Episode 38: Purpose, Profit, and Production-Grade AI with Sama’s Wendy Gonzalez

Future Focused CXOs is where founders and executives share the systems, decisions, and leadership moves behind durable businesses. In this episode, we sit down with Wendy Gonzalez, CEO of Sama, a public benefit company that provides high-quality training data for AI while creating formal employment in underserved communities.

Wendy’s path runs from EY audit to tech consulting, to startup founder, and finally to CEO, a journey shaped by personal inflection points, a servant-leader mindset, and a clear belief: talent is global, opportunity is not.

She shares what it took to guide Sama from non-profit to VC-backed public benefit corporation, to steer the company through the founder’s passing and COVID lockdowns, and to close the AI maturity gap that keeps pilots from reaching production.