Dr. Tricia Wang is a tech ethnographer who is driven by the belief that technology must serve humanity. Whether she is conducting ethnographic research in China, advising Fortune 500 businesses, or advocating for ethical privacy laws, she always strives to surface the need to understand human behaviors. Wang’s work spans the corporate, academic, and nonprofit worlds, and she divides her considerable energy among them. She co-founded Sudden Compass—a consulting firm that helps companies achieve the unexpected by applying panoramic thinking to make better decisions, more accurate predictions of the future, and stronger data operations. To this end, she advocates for the integration of Big Data with what she calls “Thick Data,” which she describes in her TED talk. Wang’s company has advised companies of all sizes and types, including Spotify, GE, Procter and Gamble, and Kickstarter, always steering them toward ideas and actions that put people first.

Wang is currently a fellow with the US Japan Leadership Program and has held affiliate positions at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Data and Society, and New York University’s ITP Program. She is a Fulbright Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow. Her work has been featured in Quartz, New Yorker, Buzzfeed, Techcrunch, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Slate, Wired, The Guardian and Fast Company.

She is currently researching personhood and privacy, hyperlocality under COVID-19, long term effects of measurement, and inclusive digital architecture. Her most recent work during the COVID-19 pandemic through Last Mile reflects insights gained from her 10+ years of living and researching in China and her time at Magpie Kingdom, a consultancy she cofounded that advised companies on leveraging cultural innovation in China. She is also on the California COVID-19 data taskforce.

She splits her time between Brooklyn, New York, Lima, Peru, and Oakland, California. She is the proud owner of her pitbull-mix pup, @ellethedog_ who is famous for balancing stuff on her head. Her life philosophy is that you have to go to the edge to discover the center. For more information, go to her website www.triciawang.com or follow her on twitter or instagram @triciawang.