Scaling Smarter: How Liat Ben-Zur Turns AI into Strategic Advantage?

For years, the blueprint for scaling a product was clear: acquire users, drive engagement, measure conversions. But in the age of real-time personalization, shifting customer expectations, and exponential AI capability, those playbooks are crumbling. Static funnels can’t keep up with dynamic users. Growth isn’t just about reach anymore; it’s about relevance.

As companies scramble to retrofit AI into outdated models, one thing is clear: intelligent growth starts with systems designed to learn and adapt from day one. Every product interaction should do more than respond; it should coach, personalize, and evolve in real time.

This is where the next era of leadership comes into focus, one that blends technical depth with strategic clarity and a deep understanding of human behavior. Few embody this better than Liat Ben-Zur, CEO of LBZ Advisory LLC. A former senior executive at Microsoft, Philips, and Qualcomm, her approach goes beyond traditional AI strategy consulting. She drives transformation at every level, weaving together culture, code, and a commitment to real-time learning, ethics, and user trust in every product decision.

Architect of the AI Era

Liat Ben-Zur’s path from tech executive to sought-after advisor was never conventional, and that’s exactly what makes it impactful. Over a 25-year career, she’s navigated engineering, global P&Ls, and inflection points across industries. She’s built a career by anticipating and capitalizing on disruption.

At Qualcomm, her influence reached into the heart of the mobile revolution, helping to shape its direction and impact. From 2G to 5G, she led the company’s first open-source IoT platform, scaling its developer base from zero to 1,000+ in under two years, setting the stage for today’s connected ecosystems.

As SVP of Digital Transformation at Philips, she helped the 120-year-old healthcare giant embrace the IoT era, launching 30+ connected devices and introducing data-first business models.

At Microsoft, she inherited a flatlining $6B portfolio and grew it to $13B in four years, embedding AI into product experiences, launching GPT-4 via Bing, and reviving the Edge browser after 15 years of decline.

In 2023, she founded LBZ Advisory LLC to help CEOs and boards lead through AI disruption, product-led growth, and cultural change. Today, she advises firms ranging from Amazon and credit unions to genomics and healthtech companies to B2B SaaS and impact-focused startups, bringing technical depth, strategic precision, and outcome-driven execution.

And as a queer woman who’s driven culture change from the inside, she knows real innovation isn’t just about the levers you pull but who gets to pull them.

The Genesis of LBZ Advisory LLC

LBZ Advisory LLC was the natural next step in a career spent navigating and leading through disruption. After three decades at the helm of transformative tech initiatives at Qualcomm, Philips, and Microsoft, Liat Ben-Zur had seen enough to recognize a widening gap: while many companies were reacting to disruption, few were leading it.

LBZ Advisory is a boutique consultancy that brings C-suite precision to the intersection of AI, product-led growth (PLG), and cultural transformation. Liat’s approach is rooted in operational excellence honed from scaling global businesses and turning around multibillion-dollar portfolios, and elevated by a deeply human lens. Built for impact rather than scale, her firm works closely with CEOs, boards, and executives steering through critical technological and business transformations.

Whether helping Fortune 500 giants reimagine their AI strategy or guiding startups through lean, insight-driven experimentation, LBZ Advisory operates with one North Star: measurable, sustainable growth powered by intelligent systems—and led by inclusive, forward-thinking people.

AI-Driven Product-Led Growth

In the old PLG playbooks, every user was pushed through the same funnel, static, linear, and slow to adapt. But in today’s fast-moving digital world, that model breaks down. Liat Ben-Zur brings a transformative lens: AI-powered PLG isn’t just automation—it’s adaptation. Imagine giving every user their own real-time GPS: intuitive, contextual, and designed to remove friction instantly.

Here are five core shifts she champions:

Liat’s unique blend of technical fluency and user empathy ensures that AI doesn’t overwhelm; it empowers. Her approach transforms PLG from a passive strategy into a proactive growth engine, where every interaction makes the product smarter by design.

No One-Size-Fits-All: Liat’s AI Strategies by Sector

“There’s no universal AI playbook,” says Liat Ben-Zur. “Every business faces fragmented workflows and slow decision loops, but solutions must align with their unique context.”

