About Anna
AI Strategist & Demystifier helping leaders and organizations find their natural way with emerging technology.
Anna Blender is an AI advisor and strategist who helps leaders and organizations navigate the complexity of AI adoption to drive real impact. She turns emerging technology into practical strategy, trend advantage, and tools teams actually adopt. Her approach is human and collaborative: she meets people where they are, helps them find their natural way with AI, and builds confidence as well as capability. She brings 15 years of brand strategy and insight leadership to her AI work, spanning Fortune 500s, cultural institutions, startups, and nonprofits.
Most recently, Anna served as SVP of Strategy & Insights at Raptive (formerly CafeMedia), supporting creators with nearly a billion total followers. There she pioneered Mindset Personas, an AI-powered audience segmentation approach, and implemented AI workflows that improved team speed and campaign performance. She focuses on making AI feel like a creative partner rather than a black box, so adoption sticks.
Previously, as a Senior Vice President at BAV Group (a WPP company), she built data-driven brand strategies for companies including American Express, ESPN, Target, Purina, Colgate, and Capital One, and led nation-branding initiatives. She helped launch the Best Countries study with Wharton and U.S. News & World Report, which was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Anna's commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News. She has spoken at SXSW, Adweek Canada, and the United Nations, and she has guest lectured at NYU Stern, Yale, and Columbia Business School. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at Wharton. Today she focuses on AI strategy, trend intelligence, and custom tools for leaders and organizations across industries.