Podcasts By Dr. Kirk Adams: March 6, 2025: Interview with Tiffani Martin, Founder, VisioTech

Tiffani Martin is an AI & Technology Strategy Leader, Social Tech Entrepreneur, and Accessibility Innovator who specializes in AI governance, responsible innovation, and technology strategy. With extensive expertise in AI ethics, compliance, automation, and digital transformation, she supports executives and organizations in scaling AI initiatives, optimizing operations, and mitigating risks, while ensuring equity and accessibility in technology adoption.

As the Founder of VisioTech, Tiffani leads research and development efforts in accessible AI and emerging technology solutions, guiding companies in aligning with regulatory compliance, industry standards, and responsible AI practices. Her exceptional ability to bridge strategy, operations, and AI governance has garnered significant recognition, including:

✔ Black Enterprise's 40 Under 40  

✔ Dallas Business Journal's 40 Under 40  

✔ AI Innovator of the Year (Black AI Think Tank)  

✔ Lex Frieden Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Presented by Governor Greg Abbott)

Tiffani serves as an Executive Board Member and Director for Ambassadors for the North Texas Disability Chamber, contributing actively to accessibility and AI policy. Additionally, she collaborates with industry leaders, policymakers, and research institutions to shape frameworks that ensure equitable AI adoption and ethical decision-making within emerging technologies.

How Tiffani Drives Impact:

AI & Tech Strategy: Aligns AI-driven innovation with business objectives and compliance frameworks.

Executive Advisory: Partners with C-suite leaders to advance AI governance, risk mitigation, and responsible AI adoption.

Workforce Development: Builds inclusive AI talent pipelines through mentorship and strategic initiatives.

Digital Transformation: Leads cross-functional teams in implementing scalable and ethical AI solutions.

Operations & Governance: Designs strategic roadmaps, optimizes workflows, and enhances decision-making structures to support AI-driven business transformations.

Thought Leadership & Industry Influence:

Tiffani's insights on AI governance, accessibility, and business strategy have been featured in national business and academic publications. She frequently delivers keynote addresses at STEM, accessibility, and technology events, shaping critical conversations around responsible innovation, ethical AI, and inclusive technology.

Furthermore, Tiffani develops industry frameworks, including the Accessible AI Quotient, which provides structured methodologies for inclusive AI development and ethical deployment. She also actively participates on advisory boards, task forces, and executive panels aimed at advancing responsible AI policies and best practices across various industries.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

00:00

Music.

 

Speaker 1  00:09

Welcome to podcasts by Dr Kirk Adams, where we bring you powerful conversations with leading voices in disability rights, employment and inclusion. Our guests share their expertise, experiences and strategies to inspire action and create a more inclusive world. If you're passionate about social justice or want to make a difference, you're in the right place. Let's dive in with your host, Dr Kirk Adams,

 

Speaker 2  00:37

so welcome everybody to the cleverly named podcasts by Dr Kirk Adams, and today I have a guest a new friend, Tiffany Martin, and Tiffany was introduced to me by a mutual friend of ours, Dr froswa Booker DREW Thank you, froswa, for connecting Tiffany and I You're a master connector, and we appreciate you. And Tiffany is also a blind person like myself. For those of you who don't know me, again, it's Dr Kirk Adams. I am managing director of innovative impact LLC, which is my consulting practice. I am the immediate past president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind. Prior to that, the same roles at the lighthouse for the blind Inc, here in Seattle, I have devoted my professional and academic careers to creating opportunities for other people with disabilities, particularly blind people, to thrive in our society. And my main focus has been employment. I think a good, meaningful, well paying career addresses lots of issues. So I've spent my time focusing on helping create conditions in which blind people can

 

01:55

be meaningfully employed.

