10x-ing human capability, not replacing it.

Nobody is born “not an AI person.” But that’s the story your customers tell themselves, and it decides which parts of your product they’ll never touch. I build the enablement and education programs that change that story — in lecture halls, on Maven, and inside AI companies. Now I’m looking for my next role in customer enablement and education.

Or write to me at nicky.bell@gmail.com

Or write to me at nicky.bell@gmail.com

Nicky Bell perched on a wooden stool against a warm cream wall, laughing, in a light blue shirt

My Spiky POV

There’s a churn reason your customers will never tell you.

I specialize in it.

It’s the customer who decided your product and their identity didn’t match. “I’m not an AI person” never appears in a ticket or an exit survey, but it shapes which features they touch and which they never will. They’ll churn quietly, and runbooks and case studies won’t reach them, because knowledge isn’t the issue. What retains them is an invitation to a new self-concept, with your product hosting the transformation. It’s how I ran Ivy League classrooms and how I teach professionals on Maven: celebrate vulnerability and exploration, until the customer who was hiding from your product starts driving it.

Enablement

I live between the product team, engineers, and customers. That gives me a wide-angle lens to see around every corner and prevent issues proactively. Combined with my data science background and real experience building with AI, I know where deployments fail and how to defend against it.

Education

I believe in teaching from first principles. That means focusing on why products work the way they do, not just what they do. I don't preach coding or math — I promote judgment and agency, so that users undergo a self-transformation from a curious learner to a power user.

Community

This is the work that brings me joy: on the front lines, hosting, connecting people, building relationships in real time. I should have gone to hospitality school, but instead, I have a PhD and a gift in using it to help other people succeed. Building community is one way I do that.

Experience

Where I’ve done it.

2025 – present

Powered Analysis is my education laboratory — where I experiment with what’s actually worth teaching about AI and data, and build an audience around it. It’s thought leadership, not an exit.

2025 – 2026

Chief of Staff, Customer Success

The voice of the customer for Keywell's AI product launch. Oversaw Keywell’s enablement assets and secured new SOWs with existing accounts that grew revenue by over 40%.

2025

Analytics Lead

I came in to help retain a key customer in danger of churning, and I delivered the data-driven case studies used by the CEO to fight for their renewal and preserve 11% of ARR.

2022 – 2025

Founding Director of Data Science

I designed the analysis that got the first FDA approval of an AI algorithm to predict breast cancer risk. I taught our C-suite what the numbers meant, so they could close our Series B.

2020 – 2026

Data Science Instructor

University of Pennsylvania; George Washington Univ.

I started teaching before ChatGPT, and finished as an evangelist for AI. Proud to be one of the first faculty to treat AI as a learning objective, not a tool to be shunned.

2015 – 2022

PhD, Political Science

University of Pennsylvania

Spent years digging deeply into why a job training program with gold-tier benefits went almost entirely unused. I sharpened a toolkit useful for solving any product or GTM problem.

Black-and-white portrait of Nicky Bell laughing in front of a bookshelf

How I work

I teach the way a good host runs a dinner.

Customers are my guests. Hospitality is my gift. I want them to arrive however they are, and let me guide their experience. I meet them with curiosity and empathy — I'm their ally in achieving success. When they feel comfortable, learning becomes joy, and joyful customers are repeat customers.

Get in touch

If you’re building something that makes people better at their jobs rather than obsolete in them, I’d like to hear about it.

If you’re building something that makes people better at their jobs rather than obsolete in them, I’d like to hear about it.

If you’re building something that makes people better at their jobs rather than obsolete in them, I’d like to hear about it.

I’m exploring customer enablement and education roles. The fastest way to reach me is a 30-minute call.