Allison Shapira

Leadership communication in the age of AI

As a Harvard lecturer, executive advisor and keynote speaker, Allison studies the science of believability in the age of AI and helps leaders understand what creates trust when technology increasingly shapes how we communicate.

Her latest book, AI for the Authentic Leader, explores how executives can integrate AI into their communication without sacrificing trust, credibility or human connection. Her perspective is grounded in the realities leaders face: they need to embrace useful new technology while ensuring their communication still sounds, feels and ultimately remains human.

From corporate boardrooms to roundtables in Davos, Allison is helping define what leadership can look like in the future. Her keynotes bring together communication, leadership and AI in a way that gives audiences a clear understanding of the opportunities ahead while keeping authenticity at the center.

Trusted by senior leaders

For more than two decades, Allison Shapira has worked closely with leaders whose words carry significant consequences. She has advised Fortune 100 executives at companies ranging from Bank of America to Intel, as well as prime ministers, cabinet members and newly promoted senior leaders navigating demanding, high-stakes situations.

That experience gives Allison a practical understanding of executive communication. Leadership is about more than having the right strategy or expertise. Leaders also need to communicate ideas in ways that inspire confidence, create trust and influence the people around them.

Allison helps leaders from different backgrounds strengthen those skills without asking them to become someone else. Her work focuses on authentic communication: understanding your own voice and using it with intention, particularly when the stakes are high.

Her international experience adds another dimension to this work. Having studied ten foreign languages and worked across cultures worldwide, Allison understands that effective communication cannot simply be reduced to a single formula. Different backgrounds and contexts shape how messages are delivered and received. She helps leaders navigate those differences while communicating with authenticity and influence.

From opera to authentic voice

Allison’s understanding of communication is also deeply personal. Before becoming an executive advisor and entrepreneur, she trained as an opera singer. She has led teams and spoken or performed on global stages in front of audiences of up to 35,000 people.

One of the proudest moments of her life was performing the American national anthem for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Yet an important realization about authenticity came from another part of her musical journey.

Allison found her authentic voice not by performing the operatic works written by others, but by becoming a singer/songwriter and creating her own music. That experience became a powerful foundation for her understanding of what it means to communicate authentically.

Author, lecturer & global speaker

Allison Shapira is the Washington Post bestselling author of Speak with Impact and Speak with Impact VIRTUALLY. Through her books, teaching, advisory work and speaking, she explores how people can communicate effectively across environments ranging from in-person leadership situations to virtual settings.

She writes for the World Economic Forum and Harvard Business Review, and her expertise has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune and Bloomberg.

Allison was recently inducted into the CPAE® Speaker Hall of Fame, an award recognizing the top 1% of speakers worldwide. The recognition reflects a career spent combining deep communication expertise with extensive experience in front of audiences and senior decision-makers.

Book Allison Shapira for your event

A keynote with Allison Shapira is particularly relevant for organizations navigating changes in leadership, communication and artificial intelligence. Her work addresses a challenge that is becoming increasingly important: as technology becomes more capable, how can leaders preserve the qualities that make people believe and trust them?

Her experience includes:

• Advising Fortune 100 executives, prime ministers, cabinet members and newly promoted senior leaders.
• Teaching at Harvard and studying the science of believability in the age of AI.
• Writing the bestselling Speak with Impact, Speak with Impact VIRTUALLY and AI for the Authentic Leader.
• Speaking and performing on global stages for audiences of up to 35,000 people.
• Working across cultures worldwide after studying ten foreign languages.
• Writing for the World Economic Forum and Harvard Business Review.

Book Allison Shapira for your event to give leaders a timely perspective on communication, AI, authenticity and influence. Her keynotes help audiences consider how they can embrace the possibilities of new technology while protecting something technology cannot replace: the human trust at the heart of effective leadership.