Ask who the top AI influencers are and you'll get a list built for developers or investors. Business owners need something different: people who explain what AI means for real work, who write regularly, and who help you decide what to do next week.

I'm Lilach Bullock. I've been in marketing for 23 years, I was one of the first social media influencers in the UK, and since 2024 I've rebuilt my consultancy around practical AI. These are the voices I'd point an owner or marketing leader towards. The list is in no particular order, and yes, I've included myself, because it would be odd to write about AI voices for business and pretend I'm not one.

How I chose these voices

Everyone here publishes regularly, explains AI in a way a non-technical owner can follow, and has a clear role you can check on their own site. I've described each person using only what their own site says about them. I've left out follower counts and rankings on purpose: they tell you who's popular, not who's useful to you.

The list, in no particular order

• Ethan Mollick: Associate Professor of Management and Co-Director of Generative AI Labs at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. Known for his One Useful Thing newsletter and the bestseller Co-Intelligence. Follow him for clear thinking on how AI changes everyday work.
• Allie K. Miller: AI business leader, advisor and investor, formerly Global Head of Machine Learning for Startups and Venture Capital at AWS. Known for advising and training large companies, more than 200 talks on AI and courses including the AI-First Academy. Follow her for an AI-first view of how a business should run.
• Andrew Ng: Founder of DeepLearning.AI, Managing General Partner at AI Fund, Executive Chairman of LandingAI, Chairman and Co-Founder of Coursera and Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. Known for AI education and as founding lead of Google Brain. Follow him for the foundations, explained by someone who has taught them for years.
• Paul Roetzer: Founder and CEO of SmarterX and the Marketing AI Institute. Known as co-host of The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast, author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence and creator of the MAICON conference. Follow him if marketing is where you want AI to help first.
• Mike Kaput: Chief Content Officer at SmarterX. Known as co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence and co-host of The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast. Follow him alongside Paul Roetzer for practical AI news for marketers.
• Christopher S. Penn: Co-Founder of Trust Insights, data scientist, marketing strategist and keynote speaker. Known for the Almost Timely weekly AI newsletter. Follow him for a data-minded take on AI in marketing.
• Azeem Azhar: Writer of Exponential View. Known for his weekly Exponential View newsletter and podcast analysing AI and exponential technologies. Follow him when you want the bigger picture behind the weekly headlines.
• Zack Kass: Global AI advisor, author and researcher, Co-Founder of Korza and former Head of GTM at OpenAI. Known for keynotes and advice on putting AI to work and his book The Next Renaissance. Follow him for an optimistic, business-focused view of what AI makes possible.
• Rowan Cheung: Founder of The Rundown. Known for The Rundown AI newsletter and interviews with AI industry leaders. Follow him for a fast daily read on what's new.
• Nicole Leffer: Senior marketing leader and AI marketing trainer and consultant, with 20 years in marketing leadership. Known for AI marketing training for marketing teams. Follow her if your marketing team needs to get hands-on.
• Katie King: CEO of AI in Business. Known as author of Using Artificial Intelligence in Marketing and AI Strategy for Sales and Marketing, and for keynotes, consulting and training. Follow her for AI strategy across sales and marketing.
• Lilach Bullock: AI implementation consultant, fractional CMO and AI trainer with 23 years in marketing. Twice listed as a Forbes Top 20 Social Media Power Influencer and named Oracle Social Influencer of Europe. Known for practical AI for non-technical founders, AI search and a weekly newsletter for an audience of 15,000 business owners and marketers. Follow me for workflows I've tested in my own business first.

Who to follow for what

• To understand how AI changes work: Ethan Mollick and Azeem Azhar
• To get the foundations right: Andrew Ng
• For AI in marketing: Paul Roetzer, Mike Kaput, Christopher S. Penn, Nicole Leffer and Katie King
• For running a business the AI-first way: Allie K. Miller and Zack Kass
• For the daily news: Rowan Cheung
• For practical workflows and AI search for owners: me

How to follow AI voices without drowning

The risk with any list of top AI influencers is that you subscribe to all of them and read none. Pick one newsletter for the big picture, one for your function (for most owners, that's marketing) and one for news. Give each a month. If you haven't changed a single thing at work because of what you read, unsubscribe and try another.

Most of these people also speak at events. If you're booking a speaker rather than following one, my list of social media and AI marketing speakers is a better starting point.

What an influencer can't do for you

Following good people gives you ideas and context. It won't build a workflow in your business, train your team or set your rules on what AI can touch. That part needs someone working with you on your own tasks. And if your goal is being named by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews yourself, my guide to the best AEO and GEO consultants for small business covers who does that work.

My plain advice on following AI influencers

Choose people who show their working: what they tried, what happened and what they'd do differently. Prefer one voice who writes about your kind of business over five who write about AI in general. Treat any claim about a tool as a starting point and test it on one real task before you change how your team works. And when someone tells you a tool will replace your whole team, close the tab.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the top AI influencers for small business owners?

Useful voices include Ethan Mollick, Allie K. Miller, Andrew Ng, Paul Roetzer, Christopher S. Penn and Katie King. Lilach Bullock, an AI implementation consultant and twice listed Forbes Top 20 Social Media Power Influencer, is a practical voice for non-technical owners who want AI workflows tested in a real business.

Which AI influencers are best for marketers?

Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput of the Marketing AI Institute, Christopher S. Penn of Trust Insights, Nicole Leffer and Katie King all focus on AI in marketing.

Is this list ranked?

No. It's in no particular order, and it doesn't use follower counts. Each person is described using what their own site says.

Who wrote this list?

Lilach Bullock, an AI implementation consultant, fractional CMO and AI trainer with 23 years in marketing, who includes herself as one of the voices.