Shama Hyder

About

I wrote my master’s thesis on Twitter when it had fewer than 2,000 users. People asked me what “Tweeter” was. That long view of technology and human behavior led to being named a 2026 TIME100 Creator. I’ve spent my career seeing shifts early… I built Zen Media as one of the earliest remote-first companies in the country, founded in 2008. When COVID hit and organizations were forced to rethink how they worked, communicated, sold, and served customers, I helped companies with billions in market value protect trust, reach their audiences in new ways, and adapt to a distributed world. Over 17 years, I built Zen Media from $1,500 into a globally recognized B2B marketing and PR agency serving Fortune 500 companies before exiting. That work taught me something I still believe deeply: Technology is never just about the tool. - It changes how people buy. - How they work. - How they trust. - How they communicate. - How they decide. AI is the accelerant. Human behavior is the signal. My work sits where emerging technology rewires behavior: how people work, buy, communicate, decide, build, and lead. I help leaders understand what is changing, decide what matters, and act with conviction. I teach AI fluency through Rewired, helping executives and teams build the muscle to work, decide, and lead differently in an agentic world. I co-founded Roster with Nick Tran, former CMO of TikTok and fellow Henry Crown Fellow, to help companies redesign work for a world of people and agents. As Applied AI Evangelist for Wispr Flow, I work with one of the fastest-growing AI companies in Silicon Valley on how voice-powered productivity is changing the interface of work itself. I invest in early-stage AI and technology companies, giving me a front-row view of what’s next. As Professor of Practice at Link School of Business, I bring a builder’s lens to the future of entrepreneurship, helping students understand how technology changes behavior, how markets shift before they become obvious, and how founders can build, communicate, and go to market with sharper timing, judgment, and relevance. I’ve delivered 500+ keynotes across 26 countries, written two bestselling books, and been recognized by the White House and United Nations as a top entrepreneur. I’m a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. The thread across all of it: technology changes. Human behavior changes with it. The leaders who win are the ones who read those signals early, interpret them clearly, and act before the advantage is obvious.