A conversation with Brittany King on responsible AI, allyship, and the leadership decisions that shape trust—exploring the human cost of automation and the courage to slow down before moving forward.
Host: Adam Kleckner (Head of Strategy at LinkTech), Tia Kleckner (CEO at LinkTech)
Summary:
Brittany King is an AI and future of work strategist, keynote speaker, and founder of Amplify Allyship. With nearly 20 years in HR, she connects allyship to the choices organizations make about technology, opportunity, and people. In this conversation, she explains why AI adoption starts with defining success, how decisions made in boardrooms affect people in break rooms, and why kindness, curiosity, and dissent matter more as technology advances.
Main Topics:
How single motherhood and personal adversity shaped Brittany’s approach to resilience
Why checking a box isn’t inherently bad—and where meaningful allyship goes further
Turning allyship into business practices that help everyone contribute
D-Risk AI and assessing downstream consequences before deployment
Why adopting more tools does not automatically create better leadership
The financial, human, and reputational costs of AI decisions
Disability inclusion and transparency in AI-assisted hiring and performance decisions
AI realism beyond both hype and doom
Kindness, constructive dissent, and the courage to say no
Intriguing Quotes:
“The future isn’t automated, it’s decided.”
“A lot of times decisions happen in the boardroom without feedback from those in the break room.”
“In the world of AI, everything is figure outable and no one has it figured out.”
“AI first, human always.”
“Human kindness is powerful medicine.”
“I’m a dissenter by design.”
Key Moments:
[02:13] Brittany reflects on returning to university as a single mother and finding opportunity while bringing others along.
[04:26] Her nuanced take on checkboxes: compliance has a purpose, but allyship also requires addressing the barriers that hold people back.
[08:54] How Amplify Allyship’s work expanded into AI strategy and a platform for exploring the consequences of adoption.
[12:30] Start with the problem and define success. Brittany walks through audits, executive training, and scenario-based deployment assessments.
[16:19] Why AI tests leadership: the strongest organizations decide how technology should operate before racing to adopt it.
[17:16] The boardroom–break room gap: leaders make decisions while employees navigate very different levels of confidence with AI.
[23:14] Where trust becomes fragile: AI’s role in disability hiring, performance decisions, and the need to disclose where human judgment remains.
[27:34] AI realism: stay curious, question systems, and assess what helps rather than assuming technology will solve everything or destroy everything.
[31:46] The human skill Brittany believes becomes more valuable as AI grows: kindness.
[32:18] Courage means saying no when adoption comes at the expense of people, communities, or culture.
[33:22] What never appears on her resume: a willingness to question the status quo and challenge groupthink.
Notable Resources:
Amplify Allyship: https://amplifyallyship.com
D-Risk AI — Brittany’s platform for exploring AI deployment scenarios and downstream impacts
Concepts: NIST AI Risk Management Framework; responsible AI; decision intelligence; AI realism; human oversight
Connect with Brittany King:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanykingbk/
Connect with The Human Advantage Podcast:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelinktech/
Special Announcements:
Brittany shares plans for an executive exchange in Houston in November. Follow her for details.