Jodi Hepner helps organizations adopt AI with people first

Consultant Jodi Hepner, founder of Prompting People LLC, is using decades of enterprise transformation and change management experience to help organizations adopt AI without losing sight of employees. Her work centers on trust, coaching, and user adoption as companies face growing fear about automation.

Why it matters: - AI adoption is now as much a people challenge as a technology challenge. - Jodi Hepner focuses on change management, user adoption, and stakeholder alignment to help organizations bring employees along instead of pushing new tools through resistance. - Her approach aims to turn fear of replacement into confidence, productivity, and broader innovation.

What happened: - Jodi Hepner, founder of Prompting People LLC, was highlighted by Influential Women for her work guiding organizations through AI adoption. - Hepner recently retired from UL Solutions after a career that included multiple leadership roles and about two decades leading transformation work. - She now helps organizations simplify complexity and put the people side first in AI initiatives.

The details: - Prompting People LLC is a consulting firm focused on change management with an emphasis on AI adoption. - Hepner’s background includes engineering, quality assurance, process improvement, and large-scale transformation. - She earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1989. - She is a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner and a Project Management Professional. - Hepner also completed certifications in Change Management for Generative AI, Transforming Business with AI Agents, and the Fundamentals of Agentic AI. - Her professional memberships include the Project Management Institute, the Association of Change Management Professionals, and Prosci. - In her Influential Women article, “Finding Your Strengths,” Hepner recalls a 1983 moment when a high school guidance counselor discouraged her from pursuing engineering and suggested teaching instead. - Hepner says that experience strengthened her determination to prove women could succeed in engineering. - Former colleagues described Hepner as a teacher, simplifier, helper, and mentor when she retired after about 40 years. - Hepner says those descriptions helped her see that teaching had been central to her career all along. - She says her real passion is leading transformation rather than simply talking about it. - Hepner credits her success to a lifelong drive to excel, thoroughness, follow-through, and high standards. - She says she has found more satisfaction in fixing broken systems, empowering teams, and seeing people grow confident than in climbing the corporate ladder. - The best career advice she received was that change is the only constant and tends to accelerate as people age. - For young women entering the field, Hepner recommends staying open to change, building a personal brand, and creating networks inside and outside the organization. - Hepner says networking matters even for technical people who find it uncomfortable, because strong relationships provide mentorship and support. - She sees trust as the core value in both professional and personal relationships. - Hepner says explaining the reasons behind change and supporting people through transitions builds confidence and lasting impact. - She points to studies suggesting organizations grow faster when they use AI tools.

Between the lines: - Hepner’s message reflects a broader shift in enterprise AI: success depends on adoption, not just deployment. - Her emphasis on augmentation over replacement is designed to make AI feel useful inside daily workflows rather than imposed from above. - The profile also frames leadership as a people-first discipline, not just a technical one.

What's next: - Hepner will continue advising organizations on AI adoption through Prompting People LLC. - Her focus is likely to stay on coaching leaders, building trust, and helping teams use AI in practical ways. - Her profile and company page are available through her Influential Women profile and Prompting People LLC.

The bottom line: - Jodi Hepner is positioning AI adoption as a change management challenge that succeeds only when people trust the process and see clear value in the tools.