Ken Allen | PodEngine.ai

Pod Guest

Ken Allen

Thinkifi

Ken Allen is the Founder & CEO of Thinkifi, a civic technology platform dedicated to restoring civil discourse and respectful dialogue, drawing on his 27-year career spanning human-centered engineering, finance, and mission-driven entrepreneurship.

About Ken

Ken Allen is the Founder & CEO of Thinkifi, a civic technology platform designed to restore civil discourse and viewpoint diversity. With a 27-year career that includes human-centered engineering design from Dartmouth, strategy consulting, investment banking, and tech M&A at Blackstone, Ken brings a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen to a pressing social issue. He founded Thinkifi to address how modern platforms prioritize engagement and outrage over understanding. Thinkifi's unique structure, centered on debate propositions called "Thinks," encourages users to engage with multiple perspectives respectfully. Currently being piloted in higher education, Ken's vision is to help institutions, nonprofits, and media organizations cultivate healthier conversations. He offers a neutral, systems-level perspective on how technology design, incentives, and AI can either fragment society or rebuild trust and empathy.

Ken

Thinkifi

Conversation Starters

Topics to Discuss

Key conversation areas that resonate with audiences

01Why Civil Debates Have Broken Down: Exploring the technological and societal shifts that have eroded respectful dialogue.

02Designing Platforms for Dialogue, Not Division: How to structurally engineer online spaces that reward understanding over outrage.

03The Social Media Business Model: How incentives for engagement inadvertently reward toxicity and polarization.

04The Line Between Free Speech and Harmful Speech: A nuanced discussion on creating platforms that support open expression with guardrails for civility.

05Using AI to Promote Respectful Discussion: The role of AI in moderating conversations to be evidence-based and constructive, not to censor ideas.

06Achieving Viewpoint Diversity Without Political Bias: How technology can foster a marketplace of ideas free from ideological capture.

07Lessons from Wall Street to a Mission-Driven Startup: Applying insights from high-stakes finance and entrepreneurial failure to build technology for social good.

08The Future of Discourse in Higher Education: How platforms like Thinkifi are helping universities facilitate better classroom and campus-wide dialogues.

09Rebuilding Trust in a Polarized World: A systems-thinking approach to how technology can either fragment society or foster empathy.

10From Human-Centered Design to Society-Centered Tech: Applying engineering principles to solve large-scale social challenges.

Proven Knowledge

Areas of Expertise

Specialized knowledge and industry experience

Civil discourse and viewpoint diversityTechnology design and social incentivesEthics of online platforms and AI-assisted moderationCivic technology and social impactFree speech with guardrails (respect, evidence, civility)Higher education innovation and pedagogyMission-driven startups and long-term systems thinkingHuman-centered engineering designLeadership lessons from entrepreneurship and high-stakes financeSocratic dialogue and debate-based learning

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Suggested Topics

Why Civil Debates Have Broken Down: Exploring the technological and societal shifts that have eroded respectful dialogue.Designing Platforms for Dialogue, Not Division: How to structurally engineer online spaces that reward understanding over outrage.The Social Media Business Model: How incentives for engagement inadvertently reward toxicity and polarization.The Line Between Free Speech and Harmful Speech: A nuanced discussion on creating platforms that support open expression with guardrails for civility.Using AI to Promote Respectful Discussion: The role of AI in moderating conversations to be evidence-based and constructive, not to censor ideas.Achieving Viewpoint Diversity Without Political Bias: How technology can foster a marketplace of ideas free from ideological capture.Lessons from Wall Street to a Mission-Driven Startup: Applying insights from high-stakes finance and entrepreneurial failure to build technology for social good.The Future of Discourse in Higher Education: How platforms like Thinkifi are helping universities facilitate better classroom and campus-wide dialogues.Rebuilding Trust in a Polarized World: A systems-thinking approach to how technology can either fragment society or foster empathy.From Human-Centered Design to Society-Centered Tech: Applying engineering principles to solve large-scale social challenges.

Pod Guest

Ken Allen

Thinkifi

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