Stacey Ingram Kaleh is the Associate Director of Partnerships and Programs for UT Austin Research. With a focus on ethical AI, she develops diverse partnerships to accelerate further research on today’s tech. Here, she shares her perspective on future-readiness and how people can balance innovation with inclusion and positive social impact.
Shiwon Oh: How has your commitment to future-readiness elevated your career experience?
Stacey Ingram Kaleh: For me, a commitment to future-readiness means a commitment to open-mindedness, curiosity, creativity, continuous learning, and relationship-building. These values have driven me throughout my life and work, leading me to seek connections, build impactful collaborations, and adapt time and again to support the people and causes I believe in.
I do feel that my career trajectory has benefited from these core values and meaningful, lasting relationships that open new opportunities for growth and collective impact. By keeping an open mind, continuing to learn, and focusing on audience-centered communications and partnership development across fields, I’ve been fortunate to work with many amazing community and research leaders and to support a wide range of cause-oriented organizations.
After starting in the arts and museums, I led community-wide campaigns to support nonprofits across Central Texas and now work with a team of incredible, ethics-driven AI researchers at UT Austin who are designing AI technologies that benefit society. My connective thread is doing work that helps people collaborate to serve our greater community.
SO: What milestones are you most proud of in your exploration of how AI contributes to a community?
SIK: In my work with Good Systems — Ethical AI at UT Austin, I help facilitate research collaboration, design public programs, and build a connected community to support stakeholder-centered and stakeholder-engaged research and innovation. I’m proud to play a role—alongside many colleagues and partners—in building an interdisciplinary and cross-sector network of academic researchers, industry and nonprofit experts, government leaders, and community members to explore some of the most pressing ethical questions at the intersection of AI and society. The research that comes from collaborative, stakeholder-centered processes creates ripple effects in terms of positive impact and better ensures that communities’ needs are met.
I also feel proud to be able to help our team offer educational events that bring together many different perspectives on key ethical questions in AI, from the importance of trust and transparency in AI systems to how AI is changing the way we think about art and creativity, to the role of human agency in the age of AI agents, to responsible AI adoption in higher education, and more.
All of our programs are free and open to the public, and we want our greater community to join us in learning, growing, and shaping the future of AI together. My favorite moments are when our community shows up for these discussions and when people make connections that ignite fruitful collaborations.
SO: When considering the future of work, why is ethical AI a vital issue that leaders should invest in solutions for?
SIK: It’s important that we think through ethical considerations as we develop, deploy, and use AI technologies to ensure that no one is harmed or left out, and that we do not create or exacerbate inequities. We have a great opportunity to really, critically think about what we value collectively as a society, and how we can build the future we wish to see by helping one another.
The stakes are high when it comes to the potential benefits and harms of AI. In my perspective, it’s risky not to have an ethics-driven, people-centered strategy because doing good is also good for business. There’s no better time to be having these conversations because the potential is incredible if we steer the technologies toward doing good for people and good for society. We can imagine and build new and better pathways, and AI tools can assist us with this human-driven work.
SO: How do you use strategic language to make new tech more digestible and user-friendly, especially for communities passionate about social change?
SIK: I am passionate about helping people understand complex concepts in ways that are accessible and engaging. I also love finding and creating opportunities for people to connect, collaborate, and take action to advance the causes they feel are important. I typically start my communications planning by asking audiences and key stakeholders about their interests, goals, concerns, and communications preferences. I aim to personalize communications as much as possible, meet people where they are, and constantly adapt and adjust to better respond to audience needs.
We have a lot of data and communications platforms at our fingertips, and we can put them to good use! It’s truly a creative and ever-evolving process, but I believe wholeheartedly that it’s important to start by getting to know your audience and to make the time for personal, meaningful, and ongoing conversations. This creates a continuous feedback loop that allows for growth all around.
As far as language goes, I think you can be smart, serious, fun, educational, and accessible simultaneously. I recommend adapting your style based on the context and what you know about your audience. I find that it helps to tell stories that involve a deeply human element and example paired with a data-informed, research-backed element. I try to help audiences imagine the impact of ethics-driven AI research in their own lives as well as the impact for society at large, and take them on a journey that is memorable and informed, while providing pathways to get involved.
The key ingredients are to be clear, accurate, and to communicate consistently and reliably. Then, you can start to build trust with your audience and everyone has access to the information and a foundation that allows you to propel shared goals forward.
SO: How can leaders nurture future-proof businesses that prioritize and value the customer/audience's voice?
SIK: Commit to stakeholder-centered strategies. Start by asking your customers what they need from you and why they support you, respond to their needs and feedback, build a brand that brings your why and their why together, stay in touch, and consistently follow-through on brand promises.
Talk about ethics and core values with your employees on an ongoing basis. Devote work time to assessing the risks and benefits of using AI technologies in a structured way that advances shared goals and values.
Keep learning. Ask the tough questions, follow your curiosity, try new AI tools mindfully to assess what works well and what doesn’t, and be open to adapting your strategies to better serve your audience time and time again.
Forge partnerships. Create a network of stakeholders, colleagues in other fields, and leaders in your field to foster a community of practice to help navigate the changing nature of work in service of the public good. Collaboration yields greater impact. New and diverse perspectives help us grow. We’re in this together.
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