Oren Hefetz: Conscious Leadership in the Age of AI

Oren Hefetz: Conscious Leadership in the Age of AI

From The Human Founder by Gali Bloch Liran

February 16, 2026 · 59 min · Episode 167

About this episode

Oren Hefetz discusses the importance of Conscious Leadership and personal awareness in the context of rapid technological change.

In this episode, I sit down with Oren Hefetz—a leader who spent 16 years at the heart of Google’s global operations, yet identifies first and foremost as a historian (who wrote a book about it!), and whom I’m grateful to have as one of my best friends & colleagues. While his track record includes launching YouTube across emerging markets and building Google’s Startup Growth Lab, our conversation dives far beneath the surface of corporate success. Oren brings a unique, grounded perspective on how we, as founders and human beings, can remain present and purposeful in a world driven by exponential technology. We explore the essential shift from traditional management to "Conscious Leadership," and why the most critical upgrade we can make isn't to our software, but to our own internal awareness. One of the most meaningful moments of the conversation was when Oren shared a pivotal moment from a retreat in India where he confronted the defining trauma of his life—the loss of his mother at age four—on the very same day ChatGPT reached 100 million users. This convergence of deep personal healing and rapid technological evolution sparked his realization that in an "exponential age,"…

People in this episode

Host: Gali Bloch Liran

Guest: Oren Hefetz

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Google, YouTube, ChatGPT

Places: India

More episodes of The Human Founder

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Human Founder podcast page.