Zena Collins

Zena Collins is the author of Stop Wasting Time With AI: A Practical, Emotionally Intelligent Method for Using AI Well and the creator of Emotional Maths®. A trusted source on the human transition to AI-enabled work, she helps organizations move from providing access to AI toward developing genuine AI readiness. Her work integrates emotional intelligence, adult learning, organizational change, human judgment and practical AI use.

Zena has more than 25 years of experience across professional services, business development, media, healthcare, government, nonprofit and creative environments, including 14 years at EY. When she recently delivered a digital-skills masterclass to more than 1,000 employees of a Fortune 100 company, their most common concern was not job loss, but whether they could trust what AI told them. Reading that anxiety as information, not resistance, is the heart of her method. Has trained thousands across SMEs, non-profits and Fortune 100 companies on the human side of AI.

Born in Hackney, London, and based in Maryland, she works across the United States, United Kingdom and Caribbean. She is Lead Consultant and Director of Business Development at Grand Strategy Consulting LLC. She is a producer of award-winning independent film and theatre.

Signature talks: Stop Wasting Time With AI (the keynote of the book, with a live Emotional Maths® exercise); From AI Resistance to AI Readiness (leading change with SUMMS™: See, Understand, Make, Manage, Sustain); Learning AI in Community (AI Learning Circles).

Formats: Keynotes (45-60 minutes), interactive workshops (half or full day), executive briefings, and virtual sessions.