous awards for her leadership and professional accomplishments.

Michelle is an MIT AI Lab-trained computer scientist and has worked at the MIT AI and Hewlett-Packard Research Laboratories. She is a frequent speaker on AI, innovation, digital transformation and board governance, and has spoken at The World Knowledge Forum and South by Southwest, among others. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, NPR, and the MIT Sloan Management Review.