Press and media

Megan C. Starkey

CEO & Principal Consultant, RBD Co. Author, The Intelligence Organization: Nature's Operating Model for the AI Era (RBD. Press, 2026).

Approved biographies, print-resolution photographs and cover art, book facts, published commentary, and confirmed appearances. Materials on this page are current and may be used without further permission.

Megan C. Starkey, black and white portrait, 2026
Megan C. Starkey, 2026Download 1024 px

Published and featured byMinnesota Star TribuneHitachi Vantara, The ArrayODSC AI WestMinnesota CLEApplied AIAvidEdgeThe OverAchieversBI WORLDWIDEBusiness Architecture Conference North AmericaUniversity of St. Thomas

In brief

Who is Megan C. Starkey?

Megan C. Starkey is CEO & Principal Consultant of RBD Co., a Minneapolis enterprise AI advisory, and the author of The Intelligence Organization: Nature's Operating Model for the AI Era (RBD. Press, 2026). She advises C-suite executives on AI transformation, enterprise governance, and operating model evolution. Across two decades spanning Fortune 500 leadership, including digital transformation at Thrivent and data and analytics at Target and General Mills, she has led enterprise AI initiatives from vision to production. She created the Starkey Model for AI investment prioritization and the Intelligence Method for AI transformation, facilitates executive forums and strategic leadership programs for global organizations, and publishes enterprise maturity research at rbdco.ai. She lives in Minneapolis with her family and works to bring more women into building with AI. RBD Co. is based in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota. She speaks at conferences and executive events nationally and is available for interviews, panels, keynotes, and facilitated executive sessions.

In the press

Where has Megan C. Starkey been published?

Hitachi Vantara, The Array: AI's Billion Dollar Bottleneck, featuring Megan Starkey
August 15, 2025 · Hitachi Vantara, The Array

AI's Billion Dollar Bottleneck

Featured expert, interviewed by Mary-Ann Russon.

Nearly half of global GPUs are sitting unused because we're chasing infrastructure when the advantage is integration. We're solving the wrong problem.
Speaking

Where is Megan C. Starkey speaking?

ODSC AI West 2026 executive roundtable card: moderator Megan C. Starkey, October 27, 2026, San Francisco
Next · October 27, 2026 · San Francisco

ODSC AI West 2026, executive roundtable

Moderator. "Beyond the Pilot: What Breaks at Enterprise Scale and How Leaders Fix It." Off-the-record C-level roundtable, 50 executives, one hour, in person, Hyatt Regency.

  • Oct 22, 2026Minneapolis
    No Code CoffeeSpeaker.
    No Code Coffee, Minneapolis, October 22, 2026
  • Nov 9, 2026Minneapolis
    Minnesota CLE (Minnesota Continuing Legal Education), 2026 AI and the Law ConferenceFaculty. Breakout session and published course materials for mandatory continuing education for legal professionals.
    Minnesota CLE conference listing: 2026 AI and the Law Conference, November 9 to 10, 2026, Minneapolis
  • Mar 31, 2026Saint Paul
    Megan C. Starkey on the Applied AI governance panel, March 31, 2026
  • 2025 to 2026Minneapolis
    University of St. ThomasGuest lecturer. Graduate business classes on AI strategy in marketing, hosted by Anthony Wickner.
    University of St. Thomas, guest lecturer, 2025 to 2026
  • 2025 to 2026
    W.W. Grainger, via Lorignite PrimeCurriculum designer and facilitator. AI for Leaders Training Lab for 6 VPs and a 600-person sales organization.
    W.W. Grainger, via Lorignite Prime, AI for Leaders Training Lab, 2025 to 2026
  • Oct 2025New York
    The OverAchievers, leadership lunchFacilitator. Leadership session for leaders from Uber, Salesforce, and other companies.
    Megan C. Starkey facilitating a leadership session for The OverAchievers, New York, October 2025
  • Sep 25, 2025Minneapolis
    AvidEdge, Q3 Stump The ExpertsFeatured expert, AI, with Juliet Fox.
    Megan C. Starkey taking executive questions at Stump The Experts
  • 2025
    Business Architecture Conference North AmericaSpeaker. From Pilot to Profit, for enterprise business architects.
    Title slide: From Pilot to Profit, connecting business strategy and architecture for successful AI deployments in marketing
  • Feb 2025Minneapolis
    BI WORLDWIDESpeaker. AI enablement, from productivity to production, for sales and HR executives.
    Title slide from the BI WORLDWIDE talk, February 2025
Topics
Why the 1946 corporate blueprint cannot absorb AI, and what replaces itAI governance as organizational designPrioritizing AI investment by return with the Starkey ModelAI and the workforce: the entry-level hiring shift no headcount report showsNature's operating model: what living systems teach about distributed intelligence