Startups: With limited time and resources, startups benefit from lightweight AI nudges like an in-app coach suggesting next steps when users stall. “In days, you learn where users struggle and can tweak onboarding without heavy builds.”

Regulated Enterprises: In sectors like healthcare and finance, pilots often get stuck in compliance loops. Liat recommends a dual-track model:

• Fast Lane for low-risk UX tweaks (tooltips, nudges),
• Safe Lane for core AI systems under full audit controls.

This approach enables innovation without compromising trust.

Industrial & IoT: Disparate factory data limits AI effectiveness. Liat suggests deploying AI agents that use shared protocols, enabling systems to communicate and self-orchestrate tasks like predictive maintenance without major integrations.

Enterprise Culture Shifts: Beyond the tech itself, culture and change management prove to be the toughest challenge companies face. Liat recommends that her clients hold AI Culture Labs, where junior and senior staff co-create solutions and where AI early adaptors can encourage and support AI resistors. These sessions foster trust, highlight quick wins, and reshape incentives to reward human-AI collaboration.

How Liat Powers AI-First PLG at Scale?

Vision without execution stalls. That’s why Liat Ben-Zur doesn’t just talk about intelligent growth, she builds the frameworks to make it real. Her advisory work helps companies embed AI into product-led growth strategies from pilot to full deployment, even without deep in-house expertise.

Here’s how she helps teams move fast and drive measurable outcomes:

“Smart agents in the product flow turn AI from a demo into daily impact,”

Liat Ben-Zur

Where Smart Personalization Meets User Trust

Liat Ben-Zur believes that the most effective AI experiences support users quietly, and true innovation in AI-powered product-led growth depends not only on what AI can do but also on how it makes people feel.

“Automation without trust is noise,” she says. “The real power of AI lies in delivering value without compromising a user’s sense of control.”

To strike this balance, Liat helps companies design AI systems that are transparent, optional, and user-configurable. That begins with explicit opt-ins, letting users choose the level of assistance they’re comfortable with, from light-touch prompts to full guidance. Every AI suggestion is accompanied by a “Why You Saw This” explanation, demystifying the recommendation and reinforcing the product’s reliability.

Furthermore, she champions built-in control panels that allow users to adjust settings or opt out entirely, and human-in-the-loop safeguards for sensitive contexts like healthcare or finance.

“Trust isn’t a feature,” Liat emphasizes. “It’s the foundation. And when users feel respected, that’s when personalization truly works.”

High-Impact Sectors for AI-Driven PLG

Where AI-led product growth is driving measurable transformation

Where AI is Creating the Biggest Impact

1. Finance

2. HealthTech

3. Industrial IoT

4. B2B SaaS

5. Food & Hospitality

6. Social Impact & Nonprofits

7. Retail & E-Commerce

The Biggest Misconception About AI in PLG

A common myth? That AI alone will drive growth. “Teams expect magic,” says Liat Ben-Zur, “but without streamlined processes, even the best models stall.”

She recalls a SaaS firm that built an AI onboarding coach in weeks, boosting activation by 20% in pilot testing, but internal reviews delayed the launch by three months. By then, user patterns had changed, and the momentum was lost.

The solution: a two-speed governance model

Each rollout is tied to one clear metric and a 30-day sunset clause if no impact is seen.

“AI needs disciplined execution,” Liat adds. “Without it, even brilliant tools gather dust.”

Thought Leadership on the Horizon: The Bias Advantage

While LBZ Advisory LLC remains focused on high-impact executive advisory work, Liat Ben-Zur is expanding her influence through a powerful new platform: authorship. Currently working on her upcoming book, The Bias Advantage: Why AI Needs the Leaders It Wasn’t Trained to See, Liat is challenging one of the most persistent assumptions in AI—namely, that bias is always a flaw.

Drawing from her lived experience as a queer woman in tech and her boardroom tenure across Fortune 500 firms, Liat reframes bias as a strategic superpower. The book weaves together vivid case studies, organizational research, and actionable frameworks to show how leaders shaped by exclusion, not privilege, possess the precise pattern recognition, ethical vigilance, and radical empathy that AI systems desperately need.

As the industry continues to debate fairness in AI, The Bias Advantage makes a bold claim: the very people AI has historically failed to see are the ones best equipped to shape its future.

