Global Symposium on Racing Speaker: Dr. Kathleen Kennedy
Dr. Kathleen J. Kennedy is an applied AI researcher and educator specializing in AI and data-driven marketing, services and retail business strategy, and customer management. Since 2019, her research has focused on optimizing customer-facing AI in services and retailing and examining consumer-AI relationships. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Management Sciences and Marketing from Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester (UK).
Prior to her shift to academia in 2011, Dr. Kennedy was a senior executive in marketing, management, and customer information services. She served as CMO at Fortune 1000 retailer Hancock Fabrics and as Vice President of Customer Development and Insight at Office Depot, where she directed strategic planning, marketing research, customer analytics, and CRM. She was also Vice President, Marketing for Equifax, DRA division, and a Managing Partner at OgilvyOne (the digital and direct marketing division of WPP/Ogilvy & Mather), where she led global direct and digital branding and integrated marketing programs for major tech and financial sector clients, including Microsoft, IBM, Iomega, and Wells Fargo. In addition to her corporate experience, she co-founded four successful marketing and information services businesses, including MindNav LLC, a marketing research firm that pioneered consumer neuroscience methods for customer experience optimization.
In addition to her business research work, Dr. Kennedy’s research examines AI literacies and human-AI collaboration in educational contexts. As a University of Arizona CUES Distinguished Fellow, she leads the PALS (Personalized Adaptive Learning System) initiative. Through her CUES research project, she has trained over 1,200 faculty, staff, and K-12 teachers in ethical AI implementation. She serves on the University of Arizona's AI² Taskforce, including co-developing the AI & Data Acumen Learning Outcomes Framework published in Thresholds in Education. Dr. Kennedy is a PhD in Higher Education Policy candidate (ABD) at the University of Arizona, researching student relationship management and academic finance.