 

Speaker 2  01:57

And I was introduced to Tiffany and we share many of the same interests and values. So Tiffany, if you would like to introduce yourself to the vast podcast audience, or

 

Speaker 3  02:14

as Dr Kirk mentioned, I am blind. I became blind at the age of 28 so I was sighted, I ended up getting diabetic retinopathy, and so I had to make a complete life change. But before then,

 

02:30

I lived a very

 

Speaker 3  02:33

active lifestyle, traveling started. My background is in digital marketing, and so I was doing that for a global humanitarian service named United mega here. And then I went and took all, you know, my gifts, over into a ministry. And then then I went blind in the midst of that, and I realized I could do way more with technology than I felt that I could with marketing. It was a it was a gap filler for me, and their revelation came right when I lost my sight at the same time I had kidney failure, and so I was on dialysis and in and out of hospitals, but trying to maintain a nine to five as well as a five to nine the entire time. And so three transplants later, I sit before you now. I'm about to graduate from Baylor University with my MBA, with a concentration in cyber security. I went to the blind institute of technology so I can learn Web and Digital Accessibility. Became a certified product owner, Certified Scrum Master, because I wanted to understand the process in developing technology and how to facilitate that. And like I mentioned, I'll be graduating in May, and I have really high hopes in pursuing my PhD and focusing more on AI governance as well as accessibility within the corporate space. So just a lot of pivots in my life. And this one coming up, I'm looking to really step foot into academia. And that's really, truly how I came across Dr Fauci. And she said, You, I have a wonderful, absolutely amazing person that you need to meet, and that was that was you. Dr Kirk, so I'm so glad that she did that. I've learned so much in the time that we talked and shared. And so just glad to be here.

 

Speaker 2  04:52

And I want to ask you about one of your pivots. So as I mentioned in the intro, you know, my retina is detached when I was five years old. So I became totally blind before first grade. And so most, most of us who are blind aren't totally blind, only about 10% of us in the other people are legally blind and have various degrees of usable vision. So sometimes there's a question, especially for young kids, like, does this this kid really need to learn braille. Can they use other modes technology? Can they listen to stuff with me? There was no question I was totally blind. I needed to learn to write Braille. There was no question. I needed to learn how to travel independently with a cane, white cane I had in my hand as first grader, and, you know, at that time, learned how to type on a typewriter. So I learned how to type it as a six year old, so that when I was ready, I could go to public school my neighbors and siblings, which I did starting in fourth grade. But for you, you lived 28 years as a sighted person, and you kind of just said, became blind at 28 and had to learn a lot of stuff. So I think I'd like to dig into that a little bit. So many people go through a grief cycle. Many people are just shell shocked by becoming blind after living us with our formative years of the sighted person and you are an example and a role model of someone who assessed the situation and took action. And I would really like to hear, what did you you mentioned blindness to do technology, but how did you start? What did you do? First, what did you do? Second, in order to move to the place where you are now, whereas a blind person. You're about to graduate with your MBA from Baylor and planning to launch into a doctoral program. How did you get from sighted person, newly blind person, to really efficient, effective, thriving blind person?

 

Speaker 3  06:59

You know, a lot a lot of people ask me, you know, when I'm speaking or just in passing, you know, what happened? You know, how did you manage? What was it like? And I really, I don't even think to this day, I've actually truly processed it was okay. This is something that has happened to me, and I gotta adjust. And, you know, I have a wonderful, great supportive system with my parents, but I had to, you know, move back home, you know, selling my car, getting rid of, you know, my my place downtown. It was really, really something that, when you get into the thick of it, is one of those, you know, fright, like, you know, all of those, and not just my instincts kicked into, Okay, I gotta, I gotta figure something out. You know, my parents were adamant about my autonomy, and so my dad received information through a program out here at Texas Workforce Solutions. And the first time I could, you know, get an appointment, I was there, and it was my first interaction with somebody independent using technology. My case manager was a woman that was blind and immediate reaction to when I met her, was in awe, because the first thing I heard was her computer, and it's going a mile a minute. And, you know, anybody will tell you if they hear voiceover or, you know, a screen reader is just sounds like gibberish. And so my dad. I remember he got real close. He said, One day, you want to be able to do that. And you know at the time, I'm glad I have no idea with that,

 

Speaker 2  08:49

when we got onto this call and you run out a much more rapid read than I do, so you've made it

 

08:55

our screen reading technology really well.