Formats, topics, and booking

The Intelligence Organization: Nature's Operating Model for the AI Era, by Megan C. Starkey. Hardcover front cover.
The book

What is The Intelligence Organization about?

We spent a century building organizations to run like assembly lines. Then we introduced a technology that behaves like a nervous system. Only one of them can win, and today the machine is winning.

The modern corporation runs on a blueprint carried out of World War II and into Ford in 1946. AI is integrative. The org chart is divisional. Nearly every enterprise AI failure traces to that incompatibility. Starkey first exposes how the corporate machine was built and why conventional AI transformation is not working, then constructs the replacement across four capability bands: Right-Fit Technology, People & Purpose, Operational Integration, and Adaptive Governance.

PublisherRBD. Press, Minneapolis
FormatHardcover, linen wrap with dust jacket, 5.5 × 8.5 in
ISBN979-8-234-16829-0
CategoryBusiness & Economics / Organizational Development
StatusForthcoming, 2026
OrderingOrder links appear on the book page at publication
Approved bios

Approved biographies

Four lengths, for use verbatim. Name: Megan C. Starkey. Title: CEO & Principal Consultant, RBD Co. Each opens to the full text with a copy control. Download all four as a text file.

One lineIntroductions and captions

Megan C. Starkey, CEO & Principal Consultant, RBD Co. Author, The Intelligence Organization (RBD. Press, 2026).

ShortAbout 60 words

Megan C. Starkey advises C-suite executives on AI strategy, capital allocation, and enterprise transformation. She is CEO & Principal Consultant of RBD Co. and author of The Intelligence Organization (2026). Previously leading digital transformation at Thrivent and data and analytics for Target and General Mills, she created the Starkey Model for AI investment prioritization and publishes enterprise maturity research at rbdco.ai.

Program listingAbout 75 words

Megan C. Starkey advises C-suite executives on AI transformation, enterprise governance, and operating model evolution. She is CEO & Principal Consultant of RBD Co., a Minneapolis enterprise AI advisory, and the author of The Intelligence Organization: Nature's Operating Model for the AI Era (RBD. Press, 2026). Across two decades spanning Fortune 500 leadership, including Thrivent, Target, and General Mills, she has led enterprise AI initiatives from vision to production, and she facilitates executive forums for global organizations.

Media biographyAbout 150 words

Megan C. Starkey is CEO & Principal Consultant of RBD Co., a Minneapolis enterprise AI advisory, and the author of The Intelligence Organization: Nature's Operating Model for the AI Era (RBD. Press, 2026). She advises C-suite executives on AI transformation, enterprise governance, and operating model evolution. Across two decades spanning Fortune 500 leadership, including digital transformation at Thrivent and data and analytics at Target and General Mills, she has led enterprise AI initiatives from vision to production. She created the Starkey Model for AI investment prioritization and the Intelligence Method for AI transformation, facilitates executive forums and strategic leadership programs for global organizations, and publishes enterprise maturity research at rbdco.ai. Her commentary on AI and entry-level hiring appeared in the Minnesota Star Tribune in September 2026, and she has been a featured expert in Hitachi Vantara's The Array. She lives in Minneapolis with her family and works to bring more women into building with AI.

Photos, cover, and logos

Photographs, cover, and logos

Available individually below or together in the press kit. Credit is not required. The cover should not be cropped. The RBD. mark carries the period.

For reporters and producers

Areas of commentary

Each area is backed by published work she can be quoted against.

Interview questions, quotable passages, and the table of contents for the book: book media kit.

Contact

Interview, speaking, and review copy requests

RBD Co. · Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota · rbdco.ai · LinkedIn