Vivienne Ming
Theoretical neuroscientist and artificial intelligence expert
*Fees are a guide only. Exact cost will be dependent on requirements and are subject to change.
About Vivienne Ming
Her career is defined by intellectual trespassing—ignoring the borders between neuroscience, economics, and AI to solve the problems that don’t fit into neat categories. After surviving homelessness in her early 20s, she returned to academia to complete her undergraduate degree in just 15 months. She went on to earn her PhD from Carnegie Mellon, publishing research in Nature and NeuroIPS, then holding joint appointments at Stanford and UC Berkeley.
Vivienne was an early pioneer in using AI for human potential. As Chief Scientist of Gild, she built machine learning models trained on 122 million professionals to predict human capability. Today, through The Human Trust and Socos Labs, she has developed AI to treat diabetes and bipolar disorder, reunite orphan refugees, and help autistic children learn facial expressions.
She is the author of the upcoming book Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All The Answers, Build Better People (March 2026). A transgender woman and fierce advocate for inclusion, she speaks frequently on the “Tax on Being Different” and the economic cost of discrimination.
To book Keynote Speaker Vivienne Ming, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com
Vivienne’s speech topics include, but are not limited to:
ROBOT-PROOF: Building Better People in the Age of AI
Based on her upcoming book (March 2026)
We are moving past the fear of AI replacing us and into the reality of AI defining us. In this talk, Vivienne dismantles the traditional markers of success (degrees, pedigree) and explores the “constructs” that actually drive value in a high-tech future: resilience, creativity, and adaptive thinking. Drawing on her work at Possibility Sciences, she outlines the future of Hybrid Intelligence—how we stop competing with machines and start building a collective intelligence that is arguably superhuman.
THE TAX ON BEING DIFFERENT: The Economics of Human Potential
Diversity isn’t just a moral imperative; it is a mathematical optimization problem. Vivienne shares her groundbreaking research on the “Tax”—the extra energy women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals must expend to achieve the same results as their peers. She explains how this tax stifles innovation and offers a roadmap for leaders to remove these barriers, unlocking a massive reservoir of untapped talent.
THE MAD SCIENTIST’S GUIDE TO INNOVATION
From Sci-Fi to Reality
How do you solve an “ill-posed” problem? Vivienne takes audiences inside the Socos Labs process. Using examples from her wildest inventions (AI for facial expression, predictive modeling for manic episodes), she teaches organizations how to embrace chaos, leverage the “Information-Exploration Paradox,” and use science fiction thinking to invent the future rather than just predict it.
THE NEUROSCIENCE OF TRUST (And Why Assholes Rise to the Top)
Why do good people do bad things? Why do we promote leaders who destroy culture? Combining neuroscience and behavioral economics, Vivienne dives into the cognitive load of leadership. She explains how stress and pressure physically alter our brain’s ability to be empathetic and ethical, and provides a scientific framework for building high-trust, high-performance cultures.
