Nelson Spencer

About Nelson

Hi there. There are many talented folks you could work with, so I am grateful you are here. I want this profile to give you a sense of who I am, how I work, and what it might feel like to work together. I care deeply about people. Mentoring, teaching, coaching, listening, and caring about others, have been part of my life for a long time. As technical and data-driven as I am, people often tell me that I would make a good therapist in another life. I enjoy listening and understanding how people think. I am neurodivergent and definitely have a sprinkle of autism. For me, that often means noticing small changes in people and behaviors. I will notice when you get a haircut. I will notice when you are irritated. You might like that. You might not. Either way, you can expect me to pay attention. I work best with direct communicators. I will tell you what I see, and I welcome the same in return. How did I get here? I began my career in baseball, doing the Moneyball thing and using analytics to inform team strategy. I eventually took that same approach into organizations, using data to help leaders make better decisions about people and work. After leading people analytics and technology teams at Wayfair, Sonos, and Figma, I now advise leaders, teams, and founders on AI transformation. I am currently earning my MBA at Columbia Business School in New York, and I have a master's degree in data science. Much of my work and research focuses on AI, human-centered organizational transformation, and product management. The simplest description might be AI expert generalist? BTW, I highly recommend the book Range. On any given day, I might be researching how nudges support change, advising a founder on where a button should go in an app, or building my own team of AI agents. AI is making this a pretty weird time to be alive. I am here to help you through the weirdness.