COVER STORY
Liat Ben-Zur
CEO
LBZ Advisory LLC
Liat Ben-Zur, Founder of LBZ Advisory, has built an impressive career by helping organizations navigate some of the most significant technology shifts of the modern era. With more than three decades of leadership experience across global technology companies, she has consistently worked at the intersection of innovation, business growth, and human-centered transformation. Today, through LBZ Advisory, she advises CEOs, boards, and executive teams on how to move beyond AI discussions and create measurable business value through responsible adoption and practical execution. We at CIO Global, are proud to introduce Liat Ben-Zur as one of the 10 Distinguished Leaders Making an Impact in USA, 2026.
Throughout her career, Liat has been drawn to moments when technology creates new possibilities. Her professional journey has taken her through several major waves of innovation, including mobile technology, connected devices, digital health, enterprise productivity, internet platforms, and artificial intelligence. While many leaders focus primarily on technology itself, Liat has always believed that successful transformation depends on people, leadership, and organizational readiness. This perspective has become the foundation of her work and the reason many organizations seek her guidance today.
AI can process information, but human judgment will always shape the future.
Before founding LBZ Advisory, Liat held senior executive leadership roles at some of the world’s most influential technology companies. At Microsoft, she served as Corporate Vice President, leading product and platform initiatives across Microsoft 365, Edge, and Bing. Her responsibilities included managing large-scale consumer and enterprise businesses that served millions of users around the world. During her time at Microsoft, she contributed to product reinvention efforts, ecosystem growth, customer adoption, and building trust in highly competitive markets.
At Royal Philips, Liat worked at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and connected care. She helped advance digital health initiatives that combined consumer experiences, healthcare data, and connected devices. Working in an industry where technology directly affects people’s lives reinforced her belief that innovation must always remain focused on human outcomes. This lesson continues to shape her approach to AI and business transformation today.
Before joining Microsoft, Liat spent many years at Qualcomm, where she played an important role in the company’s transition from 2G to 5G technologies. She also helped expand one of the largest open Internet of Things ecosystems globally. Her work involved building strong developer communities, supporting partners, and creating opportunities for innovation at scale. The experience taught her how technological breakthroughs only create impact when supported by strong ecosystems and effective execution.
At Royal Philips, Liat worked at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and connected care. She helped advance digital health initiatives that combined consumer experiences, healthcare data, and connected devices. Working in an industry where technology directly affects people’s lives reinforced her belief that innovation must always remain focused on human outcomes. This lesson continues to shape her approach to AI and business transformation today.
As she moved through different industries and leadership roles, Liat noticed a recurring challenge. Many organizations spoke about transformation, yet few were truly prepared to change the way they operated. Companies often celebrated innovation while continuing to reward old behaviors and protect existing systems. This gap between ambition and execution became one of the key reasons she launched LBZ Advisory.
Through her advisory work, Liat helps organizations focus on practical questions. She encourages leaders to identify where AI can generate real value, what operational changes are necessary, and how governance structures can support responsible implementation. Rather than treating AI as a trend or a technology project, she views it as a leadership challenge that requires clear thinking, accountability, and long-term vision.
One of the qualities that distinguishes Liat as a leader is her ability to create clarity during uncertainty. She believes leadership is not defined by titles or authority but by the positive changes leaders create within organizations. For her, successful leadership means helping teams move faster, improving decision-making, strengthening systems, and creating opportunities for people who may have previously been overlooked.
Her leadership philosophy is also reflected in her forthcoming book, The Bias Advantage: How Unconventional Leaders Gain Power in an AI-Driven World. The book explores the idea that individuals who have spent their careers navigating bias, ambiguity, and imperfect systems may possess unique leadership strengths that are especially valuable in the AI era. Liat argues that experiences often viewed as disadvantages can become powerful sources of insight, resilience, and strategic thinking.
The future belongs to leaders who question assumptions and embrace change.
Among her many accomplishments, Liat considers her greatest achievement to be her ability to lead through continuous reinvention. Whether guiding organizations through technology transitions, product turnarounds, market disruptions, or operational changes, she has consistently helped teams adapt and succeed. Her success is measured not only through business results but also through stronger organizations, healthier cultures, and more capable leaders.
Her personal journey has also shaped her leadership style. Early in her career, she often felt pressure to fit traditional expectations of leadership. As a woman in technology and someone who later chose to openly embrace her identity, she experienced firsthand the challenges of being underestimated or feeling different. Over time, she realized that authenticity was not a weakness but a leadership strength. By leading as her full self, she developed deeper trust, stronger relationships, and greater confidence in her ability to create meaningful impact.
Today, Liat’s leadership style combines direct communication with empathy and accountability. She believes leaders must be willing to address difficult issues early rather than avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Her broad experience across multiple industries allows her to recognize patterns, identify hidden challenges, and help organizations focus on what truly matters. She consistently emphasizes execution, ensuring that strategies lead to measurable outcomes rather than remaining theoretical discussions.
Innovation remains central to everything she does. However, Liat defines innovation differently from many others. In her view, innovation is not simply about creating new ideas or technologies. It is about achieving adoption, changing behaviors, and generating lasting value. This practical perspective has become especially important in today’s AI landscape, where many companies are experimenting but relatively few are successfully transforming their operations.
Looking ahead, Liat sees organizations entering a new phase of AI adoption. She believes the future will focus less on experimentation and more on accountability. Business leaders, boards, regulators, customers, and employees will increasingly demand evidence that AI initiatives create measurable value while maintaining transparency, trust, and ethical standards. Companies will need to rethink workflows, organizational structures, governance frameworks, and leadership approaches to succeed in this environment.
Through LBZ Advisory, Liat aims to help organizations become AI-ready in ways that are practical, responsible, and sustainable. She remains committed to helping leaders navigate complexity, make better decisions, and build organizations capable of thriving in an increasingly technology-driven world. Her work continues to demonstrate that successful transformation is never just about technology. It is about people, leadership, judgment, and the courage to challenge assumptions while creating a better future.
Technology creates possibilities, but leadership turns them into lasting impact.