 

Speaker 3  08:57

Yeah, I'm actually increasing my speed. My mentor, his name is Vincent Martin. He's blind himself. He has seven degrees, two of which are PhDs, and he said he reads 900 words per minute, and that's listening comprehension and retention. So I'm at 500 right now, and I'm trying to make my way up, though, but that's just the competitor in me, but yeah, like, I'm able to do that with technology. So the courses that Texas Workforce offered, they said it takes about a month, but I learned everything in about a week, just two weeks, just, you know, at the precaution, you know, and everything. But as soon as I got my computer back, I had to go. I started on a PC. Then I became a Mac person. When I became blind, I had to go back to a PC, learning jaws. And recently, I just taught myself how to use, you know, MacBook, since I was already, you know, leveraging the iPhone, iPad and so forth. But no. It's just, there's just intrinsic curiosity that that comes with, I believe would happen, you know, with my site, and I've just taken that and really challenged myself to see how far I could go. I don't, I will say this, I don't know if I would have pushed myself as hard if I was not blind, and that's crazy, but I think me pushing the limits of what I can do with the loss of a faculty is kind of just intriguing to me.

 

10:33

And

 

Speaker 2  10:36

you're about to finish your master's business administration degree, but you also are a tech founder, so I love to let people hear about your company.

 

Speaker 3  10:49

Yeah, so Visio Tech, we work on the research and strategy development of accessible technology focused on on artificial intelligence. I made the pivot a couple years back where I just wanted to focus on accessible technology, but I really from the advice of a business partner, which he he does a lot in generative AI, but I said, Hey, I think we need to go ahead and make that pivot, because AI and accessibility just go hand in hand. AI is an assistive tool. I use it for accessibility. A lot of people use it for productivity, but I really felt like this would be the gap filler with people with disabilities. You know, it's, it optimizes, you know, your workflow and creativity and things of that nature. And if we can get our hands on it, that's the, it's that access point that I'm concerned with. And so, you know, that's what we do now, like I said before, I'm taking it so much serious that, you know, I want to get that PhD. So I have a very deep understanding of not just the capabilities, but the implications of what it means on society. And so I just, I want to be well versed. I want to be on the operating, you know, operator side as well as the consumer. I want to understand that. And so I can, you know, help bridge the gap for other people as well. So, so

 

Speaker 2  12:23

you just said something in a I've heard you talk about your company more than once, but you just said something, maybe in a new way, maybe I'm finally listening, but use of AI for accessibility. So your your company is focused specifically on harnessing AI to improve the lives of people with disabilities. So am I hearing that right?

 

Speaker 3  12:49

Yeah, that's, that's where we are right now. It's been a lot of like research, you know, I've had to bootstrap the entire time, and more so now you know thing ever, but we really took a step back. Brought on, you know, new team members

 

13:08

really looking into,

 

Speaker 3  13:12

you know, how fast is advancing? I'm particularly interested in agents, just for autonomous reason, and that's just kind of like a personal goal for me with being blind, is I'm very concerned with autonomy, and to be able to leverage a tool that could, you know, operate on its own. I'm doing one thing while it's doing another, that just duplicates me several times over. And so I'm like, Okay, this could help me. I know it can help others. And so, you know, I've kind of been on this evangelist movement of trying to eradicate the fears associated with AI, particularly with with people in marginalized communities. But, you know, like everybody, we have to take, you know, baby steps. So that's kind of where we are.

 

Speaker 2  14:05

Yeah, I have two, two things come to mind. First is there, there are people listening right now who are jumping up out of their chair saying she is doing something that is so important and meaningful to me. I need to, I need to engage. I need to experience this, I need to get involved. So how can those listening want to learn more about Visio tech? How do they do that? I

 

Speaker 3  14:29

mean, I'm always on my phone, even I have the meta glasses on right now. So I'm hearing everything you know going on, not right now, of course, but I'm very active on LinkedIn. I found my people and LinkedIn, you know, other techies with disabilities and so forth. So, you know, you can contact me there with an eye, by the way, Tiffany with an eye. Yes, you know, my mom's had to be different for whatever reason. I. Yeah,

 

Speaker 2  15:00

it's got style. Well, it's T, I F, F, A, N, I

 

Speaker 3  15:04

m a, yeah, but either that or via email, Tiffany with an i at Visio tech, V, i, s, i, o, T, E, C, H, dot, C, O,

 

Speaker 2  15:17

okay, Tiffany with an i at Visio tech.co

 

