About Shane

An AI-forward, people-first management consultant with C-suite fluency and a facilitator's touch.

Shane Kinkennon avatar with glasses and a cap

Expert in humans leading humans.

I work with non-technical executive leaders to demystify AI, build strategy, and support implementation — all in a human-centered, change leader’s way that delivers better business results.

I am a certified executive coach, certified master facilitator, and certified leadership-team coach. I am a former global-business Chief Strategy Officer, former nonprofit COO, and have spent decades as a consultant to senior-leadership teams and boards of directors.

  • I am not a data scientist, AI engineer, or tech leader. I am a strategy facilitator and former C-suite officer who, through intensive studies, hands-on client experience, and an enthusiast's heart, is fluent enough with AI and its non-tech use cases to help business leaders cut through the noise and get moving.

  • For years I geeked out on books about leadership and management. Today I geek out on books about AI for business. Recent titles include The AI-Savvy Leader (De Cremer), The AI-Driven Leader (Woods), AI in the Boardroom (Petro), and Applied Artificial Intelligence (Yao). And I currently am enrolled in MIT Sloan Business School’s "AI: Implications for Business Strategy" course, which I will complete in February 2026.

  • I've spent decades as a consultant to senior-leadership teams and boards of directors—developing strategy, managing implementation, and facilitating planning with a collaborative approach. I am a big thinker, world-class leader herder, expert on people-first leadership, and an all-around standout task master and doer. This combination of strengths makes me equally skilled at building AI strategy and managing the change that makes implementation succeed.

Shane Kinkennon with glasses and a hat in a sepia-toned photo
Curved arrow pointing downwards and to the right.
Speak with an Expert
Illustration of a stick figure speaking at a podium with a speech bubble.

A respected voice on topics of executive leadership.

Published Articles:

  • I’m recasting my business around AI. It’s teaching me about me (The Startup)

  • How to lead someone you don't like very much (The CEO Magazine) 

  • How to embrace emotional situations in the workplace (The CEO Magazine) 

  • Have an executive team member who's struggling? Here's how to deal with it (Senior Executive) 

  • Let your leaders lead: the case for loosening your grip on your domain expertise (Senior Executive)

Illustration of a ribbon medal with a check mark inside. Half of the medal is gold and the other half is black.

The formal credentials.

  • Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy, Certificate of Completion, MIT Executive Education (earning to be complete Feb 2026) 

  • Certified Executive Coach, trained and credentialed by the Center for Executive Coaching (CEC), an "Approved Coach Training Provider" (ACTP) of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). 

  • Member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). 

  • Certified Master Facilitator by the Center for Executive Coaching (CEC). • Accredited Facilitator: the Five Behaviors, a Wiley-brand credential based on Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

  • “I’m so grateful to Shane for the work we did together. He helped me unlock a new toolkit of skills, and helped me become a better leader and a better person.”

    — Toufic Boubez, Co-founder and CTO, Catio

  • “Shane has unlocked even more talent and range from one of my firm’s top-performing executive leaders. I could see it almost immediately. What an investment.”

    — Jamie Hampton, Owner and CEO, Mixte Communications

  • “Shane is one of the few people in my work life who is willing to tell me the truth. He pushes me, and that makes him a terrific ally.”

    — Janet Jones, (former) Chief Innovation Officer, General Board of Higher Education & Ministry, United Methodist Church