Forbes 30U30 Founder  ·  ML PhD  ·  Creator and Speaker

ELENA LENENA

I build companies that fix how teams work
I host rooms where the right people meet
I speak about AI from the inside, not the slides
I design things that make you look like yourself
I run experiments others call unreasonable
0 Users Reached
0 Keynotes Delivered
0 Careers
0 Countries Visited
0 Fashion Brand
0 Summit Guests
Scroll
Founder & Creator · ML PhD · High-Dimensional Optimization · Launched Gemini for Businesses at Google · Built Uber Freight Platform · Forbes 30 Under 30 · Keynote Speaker · 100+ Countries · Fashion · Storytelling · Philosophy · Founder & Creator · ML PhD · High-Dimensional Optimization · Launched Gemini for Businesses at Google · Built Uber Freight Platform · Forbes 30 Under 30 · Keynote Speaker · 100+ Countries · Fashion · Storytelling · Philosophy ·
The Story

Refusing to do
just one thing.

My PhD is in High-Dimensional Optimization. I study how complex systems fail, and why the fix that works in theory breaks the moment it hits the real world.

I took that into Google. Launched Gemini for Businesses, 10 million users. Into Uber, built a freight platform from zero to global. Into McKinsey, deployed predictive algorithms for Fortune 100 operations. Published. Presented at key conferences.

Then I started asking a different question. Not how to scale systems, but why teams keep failing at the same point. The answer was always the same: they automated broken workflows and called it progress.

GROWEE is the fix. Teams can’t automate what they can’t see. We make the invisible work visible, then eliminate it.

The rest of my life runs on the same logic. Strip what doesn’t belong. What remains is the signal.

See All Projects
Since 2016
Keynote Speaker
SaaStr · Forbes Summit · AI Lab · TechCrunch · Startup Grind · Scientific Conferences · 50+ keynotes delivered
2022 — 2025
AI Product Lead — Google
Launched Gemini for Businesses · 10M+ users
2020 — 2021
Strategy Lead — Uber Freight
Launched shipment platform and scaled algorithms
2016 — 2020
Scientist and Consultant — McKinsey Digital
Predictive algorithms · Fortune 100 industrial optimization
In Parallel
ML PhD — High-Dimensional Optimization
Random Networks · Reasoning Architectures · The side hustle that became the foundation
Projects

The work.

Founder
GROWEE

Teams can't automate what they can't see. GROWEE finds the broken workflows first, then eliminates them. One sales team saved 15 hours a week in month one.

Experiences
Rooms
The Relighting
March 20th · 6pm · 22nd Floor, San Francisco

You step out, the lights come on, we watch something beautiful together.

Founder Stories
April 9th · San Francisco · 15–25 Founders

A room where founders practice saying the true thing out loud.

The Summit 2026
Fall · San Francisco · Invite Only

300 founders, operators, and investors. 50% at $1M–$50M ARR.

PhD in Overthinking
Quarterly · Distributed · Off the record

For PhDs in ML, fastest deployes, vibe coding or overthingking and people who think like them.

The Variable
Format TBD · Location TBD · When it happens

The event that doesn't exist until it does. You don't apply. You get tapped.

Creative Direction
Fashion & Creative Systems

Fashion as systems design. Storytelling events. Philosophy at the intersection of anxiety and creativity. The creative systems that make the technical work possible.

Speaking

The global stage.
Ideas that scale.

Elena speaks from operator experience: Google, Uber, McKinsey, the founder seat. Every talk is built around one insight audiences can use before they leave the room.

Recurring topics: AI workflow design · Human amplification · Building at scale · The future of work

Forbes Forum
FORBES FORUM
The Human Case for AI
Startup Grind
STARTUP GRIND
Your Team Can't See Their Own Patterns
Google Lead
GOOGLE LEAD
10 Things Google Does That Your Team Doesn't
SaaStr
SAASTR
Stop Automating Broken Workflows
AI Summit
AI SUMMIT
How to Actually Pick an AI Model
Tech Week
TECH WEEK
The Future of Work Isn't Coming. It's Already Late.
Digital Worker
DIGITAL WORKER
Redesign First. Automate Second.
AI Rabbit Hole
AI RABBIT HOLE
What Not to Do in AI: A Founder's Confessions
Digital Forum
DIGITAL FORUM
The AI Sourcing Playbook

“We had 40 people ask how to book her for their own events.”

Google for Startups
Connect

Let's work together.
Or connect.

I take on a small number of advisory and build relationships each quarter. If you’re building something in AI and need someone who’s done it at Google scale and the founder seat, let’s talk.

I speak on a limited number of stages per quarter.

Message Sent.
Elena's team will be in touch shortly.