Speaker 3  15:21

right? And the funny thing, oh, sorry, go ahead. Oh, you know the funny thing about the website, so just kind of going back, I've been very, you know, obsessed with no code, low code. But with the new models that have been coming out, I've been playing around with programming because that was something that I was starting to learn right before I lost my site. So there's, you know, there's times where I'm testing it out on the site to, you know, see if it works. Just to see, you know, like, as somebody that had, you know, little to no understanding of programming that was, you know, trying to start life happen, and coming back. And I'm like, this tool, you know, there's so many tools out there, Claude winds, serve cursor, GitHub copilot, you know, I'm like, Wow. You know, people who have no experience in coding can now, you know, learn how to do that. So, you know, you might see little things on the side, and it's me just like, you know, working through it. So,

 

Speaker 2  16:25

yeah, and then the you said marginalized populations. So you are an African American woman who was blind, and I just saw a stat recently. It was focused on Silicon Valley, but it's probably a pretty good snapshot of tech. 70% of the employees are non disabled white males. So you are living with several identities related to marginalized populations, and as you look at the institutional barriers that exist around in our country, race, sex and evilism, any reflections, any any thoughts, any dynamics that you find uniquely challenging or uniquely satisfying and occupying these overlapping identities?

 

Speaker 3  17:20

Yeah, it's a very peculiar town that we're in.

 

17:25

It seems like every time I'm,

 

Speaker 3  17:28

you know, opening up my phone, there's an update, there's something that is at risk of being removed, that specifically impacts my life. You know, we're talking about education. We're talking about like, section 504, and accommodations and workplace, and it's just, it can be very overwhelming right now. And I'm not going to sit here and say I'm an optimistic at all, but I do see similar to what happened when I lost my sight, when there are challenges that we face and barriers, it is an opportunity to set the world on its head and really come together, but use our voice and amplify our voice with allies and so forth to make it known. Of the possibilities, you know, that comes with the accommodations that come with the technology that comes with, you know, just the the assistance. I will say this and I stand firm. I've said it on, you know, other interviews and podcasts, di is not a license for mediocrity. It is just an opportunity for people in marginalized groups to be afforded opportunities that their counterparts had. It has opened the door for a lot of incredible, great minds. And one thing I will say about people with disabilities, we have an intrinsic ingenuity about us, an adaptability that I think is second to none, that I think all businesses could benefit from. And so I'm a living witness of that Baylor, they removed, they waived the GRE, which I think is a barrier in education, but that's, that's a whole different podcast, but by them doing that, they gave me the opportunity. It's an r1 university, and I am on par to graduate the top 25% of my class now,

 

19:44

sorry, is that fabulous?

 

Speaker 3  19:46

Yeah? Like, thank you. That I don't know if anybody will be able to witness that or in experience that if they did not give me the opportunity, if accommodations weren't set in place, but because it is. And I can now see the possibilities. I am now able to contribute, not only to that university, but other people, other organizations I contact because of what I am learning there. So you know, if I'm, if I'm a walking billboard for why accommodations matter at this time, at this specific time with the political climate, I'll be that for however long that takes.

 

Speaker 2  20:20

Well, you know, I've been thinking a lot about this meritocracy concept that's being mentioned a lot, and I think if you take us, everyone takes a few steps back. I think we would all it'd be hard to disagree with the thought that we want people to be able to contribute as fully as possible to our society and bring their talents and their skills and their strengths into the mix. And there are barriers that have prevented really talented, motivated people with unique strengths, people with disabilities, from fully engaging in the workplace. So you can call it what you want. Most recent label has been diversity, equity, inclusion, but it's really about talent management, human resources, finding the best fit for the talent skills and strengths of people that contribute to organizations and society. So we may be calling it something different in a year, but I think from a strategic business competitive standpoint, I think anyone who wants to have an effective business that adds value, provides value for their customers, is going to realize that they need to hire the best and brightest people they can, and if they're using stereotypes and discrimination as a shorthand to eliminate people from their talent pool, that's not a wise business decision. We

 

21:57

both agree with that.

 

Speaker 2  21:59

So PhD next for you, when I talked about that, I had earned my doctorate in leadership and change and first of all, Dr frost wall and I started at the same time, and she finished long before I did, but I did become Dr Adams in 2019, it's been very, very meaningful for me and you. And I talked about that. I'd love to hear your vision for the future of yourself. Tech, I know you mentioned that you're, you're seeking the PhD so that you can have the deepest grounding and understanding of AI and accessibility and those intersections that you can but what, how does that? How does that look say seven years from now, and it's dr, dr, Tiffany Martin and Visio Tech is a scaled, active company. What? What changes do you see happening in the world because of

 

22:57

what seven years from now

 

Speaker 3  23:01

I see myself definitely

 

23:07

in between research and teaching.