Not Just Better Models—Better Leaders for the AI Era

As artificial intelligence reshapes every layer of business, from workflows to workforce dynamics, the leaders best equipped for this era aren’t always those with the most credentials or corner offices. They’re the ones who’ve spent their careers navigating bias, ambiguity, and systems not built for them, developing rare capabilities that AI transformation demands.

Liat Ben-Zur believes that underrepresented leaders bring a critical edge. “The AI era doesn’t just need coders and data scientists,” she explains. “It needs pattern readers, ethical stewards, and systems thinkers.”

1. Pattern Recognition: Years of decoding bias and power dynamics sharpen the ability to spot risks, shifts, and overlooked opportunities.

2. Radical Empathy: Lived experiences of exclusion build a deep understanding of user needs—key to creating human-centered AI.

3. Ethical Vigilance: A heightened sensitivity to fairness helps prevent algorithmic harm before it scales.

4. Systems Literacy: These leaders grasp both formal and informal structures critical for navigating complex orgs and tech stacks.

5. Creative Problem-Solving: When standard playbooks don’t apply, they reframe problems and find new paths forward.

6. Influence Without Authority: Strong coalition-building skills drive change across teams, even without formal power.

7. Adaptive Resilience: Accustomed to ambiguity, they pivot fast. An essential trait in AI-driven disruption.

Ben-Zur sums it up: “AI doesn’t just need better models. It needs better models of leadership.”

Scaling Impact, Shaping Systems

Liat Ben-Zur combines consultancy expertise with the bold vision of a movement builder. By 2030, her vision for LBZ Advisory LLC extends far beyond bespoke boardroom counsel. She imagines an open-source future where every company, whether a startup or a Fortune 100 enterprise, has access to modular frameworks and plug-and-play templates that demystify AI-powered product-led growth (PLG). Through this global “AI-PLG Playbook,” Liat is codifying years of deep executive insight into accessible, ethical, and user-obsessed innovation roadmaps.

She’s shaping a legacy that influences leadership as much as it shapes strategy. Her forthcoming book, The Bias Advantage, repositions lived experience, not privilege, as the most essential asset in the AI era. It’s a bold call to action: build products that serve everyone by elevating leaders who’ve navigated exclusion, challenged opaque systems, and learned to see what algorithms miss.

In her hands, advisory work becomes a dual mandate: accelerate responsible innovation, and ensure those powering it reflect the full spectrum of human insight.

An Open Letter to Every Team Building AI-Powered Products

Dear Builders, Designers, and Innovators,

In your race to launch the next AI-driven breakthrough, pause for a moment. Technology isn’t the hero; humans are. Start by identifying where your users give up. That moment is your opportunity. Then, design a gentle AI nudge, not a shove, to help them stay on track.

Form a cross-functional “rapid learning cell,” product, design, data, compliance, working in tight two-week sprints. Think fast, learn faster.

Choose one meaningful metric, like time-to-first-success or trial-to-conversion, and let that guide your experiments. Treat every AI feature as a hypothesis, not a guarantee.

And above all, be radically transparent. Tell users what data you collect and why. Trust isn’t a UX layer; it’s your foundation.

It’s as important to consider the how and why as it is to focus on what you’re building. Let your users lead the way.

Sincerely,

Liat Ben-Zur, 

CEO, LBZ Advisory LLC.

From Code to Culture: The New Rules of AI Leadership

1. AI-PLG Is Not a Feature—It’s a Systemic Shift

Liat redefines product-led growth by embedding AI at the core of user experience, replacing static funnels with dynamic, real-time learning loops.

2. Leadership Beyond Code: Empathy, Ethics, and Inclusion

Her model champions underrepresented leaders as the next generation of AI stewards—those with the lived experience to lead with fairness and foresight.

3. From Fortune 500 to Startup Labs: Strategy Tailored by Context

Liat’s advisory approach adapts to each organization’s maturity, offering dual-speed models that balance innovation with governance across industries.

4. Trust Is the New Growth Engine

In Liat’s framework, transparency and user control aren’t afterthoughts—they’re prerequisites for scalable, personalized AI adoption.

5. The Bias Advantage: A Blueprint for Responsible AI Leadership

Her forthcoming book flips the narrative on bias by positioning it not as a flaw, but a leadership advantage in shaping inclusive and resilient AI systems.