Léa Steinacker, PhD, is a social scientist, bestselling author, board member, and award-winning entrepreneur focused on how technology interacts with people, practices, and the planet.
Her 2024 book on artificial intelligence, co-written with Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel became an instant national bestseller.
For about a decade, she has researched the widespread impact of emerging technologies like AI, with publications on a range of topics like automated facial recognition, synthetic voice generation, quantum computing, as well as my original framework of Code Capital. With her expertise in emerging technologies and their wide-ranging effects, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Weleda AG, and a member of the AI Advisory Board of Ringier AG, one of Switzerland’s leading media companies, and a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen, teaching courses like “Social and Economic Impacts of Artificial Intelligence.
In 2018, she co-founded and is now the Executive Chairwoman of ada Learning to accelerate organizational change by identifying, transforming, and uniting leaders who amplify innovation from within. Since its inception, ada has connected and worked with thousands of employees from DAX companies, SMEs, governments, and civil society organizations.
Previously, she served as the Chief Innovation Officer of WirtschaftsWoche, Germany’s leading business magazine, where she also covered the future of work and socio-technological change. Prior to joining Handelsblatt Media Group, she worked with social justice NGOs in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was selected as a Forbes 30 Under 30 leader, one of Medium Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 journalists, a BCG Thought Leader, and an Atlantik Brücke Young Leader. In 2011, she was awarded the Henry Richardson Labouisse Prize for independent research.
Léa holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPP), and the University of St. Gallen (PhD).