# Dr. Kelsey Burton

- **Role:** Managing Director
- **Organisation:** Burton & Associates

Behavioural Scientist & Principal Advisor | Adjunct Faculty, AGSM | Helping Boards & C-Suite Leaders Navigate the Human Side of AI Transformation

## Biography

We are entering an era of rapid change that the human brain was not designed for. 

Most AI strategies are still built like technology rollouts — better tools, clearer training, tighter mandates. But adoption isn't a technology problem. It's a human one, and it's the part nobody puts in the business case.
 
I'm a behavioural scientist, executive educator, and AI strategy consultant. My work sits at the intersection of behavioural neuroscience, negotiation, and AI transformation — helping senior leaders understand why their people resist, stall, or quietly opt out, and what to do about it before it costs them the transformation.
 
The starting point: AI and human learning run on the same underlying mechanism — prediction error. Understanding how people actually process uncertainty tells you where a transformation will stall before it happens, not after.
 
A few reference points:
 → PhD research on leadership dynamics and negotiation, UNSW Business School
 → Adjunct Faculty, AGSM @ UNSW Business School
 → A deliberate academic pivot in 2022 — before ChatGPT's release — to build this expertise early, not in reaction to it
 → Recent stage time: WOBI Sydney (alongside Amy Edmondson, Michael Phelps, Guy Kawasaki), LinkedIn Sales Connect on Tour 2026

If your organisation is investing in AI and not seeing the shift in behaviour you expected, that gap is usually predictable — and fixable.

## Qualifications

- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Business Management, UNSW Business School
- Master's Degree, Organizational Leadership, Western Kentucky University
- Bachelor's Degree, Communication and Psychology, Georgetown College
- Graduate School Ambassador Research Grant, Western Kentucky University
- TFS International Student Scholarship, UNSW Sydney
- Student’s Choice Teacher of the Year, Western Kentucky University
- Excellence in Teaching Award, UNSW Sydney

## Education

- UNSW Business School
- Western Kentucky University

## Publications

- [Ready, Set, Launch: What Space Training Can Teach Us About Preparing Humans for the AI Era](https://kelseyburton.com/blog/human-judgement-sets-direction)

## Elsewhere

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkelseyburton/
- https://drkelseyburton.com/

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Canonical page: https://www.hatiq.org/speakers/kelsey-burton
Updated: 13 October 2026
Published by Hat IQ (https://www.hatiq.org).