Interview: 1
Fueled by a whole lot of Vitamix green juice and a desire to help others achieve their highest potential, Lauren Abney is a self-proclaimed “woo tech girl” on a mission to make AI more relatable while living with purpose.
In her role at Google, Lauren views herself as something of a storyteller, a translator bridging the gap between technical expertise and accessible solutions as she crafts curated experiences designed to show how the tech giant is using AI to create meaningful societal change.
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What is Google’s mission in AI?
Our mission in AI is to help our three core audiences, which are consumers, communities, and then companies. How do we take the world's largest issues and address those with AI? How do we help our audiences grow with things like ads or be efficient with things like the cloud? Instead of asking, “What's your AI strategy?” we ask, “What's your business or societal need and how can AI address it?”
What do you love most about your role?
Storytelling. Taking lateral knowledge from across the org, the industry, and personal study to move people and businesses towards solutions that will help them achieve their highest potential.
What specific goals or challenges are you hoping to address in your current role?
My role is to be a translator. From extremely technical to common language, I tell stories. Luckily my mind works in a way that I understand data and technology. I call my superpower being a translator. It’s my job to take Google acronyms and products and tell a story in a way that my client and partner can understand how it can impact their business. So with AI, I'm taking this novel kind of ethereal concept and being a translator into something that feels like it's digestible.
How do you see your career evolving?
I'm trying to brand myself as a “woo tech girl.” I've definitely found my lane. I think that there's an evolution that happens in building more narratives. I think if I can create stories that fit both sides of those, then I have a greater breadth. There might be an opportunity where a tech conference wants to make AI more human. Or a wellness conference where everyone's talking about AI’s impact on health. I wanna be the “woo tech girl” that can really deliver in both because it's authentic to me. It’s going to require a lot of self-study and understanding.
What is one thing you wish everyone knew about Google?
As I've gotten older, it's meant so much more for me to be mission-led and work for a mission-driven company. I think we often think that that means a nonprofit or you're volunteering. But in reality, because Google has the capital infrastructure that they do, we do things that are changing the world. For example, by building speech technology that gives non-standard speakers the ability to communicate, that's changing human lives. Or flood prediction around the Ganges River. The United Nations states that half of the world lacks adequate early warning systems for disasters like floods and fires. Now, by leveraging AI to help with flood prediction, we deliver alerts in search and in maps and push notifications so that seven days in advance, instead of seven hours, they know they could be potentially in danger. What we're doing for the greater good is amazing.
What inspires your ambition, and why?
Watching people evolve. We're all these multidimensional humans and expecting people to stay the same and have attachment to who people used to be is futile. Instead, I love watching people grow, expand, and learn. I truly believe that there's room for everyone. This world is abundant. It's not as if somebody gets a great role, I can't have it. I actually think that it's proof. I love people just owning it. I love seeing other people shine.
What’s a life goal?
I think my mission is to help humans achieve their high potential. If I can do that by spreading love and helping inspire people with technology, I think that's my place right now.
Are there any fears that hold you back?
Self doubt. Thinking I’m not pedigreed, specialized, or special enough.
When making decisions, do you rely more on logic, intuition, or something else entirely?
Gut. Trusting your gut is fueled by making hard decisions and having the awareness to reflect back to see where your gut was right.
What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
When I was 16 my dad signed me up to be a landscaper. I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, and my dad signed me and my best friend up to do yardwork. We were told to hop in the back of a pickup truck at six o'clock in the morning to go landscape with a lot of adult men. It wasn't my first choice. And my job after that was working at Abercrombie & Fitch (chuckles).
Name a book, movie, or song that changed the way you see the world?
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. I never considered myself an artist, but this book woke me up to the idea that we are always creating. There is artistry in building an outfit, raising a family, telling a story. Adding intentionality to the process of living is the ultimate act of creativity.
What’s one experience you think everyone should try at least once?
Let's go woo baby… I wish that everybody could experience some sort of meditation training or retreat. It's by far the most meaningful modality that has changed my life. It is what centers me. It is how I have awareness and the ability to slow down before I take action. I think if we all could cultivate that pause we'd live a lot more intentionally, kindly, and with a lot more peace.
If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be and why?
So I don't have a lot of appliances (chuckles). I have a very clean countertop. I don't even use a microwave because what's going on there, you know?! But I'm gonna have to say my favorite and most used appliance is the Vitamix. Here's why. Because I'm an amalgamation of all my ingredients. All of life has created this moment. Every little thing. The moments that you thought were nothing. The moments that you thought were shitty. The moments that you thought this is the best that it's ever gonna get. They’re all just mixed up into probably my green spirulina smoothie.
You graduated from the University of Kentucky located in Lexington—The Horse Capital of the World and our agency HQ—so I wanna know…if you owned a horse, what would you name it?
Tonalli. It is a Native American word for getting energy from the sun. I often say I’m a sunflower from Kansas. When the sun comes up, I look at it and follow it all throughout the day. Or I'm trying to follow it throughout the world. I feel like I have a deep connection to the sun. Tonalli. That’s my horse.
