CEO · Author · Board Member · Executive Coach

Kent Kaufman

Helping leaders navigate the competitive and ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence — through writing, workshops, and practical tools.

AI Strategy for Executives

💼 CEO & Chairman, Black Hawk (BKHA) 📖 Author, AI L4IR 🏛️ Co-Founder, AIISV 🎓 Stanford Alum

About

AI leadership rooted in Silicon Valley

Kent Kaufman

Kent is a CEO, author, board member, and executive coach with deep roots in the Silicon Valley tech and startup ecosystem. He currently serves as CEO & Chairman of Black Hawk Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BKHA), CEO of the Growth and Leadership Center, and a Senior Executive Coach with Korn Ferry.

He also co-founded the AI Institute of Silicon Valley (AIISV), where he runs workshops and events — including an AI-SDLC / Spec-Driven Development program — and serves on the speaker selection committee and as sponsor/exhibitor liaison for the AI Summit @ Stanford. A Stanford alum, his work focuses on AI competitive dynamics, ethical AI leadership, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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Kent Kaufman ringing the Nasdaq bell for Black Hawk's IPO
CEO & Chairman, ringing the Nasdaq bell for Black Hawk Acquisition Corp.’s (BKHA) IPO — watch the video

Executive Coaching

Trusted by leaders at Silicon Valley’s top companies

Functional Areas of Expertise

Leadership and general management, marketing and sales, business development, and engineering.

Key Focus Areas

Team dynamics, strategic thinking and analysis, decision theory, negotiating for results, conflict resolution, giving and receiving critical feedback, situational management, and inspirational leadership.

Kent has coached executives at all levels across companies including:

AbbottActivIdentityAddison AvenueApple Aryx TherapeuticsBarclays Global InvestorsBEA Systems (Oracle) Beam GlobalBlackRockChevronCisco Cupertino ElectricEMCExtreme Networks Federal Reserve BankGalloGenentechGenomic Health GoogleGuavusHewlett PackardHNTB Corp. Intel CorporationITG Investment Technology GroupLevi Lockheed Martin (SAVI)MedtronicNestle Network ApplianceNorthrop GrummanNVIDIA PARC – XeroxRudolph and SlettenRyan Associates SAPSkyworks (Advanced Analogic Technologies)Sony (SIE) Tarlton PropertiesVarian MedicalVMWareXicom

The Book

AI L4IR: Leadership and the 4th Industrial Revolution

A guide for leaders navigating what AI means for competitive strategy, organizational readiness, and ethical decision-making in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Volume discounts available for bulk/corporate orders — contact Kent to get a link.

More by Kent

Other Books

The Approachability Factor

Influencing Relationships and Getting Results — on communicating and leading with a positive, approachable style.

About the Author

See Kent’s full author page and complete list of books on Amazon.

AIISV

AI Institute of Silicon Valley

Kent co-founded AIISV, where he runs workshops and events for leaders looking to put AI into practice — including a program on AI-SDLC and Spec-Driven Development. One outcome of that work is the free AI Readiness Assessment, a tool for organizations to find out where they stand and get a personalized roadmap.

“Leading the future of AI leadership and innovation. Explore our programs, workshops, and community events for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” — AIISV