Leadership
Kevin Kelly – CXO (Chief Experience Officer)
Kevin Kelly on stage at CES moderating a panel on Ethics in AI with: (from left to right) Anna Bethke, Head of AI for Social Good at Intel, Mina Hanna, Chair of IEEE AI and Autonomous Systems Policy Committee, and David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics and creator of Sophia the world’s first robot citizen and the first robot Innovation Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program. (see Kevin, David and Sophia below) See video here.
Kevin Kelly is a 30-year veteran of the interactive digital marketing and creative advertising space, with expertise in customer experience design and interactive creative strategy. He recently sold Bigbuzz, the digital agency he founded in the mid 90s. His “tech-geek” vision grew the small boutique operation into one of the top digital agencies in the country (Agency Spotter, 2019).
Passionate about AI and Machine Learning (MiT trained), Kevin serves as Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Live Smart Ai where he designs innovative customer experiences through AI digital assistants as well as training for the human support staff. His current work includes voice experience design with the Amazon Alexa team to bring extraordinary guest services to some of the world’s leading hotel brands. He also heads up the Remote Senior Care a division of Live Smart, helping seniors stay safe and connected in their homes, while assisting their caretakers by leveraging bespoke suites of technology to ease the challenge of caring for elders while managing their own busy lives.
Kevin co-hosts the popular podcast, The Disney Way for The Digital Age with former Disney executive Debbie Zmorenski, where they explore corporate culture, branding and service excellence, through storytelling, technical curiosity and friendly conversation. He is currently studying machine learning at MIT, has a degree in Music Engineering from Berklee College of Music, and spent several years as a touring drummer in a rock band and record producer. Kevin is passionate about living an active, adrenaline-fueled life, which includes competing in Ironman triathlons, racing Mini Coopers, and getting knocked out while boxing for charity. He lives in Long Island, NY with his wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs and robot named Astro.
Debbie Zmorenski – COO
Debbie Z on Stage at SXSW discussing “Chatbots and Pixie Dust” with Google’s Clara deSoto, heading up Google Ai Assistant and developer marketing. Debating the concept of overlaying a Disney like service structure into foundational programming for a chatbot. See video here.
Debbie is an accomplished Senior Executive with more than 40 years’ experience in Operational leadership, training and development, customer service, production manufacturing, and corporate cultural engineering. During her 34-year tenure with the Walt Disney World Company®, she held leadership positions in Restaurant Management, Human Resources, Training and Development, Customer Service, Production Manufacturing, Resort Operations, and Senior Program Facilitator for The Disney Institute. She has collaborated with Fortune 100 organizations as well as start-ups to assist them in creating long-term success. Her experience includes extensive work in large diverse industries such as healthcare (Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Meridian Healthcare Systems in New Jersey, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital), casinos, and grocery chains, as well as small, family-owned businesses and startup companies.
Specializing in customer service, Debbie developed a model that provides the foundation for designing and delivering on a customer-centric corporate culture. This model provides the tools for a customer service foundation that is unique to the needs of each client.
Peter Shankman – CIO (Chief Innovation Officer)
Peter Shankman best selling author seen keynoting at one of countless conferences around the world. See more here.
Peter Shankman – CIO (Chief Innovation Officer)
The New York Times has called Peter Shankman “a rockstar who knows everything about social media and then some.” He is a 5x best selling author, entrepreneur and corporate keynote speaker, focusing on customer service and the new and emerging customer and neurotatypical economy. With three startup launches and exits under his belt, (most notably Help a Reporter Out) Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about customer experience, social media, PR, marketing, advertising, and the emerging Neurodiverse economy. He’s currently the Futurist in Residence at Price Benowitz and BluShark Digital.
In addition to his passion for helping people and companies find success, some of Peter’s highlights also include:
- Founder of HARO – Help A Reporter Out, which became the standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources prior to being acquired three years after launch
- Faster than Normal – The Internet’s #1 podcast on ADHD, focusing on the superpowers and gifts of having a “faster than normal brain,” which has helped thousands of people all around the world realize that having a neurodiverse brain is actually a gift, not a curse.
- The ShankMinds Breakthrough Network, an elite, online mastermind of thought leaders, business experts, and change makers
Peter is a worldwide influencer and/or spokesperson for several global brands including Adobe, Sylvania, National Car Rental, Manscaped.com, Sealface, Thule, and many others.
Finally, Peter is a father, a 2x Ironman triathlete, a class B licensed skydiver, and has a pretty serious Peloton addiction. When he’s not traveling around the world speaking to companies big and small, he’s based in NYC, where he was born and raised, with his nine year old daughter and two-year-old dog, both of whom consistently refuse him access to the couch.