Melanie McLaughlin

Thirty years in emerging technology. Retail, pharma, hospitality — three industries where she identified which technologies create operational advantage and which ones burn capital, before the market consensus caught up.

She founded AI A Innovations as the advisory firm she wished existed: vendor-neutral, operator-minded, built for executives who need to make decisions — not attend another presentation. Every recommendation is grounded in operational reality, not vendor roadmaps.

She chairs the RTP Executive AI Council — a standing body of senior executives in the Research Triangle who meet to pressure-test AI decisions with peers facing the same constraints. No vendors in the room. No competing members. Chatham House Rule.

Her work sits at the intersection of capital allocation and technology adoption — helping mid-market leadership teams figure out where to place bets, what to skip, and how to defend those decisions to their boards.