Fractional people & talent partner

Navigate the human side of AI with warmth, rigor, and a global network.

Aptiv8 (Aptitude × Innovate) helps operating leaders, executives, and VC firms stay indispensable—pinpointing the skills to hone, designing humanistic change management programs, and keeping communities connected during disruption.

  • Career navigation for operators and executives
  • Future-ready people systems for AI-native teams
  • Advisory for VCs + their startup CEOs

Ways to work together

Pick the lane that matches your current chapter.

For individuals

Career clarity sessions, interview rehearsal, & skills roadmaps to stay ahead of AI reshuffles.

For people teams

On-demand leadership support to redesign organization structure, compensation, and engagement, and drive effective change.

For VC partners

Hands-on advisory for VC partners + their startup CEOs: leadership searches, CEO coaching, and people ops diagnostics.

Focus areas

Short, scannable playbooks—not manifestos.

AI Career Navigation

Design a 3–6 month plan that keeps your story compelling when companies are trimming or reinventing roles.

  • Talent audit + positioning
  • Warm intros & accountability cadence

Future-Ready People Ops

Operational guidance for reorganizations, automation plans, and talent searches connected to VC partners.

  • Org design & comms kits
  • Investor + CEO search orchestration

Community & Event Architecture

Plan and produce salon-style gatherings, recruiting showcases, and portfolio meetups that deepen networks and surface talent.

  • Network salons & recruiting showcases
  • On-site hosting + post-event talent follow-up

Signature builds

Communities and programs that prove it.

AI Link

An invite-only community bringing entrepreneurs and technologists together—in person and in a trusted, high-signal space.

Talentiz

Container-style recruiting assistance for early-stage teams who need to hire top executives, board members, and AI engineers yesterday.

Buildathon

A talent discovery sprint that surfaces AI engineers through collaborative, high-trust challenges.

Entrepreneur Summits

Annual gatherings aligning AI-native startups with investors, partners, and founding team members.

Portrait of Linda Lee

Meet Linda Lee

The operator founders call when people systems have to scale with heart.

I run Aptiv8 as a fractional people and talent partner for AI-native founders, operating leaders, and the VCs who back them. My lane is pairing authenticity, rigor, and a global network so leaders can navigate hiring swings, reorganizations, and automation plans without losing their essence.

Before Aptiv8, I spent seven years at Andrew Ng’s AI Fund as Talent Partner, building the Fund’s talent, HR, and marketing functions while standing up people infrastructure for 40+ newly launched portfolio companies. Across 20+ years in global HR—ByteDance, AgilOne, Kintana, plus operating and starting three small businesses from scratch—I’ve supported teams in 20+ countries and sat in every seat from recruiter to board advisor.

Clients rely on me for hands-on org redesigns, change plans rooted in transparent comms, and talent campaigns that range from AI Sourcing Agents to traditional CEO and founding team searches. The community programs I founded under the AI Fund umbrella (AI Link, Buildathon, Entrepreneur Summits) still guide how I keep 700+ execs, operators, and builders connected.

Start a project

Share your pain points. I’ll follow up with a 30-minute intro call.