Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher Speaker Biography

New York Times Best-Selling Author, Host of On with Kara Swisher & Pivot Podcasts, Editor-At-Large at New York Magazine

Kara Swisher, host of “On with Kara Swisher” and co-host of the “Pivot” podcast, stands as a preeminent technology speaker. Furthermore, she serves as editor-at-large at New York Magazine and contributes to CNN. Moreover, Swisher co-founded the influential technology website, Recode, and the premier tech conference, Code. Recently, she received a Lifetime Achievement Webby Award, solidifying her impact as a leading technology speaker. Considered a top reporter in the tech industry since the early 1990s, Swisher witnessed the formative stages of giants like Amazon, Google, and Netflix. Indeed, dubbed “Silicon Valley’s most feared but revered journalist,” she has become a crucial technology speaker with unparalleled access to industry leaders.

Authoring Insights into the Tech Revolution

Swisher’s recent book, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, blends memoir, history, and sharp analysis of the tech industry and its founders. Consequently, it offers a witty yet critical perspective on their ambitions and unintended consequences. Moreover, Burn Book recounts tales of innovation alongside the complex realities of Silicon Valley’s successes and failures. For instance, the book details the rise of the commercial internet and its current position as a global power center, posing significant challenges. Nevertheless, despite these critical observations, Swisher remains optimistic about technology’s potential for positive change, urging the industry toward more thoughtful choices, especially with the advent of powerful AI tools. As a seasoned technology speaker, her insights into the past, present, and future of tech are invaluable. She is also the author of aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web and its sequel, There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future.  

Recognized Authority in Media and Podcasting

Swisher’s influence extends beyond writing, as evidenced by her inclusion in The Hollywood Reporter’s list of “Podcast Power Players” in both 2022 and 2023, as well as the 2023 Out 100. Additionally, she received the “Pioneer Icon” award at the 2023 iHeart Podcast Awards. Furthermore, “Pivot” has been recognized as one of the “Best Podcasts of 2022” by the New York Times and the “Best Thought Leadership Podcast” at the 2022 Adweek Audio Awards. Previously, she contributed opinion pieces to The New York Times and hosted the podcasts “Sway” and “Recode Decode.” Her co-founding of Recode and her long-standing role co-producing and co-hosting The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference (now Code Conference) underscore her consistent presence as a key technology speaker and influential figure in media. This premier conference has featured interviews with top executives, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Extensive Background in Journalism and Media

Before her current roles, Swisher worked in The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau and as a reporter at the Washington Post. Moreover, she contributed to NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC, further solidifying her presence in mainstream media. Interestingly, she has even appeared as herself on HBO’s “Silicon Valley” and Fox’s “The Simpsons.” Additionally, she hosted HBO’s “Succession” podcast, which was named Adweek’s 2023 “Podcast of the Year.” For many years, her “BoomTown” column was a prominent feature in the Wall Street Journal. Earlier in her career, she covered breaking news about major internet players and policy issues, also writing feature articles on technology. Her foundational experience as a reporter at The Washington Post and an editor at the City Paper of Washington, D.C., along with her degrees from Georgetown University and Columbia University, provide a strong base for her insightful commentary as a leading technology speaker.