About Miri Rodriguez — AI Strategist and Author

My story begins far from boardrooms, technology stages, or conversations about artificial intelligence.

I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to missionary parents who taught me — through the way they lived — that the greatest thing a person can do is care deeply for others. Long before I understood leadership, business, or technology, I learned the value of empathy, generosity, and human connection. Those values would eventually become the foundation of both my life and my work.

When I immigrated to the United States at 13, I experienced what so many immigrants know intimately: the desire not only to succeed, but to belong. As a Latina immigrant woman who didn't speak the language and had no roadmap into technology, there were many moments when I questioned whether I would ever be invited into the rooms I dreamed of entering.

Still, I took the leap, and what began as a reluctant step into the technology industry became a lifelong career helping organizations navigate storytelling, digital transformation, AI enablement, and the future of work — including many years inside Microsoft. I fell in love with innovation, the excitement of emerging technology, and the power of storytelling to help people connect with ideas that shape the world.

But I also began noticing something increasingly difficult to ignore.

As the tech industry accelerated toward speed, automation, and scale, conversations around innovation often left little room for trust, empathy, ethics, and inclusion. I watched women carry enormous transformation responsibilities while still being underrepresented in many of the rooms shaping the future itself.

And I couldn't stop asking myself:

"What kind of future are we building — and who is it being built for?"

Today, as CEO of Empressa AI, I work with leaders and organizations navigating one of the most important transformations of our lifetime. But my work has never simply been about AI adoption. It's about helping humans navigate change responsibly. Helping leaders build trust. Helping organizations create systems that are not only intelligent, but deeply human.

When I immigrated to the United States, I was given something incredibly powerful: the opportunity to dream bigger than my circumstances. To imagine a future beyond the limitations I had inherited. That experience shaped the way I see leadership, equity, and the future of technology today.

I believe women everywhere deserve that same opportunity. As AI transforms the world around us, I believe we have a choice: we can build systems that widen existing gaps, or we can build systems that expand human potential, representation, and opportunity for more people to participate in shaping what comes next.

That belief is deeply personal to me — and at the center of my work as a CEO, strategist, and advocate for a more human future.

Through all of it, I keep returning to one enduring question:

"How do we build the future without losing what makes us human?"