Liz Bacelar

Liz Bacelar is a technology executive whose career spans journalism, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence leadership across global brands. Bacelar began her career as an Emmy-nominated journalist before transitioning into technology, where she founded Decoded Fashion and The Current Global, both of which were acquired. She created Decoded Fashion, an event series connecting leaders in fashion and retail to emerging technologies, hosting networking events and pop-up summits in 12 countries. Decoded Fashion also organized hackathons and a Fashion Tech House at South by Southwest. After the company's acquisition, Bacelar launched the consultancy The Current Global, which was also acquired.

Following her entrepreneurial ventures, Bacelar brought her innovation expertise to the beauty industry. She was recruited by the chief information officer to create The Estée Lauder Companies' first Global Tech Innovation Team. At Estée Lauder, she directed a research and insights team that provided analytics reports and briefings on industry trends, emerging technologies, and digital experiences. Bacelar played a key role in shaping Estée Lauder's entry into the NFT and Metaverse space, leading projects such as Clinique's Metaoptimist NFT. She co-managed an artificial intelligence lab with Microsoft and launched an internal AI University. Bacelar also developed and executed global innovation challenges, including two AI Ideathons that attracted more than 700 participants and a competition in the online sector featuring over 200 startups.

Bacelar is the global head of AI at Under Armour, recruited by the chief technology officer to launch the company's first AI division. In this role, she is responsible for building a team of data scientists, engineers, and AI specialists to integrate generative AI into Under Armour's operations. She leads a multidisciplinary team driving enterprise-wide transformation through artificial intelligence, embedding AI across pricing, demand, inventory, and planning functions.

With dual master's degrees in broadcast journalism and blockchain technology, Bacelar combines creativity, technical fluency, and strategic vision, making her a recognized voice on the future of AI in retail and consumer industries. Drawing on 25 years of experience leading global brands and executive AI leadership training at Stanford University, she is a keynote speaker and thought leader. She has been recognized as a Mujeres Destacadas honoree by El Diario, reflecting her impact as a Latina leader in technology and innovation.