Seattle to host book launch of ‘ICONIC Leadership’, a new framework for the AI era

A new book and framework examining how leadership must evolve in an era of artificial intelligence is being launched in Seattle today. ICONIC Leadership, an anthology of essays curated by tech entrepreneurs Chaitra Vedullapalli and Dee Dee Walsh, and published by Women in Cloud, brings together the lived experiences of 20 leaders from across business, technology, entrepreneurship, education and other fields.

Instead of a single leadership formula, the book uses the journeys of its co-authors to explore different approaches to leading, while offering practical suggestions and a structured framework to guide readers who are seeking to develop their own leadership style.

The in-person launch of the book takes place on 18 September at the World Trade Center, Seattle, followed by a free public virtual event on 23 September. (Register here.) Both events bring together the book’s creators and contributors to introduce the “ICONIC” framework and discuss the leadership experiences behind it.

The book arrives at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly changing how organizations work and what skills leaders need. Its central premise is that capabilities such as building trust, creating belonging, having a vision and enabling others remain distinctly human even as knowledge and execution become increasingly automated.

The book features a foreword by activist and bestselling author Reshma Saujani, named one of TIME’s Women of the Year in 2026. Saujani draws upon her experience as the founder of Girls Who Code, founder and CEO of Moms First, and executive producer of the documentary No Country for Mothers, to underline why certain doors are closed to girls and women, and why change is urgently required.

“Every pillar in this book is a mirror of a fight I have lived,” she writes in the foreword. “We’re only at the beginning of the AI economy, and I will tell you what I have told every boardroom willing to listen: the systems being built today have the potential to widen every gap I have spent my career trying to close.”

In the introduction to the book, Chaitra Vedullapalli, president and founder of Women in Cloud, explains why she believes leadership is about perspective. “The leaders who define the next decade will not necessarily be those who know more than everyone else; they will simply be the ones who can see further,” she says, adding that while AI can replace capability, it cannot replace altitude or character.

“ICONIC Leadership lives precisely where altitude and character intersect,” she writes.

And that truly is the essence of the book, in which 20 leaders from around the world share their own learnings, career journeys and leadership mantras. The experiences are organized around the ICONIC Arc, a framework comprising six interconnected pillars: Inclusive Foundations, Collaborative Partnerships, Open Access, Navigational Agility, Innovative Solutions and Collective Action.

Each leader’s journey identifies one or more aspects of the ICONIC Arc they’ve followed. What’s striking is that each chapter ends with action points for the reader – including “three questions to examine yourself”. These are particularly thought-provoking, and all the more meaningful when placed in the context of the leader’s story preceding them.

For example, an essay titled ‘Anchoring Leadership’ featuring developer and AI marketing professional Dee Dee Walsh begins with her upbringing in the Mormon faith, her mother’s advice to her to “ask for what you want”, and her eventual entry and rise in the software sector in Seattle. Her leadership style is based on “creating inclusive systems where diverse perspectives shape decisions and partnerships expand access and opportunity,” and the ICONIC Arc identified is “Inclusive Foundations + Collaborative Partnerships”.

After sharing her four-decade-long journey as a technology business leader, Walsh leaves the reader with these three questions: “When uncertainty rises, do people become calmer because of my leadership or more dependent on it? What systems am I still asking people to navigate that I should be redesigning instead? If AI handled every task tomorrow, what uniquely human contribution would make my leadership indispensable?”

Other chapters are equally insightful and worth mulling over. Live strategic illustrator, keynote speaker and leadership coach Patti Dobrowolski employs imagery and storytelling using insights from neuroscience and psychology to help business leaders develop a deeper understanding of their organizations and the people within them. The ICONIC shift she proposes is: “People need a future they can see themselves in. The future is built in our collective imagination before it is built in the world.”

The individual stories also highlight why, as Gavriella Schuster, board director and former corporate vice president of Microsoft, puts it, “Leadership is not about power; it’s about courage.” All the co-authors go through trying times and personal and professional challenges, and yet these are precisely the soil for their growth. “Success is often found in the mess and knots,” states venture capitalist Gillian Muessig, whose company Mastersfund serves women entrepreneurs.

What the stories reiterate is that great leaders are not born in “perfect” environments, yet they are able to turn key moments in their lives into fuel for future growth. They employ their unique lived experiences to drive their leadership vision, and most importantly, to create opportunities for many others along the way – through collaborations, partnerships and an inner compass led by generosity and a mission of value creation.  

“The only legacy that lasts is what we give,” says business leader and philanthropist Edie Fraser, a powerhouse of a woman even at the age of 83. “Scale your success, give back, and do your giving while you’re living,” she states.

Shreya Krishnan, managing director of AnitaB.org, a global nonprofit dedicated to supporting women and nonbinary individuals in technical fields, asks at the end of a chapter titled ‘Spiritual Leadership’: “Who rises when I do? This is the metric of spiritual leadership… If no one rises when you do, you have not led. You have only succeeded. And success without impact is spiritual emptiness.”

The book is an initiative by Women In Cloud, a global network of women technology founders, executives, professionals and allies working to make the tech industry more inclusive. Their focus is on developing cloud skills, supporting women entrepreneurs, encouraging policy participation and driving AI innovation. Working with businesses, community leaders and policymakers, they have so far raised $600 million in economic access, and aim to unlock $1 billion in new net economic access by 2030.

This is not a book to be read in one go. It’s something you need to return to time and again, with a notebook or journal by your side, because the questions need thought and introspection. For leaders and aspiring leaders, the ICONIC Arc is an exemplary framework and this book a valuable resource. If, despite the odds, these 20 leaders could do it, so can you.

Buy the book on Amazon.