# Wendy Gonzalez

> Wendy Gonzalez is the CEO of Sama, a mission-driven AI data annotation and model evaluation company that employs thousands of workers in East Africa. She joined Sama in 2015, rose through the ranks as COO and President, and assumed the CEO role in 2020 following the passing of founder Leila Janah. Under her leadership, Sama closed a $70M Series B - at the time the largest funding round for a woman-led AI infrastructure company - achieved Forbes AI 50 recognition, and scaled to over 3,000 employees while maintaining its B Corp certification and social mission of lifting people out of poverty through dignified work in the AI economy.

- **Role:** CEO at Sama
- **Organizations:** Sama, Leila Janah Foundation, YMCA Project Cornerstone
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Accounting (originally pursued history), University of Washington
- **Known for:** Closed $70M Series B in 2021 - at the time the largest funding round for a woman-led AI infrastructure company, Led Sama to Forbes AI 50 recognition, Led Sama to Inc. 5000 list for four consecutive years

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Began career as auditor at Ernst & Young (EY), then transitioned into management consulting
- **10+ years** — Management consulting roles at EY and Capgemini Consulting
- **Prior to Sama** — Product and engineering leadership at an IoT SaaS startup (co-founded; achieved $10M ARR, acquired)
- **Prior to Sama** — Leadership roles at public IT companies including Cycle30 (acquired by Arrow Electronics) and General Communications Inc.
- **2015** — Joined Sama as Senior Vice President and Managing Director
- **2018** — Promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer at Sama
- **2020 (January)** — Became Interim CEO following the passing of founder Leila Janah
- **2020** — Confirmed as permanent CEO of Sama; company also earned B Corp certification
- **2020** — Led company through COVID-19 pandemic - provided laptops, batteries, and hotel accommodations to keep East African workforce employed
- **2021** — Closed $70M Series B - at the time the largest financing round for a woman-led AI infrastructure company
- **2022** — Created 1,622 entry-level jobs in a single year; company recognized on Forbes AI 50 and Inc. 5000
- **2023** — Sama joined UN Global Compact; transitioned North American offices to 100% renewable energy; shifted company away from content moderation toward computer vision and GenAI
- **2024** — Hired 2,100 Kenyans to support digital economy participation; spoke at Women in Tech Global Conference and Web Summit Lisbon

## Achievements

- Closed $70M Series B in 2021 - at the time the largest funding round for a woman-led AI infrastructure company
- Led Sama to Forbes AI 50 recognition
- Led Sama to Inc. 5000 list for four consecutive years
- Built Sama's workforce to 53% female (industry average: 26%)
- Scaled ML-assisted annotation, improving annotation efficiency by over 300%
- Maintained 96-99% quality SLAs across annotation operations
- Drove three-year revenue growth of 134%
- Oversaw Sama's conversion from nonprofit to for-profit public benefit corporation
- Helped Sama lift 65,000+ people out of poverty through dignified work
- Recruited engineering workforce with more than 30% PhDs
- Won Globee Awards, TITAN Awards, and Stevie Awards for Women in Business
- Board Member of the Leila Janah Foundation
- Led company through simultaneous founder death and global pandemic in 2020

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Spoke at Web Summit Lisbon as a featured speaker on AI and ethical data practices
- **2024-10** — Hired 2,100 Kenyans to expand Sama's AI data annotation workforce
- **2024-05** — Spoke at Women in Tech Global Conference 2024
- **2023-10** — Sama shifted strategic focus from content moderation to computer vision and generative AI model evaluation after exiting Meta and OpenAI contracts
- **2023-05** — Sama joined the UN Global Compact; transitioned North American offices to 100% renewable energy
- **2021-11** — Closed $70M Series B round, at the time the largest for a woman-led AI infrastructure company

## Links

- Website: https://sama.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-gonzalez-a319788
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/wendykgonzalez1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samaartificialintelligence

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/wendy-gonzalez
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-20