About
She wanted to know how things worked.
Everything that followed came out of that one habit: taking things apart to find out what was inside.
Michelle's fascination with how things work started long before the PhD. She was the child who took things apart, learned with her hands and didn't always thrive in a classroom built around sitting still and knowing the right answer. It left her with a belief she still holds: human potential is often hidden by the way we choose to measure it.
Curiosity led to engineering, and eventually a PhD in Biomedical and Materials Engineering. Engineering led to nanotechnology and the behaviour of materials at scales most people never see. And the same instinct eventually carried her to AI and robotics, machines that can now see, learn and act in the physical world.
Dr Michelle Dickinson is a PhD engineer, technology executive and global keynote speaker on artificial intelligence, robotics and the future of work. Drawing on deep technical experience in AI and robotics, she helps audiences understand how technology is changing work, and the human capabilities that will matter next. She has delivered more than 450 keynotes worldwide for organisations including Gartner, Microsoft, SAP, Deloitte and Mastercard.
Somewhere along the way, Michelle realised that inventing technology is only one part of progress. People also have to understand it. A material nobody can explain changes nothing. Neither does a system nobody trusts.
That realisation created a career-long connection between engineering and communication: two television series, bestselling books, podcasts, teaching and more than 450 keynotes translating complex technology for the people making decisions about it. She went on to found Matter Workshop, her AI consulting company, and co-found the science-education company Nanogirl, doing that work with organisations and classrooms directly.
It led to the question underneath her work today: not simply what machines will be capable of, but what humans will need to become better at as a result.
Before the stage.
Michelle completed her PhD in Biomedical and Materials Engineering at Rutgers University before spending nine years as a senior lecturer in Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland. There, she established New Zealand's only nanomechanical testing laboratory and worked as an associate investigator with the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
Her research produced over 30 peer-reviewed publications spanning advanced materials, nanotechnology and engineering.
Speaking began with a TEDx Auckland talk and grew into main stages around the world. Along the way came television, books, education and an honorary appointment as a Wing Commander in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
More recently, Michelle moved into technology leadership in Silicon Valley robotics, helping deploy AI-powered robots into real manufacturing. That experience now underpins her perspective on what happens when AI leaves the screen and enters the physical world.
At a glance
- Education
- PhD in Biomedical and Materials Engineering
- Now
- Robotics and AI advisor, global keynote speaker
- Keynotes
- 450+ across global stages
- Reach
- 1M+ people
- Research
- 30 peer-reviewed publications
- Honour
- Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Built in the real world
Michelle's perspective on AI comes from working with technology when it has to function outside a demo.
From nanomechanical testing to AI-powered robots on factory floors, her career has been spent where technology meets the constraints of the real world: materials behave unpredictably, machines fail, people adapt, and the gap between what is technically possible and what is practically useful becomes clear.
Physical AI is where those tensions converge. As machines move from processing information to seeing, learning and performing physical work, Michelle is interested not only in what they can do, but in what that changes for the people working alongside them.
Today, her work sits at the intersection of what machines can do and what humans need to get better at next.
Complex ideas. Made human.
Understanding complex technology is one thing. Making it matter to people is another.
Michelle has spent decades learning how to do both. Engineering taught her precision, teaching taught her how people learn. Television taught her clarity, writing books taught her storytelling and hundreds of keynotes taught her that the same idea has to land differently depending on who's in the room.
It's why she's as comfortable in a boardroom of twelve as on a stage in front of thousands.
Recognition
- Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit For services to science communication
- Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award
- Prime Minister's Science Media Communication Prize
- Women of Influence Award Science and Innovation
- Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual of the Year
- New Zealand Association of Scientists Science Communicators Award
Questions people ask about Michelle
What is Dr Michelle Dickinson known for?
Dr Michelle Dickinson is a PhD engineer, technology executive and global keynote speaker known for making artificial intelligence, robotics and the future of work understandable to non-technical and technical audiences alike. Her work explores what machines are becoming capable of, what that changes, and what humans need to get better at next. She is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science communication.
What does Michelle Dickinson speak about?
Michelle delivers three signature keynotes. What happens when the machines can do the work? covers AI, robotics and physical AI. Curiosity as a Catalyst is about innovation and human capability, and why asking better questions becomes more valuable as AI provides more of the answers. Future-Ready, Not Future-Proof explores the future of work, and how people and organisations can become ready for a future they cannot predict. Each is tailored to the audience and the organiser's objectives.
Does Michelle have real industry experience with AI and robotics?
Yes. Michelle has worked in technology leadership in Silicon Valley robotics, helping deploy AI-powered robots into real manufacturing. Combined with her background in engineering, nanotechnology and advanced materials, that gives her a practical perspective on what AI and automation can do, where they still fail, and what changes when the technology meets the real world.
What makes Michelle different from a futurist?
Michelle approaches the future as an engineer rather than a forecaster. Her perspective is grounded in technologies she has worked with, from nanotechnology and advanced materials to AI-powered robotics, and in understanding the gap between what is technically possible and what is practically useful.