 

23:10

It's a passion I never knew that I had

 

Speaker 3  23:13

until I started speaking, but I'm very, very passionate about passing on that knowledge and and cultivating people and and ideas that long outlive me. I see myself doing a lot of advocacy work on the hill. And so, you know, I want to be fully prepared, you know, adding knowledge with passion to be the best advocate I can for all of the communities I represent. But it's is something that, you know, hopefully down the road, if kids come into play, you know, with my husband and I, that they could see and they have no idea of what a barrier is, because I was able to set that precedent for them. But

 

24:07

I just see myself pouring out to to people,

 

Speaker 3  24:12

you know, I just, I want to use the next seven years to not just learn, but to really get aligned with other organizations and where, you know, the research that I conduct can be utilized. I don't see it as a singular effort, just for Visio tech, but you know, anytime I could partner, or, you know, get involved and get into organizations and they can leverage life experiences that I have, as well as the knowledge and so forth, and I can help, you know, their teams, and help create better services and products and systems that serve all people. That's kind of where I'm at. So you know, it's a lot of. Movement. This is a pivot that

 

25:05

I am trying to prepare my best for.

 

Speaker 3  25:09

But yeah, going from marketing to tech and then going into academia. Yeah, I'm excited, quite nervous. I'm a control freak, and this is one of those things. I'm going by faith. But yeah, I believe I'm ready, and I'm just gonna, you know, keep my head down and start making some waves and hopefully change some things and be that catalyst. So, yeah,

 

Speaker 2  25:37

I don't want people to think that tiff needs all work and no play, as I did the presentation you made, and you made a Bob's Burgers analogy in reference. And I said, I love Bob's burger. So we had a little back and forth about that. But so in between starting a company, finishing your MBA, preparing for the PhD, networking, engaging, advocating, speaking, What? What? What do you do for fun?

 

Speaker 3  26:09

I'm a self proclaimed foodie. I'm always like researching places and dragging my husband along, like, hey, let's try this. We are active, so one of the things I'm very proud that I got to do is I got to snowboard. Coming up. We're going on a cruise with the family, but I'm gonna see if they let me jet ski. I used to do it when I had my site, and I'm like, it's just open ocean. Like, why not? But

 

Speaker 2  26:45

that's great. You and your husband come to Seattle. It's really nice here in August and September, and we'll go eat at a lot of good places.

 

Speaker 3  26:55

There's actually a conference, and I cannot think of it in Seattle that I I want to go to and I think it's in June. I had a friend send it to me, but I definitely thought of you when it came across. I'm really see if I can make that happen.

 

Speaker 2  27:12

Let us know to eat to some places that aren't on the tour sky. So this is this time has flown by. I again. This is Dr Kirk Adams. If you want to get in touch with me, I'm on LinkedIn to Kirk Adams PhD. My website is Dr Kirk adams.com D, R k, i, r k, E, D, A M, s.com My email address is Kirk Adams at Dr Kirk Adams com, and Tiffany for you to tell people one more time how they could get in touch with you and anyone listening to this podcast, I will speak for Tiffany to say we will happily talk to anyone who's interested and accelerating inclusion of people with disabilities in our society. Feel free to reach out.

 

Speaker 3  27:57

Yeah, so they can reach me on LinkedIn, Tiffany with an I actually put blind on there so you can't miss me. But yeah, LinkedIn is a great spot. If you want to see pictures of myself and my husband and my family. You know, just having fun, it's not all work. You can catch me on Instagram at Tiffany Jansen, that's t, I, F, F, A n, i, j, A n, C, y, n, and then you can also email me at Tiffany with an i again at Visio tech.co, that's V, i, s, i, o, T, E, C, H, dot, C, O,

 

Speaker 2  28:38

well, I want To express my gratitude to you, Tiffany, for your time and attention and being present with us here, and your friendship, your advocacy, your allyship, your engagement again. Dr, dr frost Bucha DREW Thank you for introducing me to Tiffany Martin. Everyone have a great day. Thanks. Stephanie,

 

29:02

thank you.

 

Speaker 1  29:05

Thank you for listening to podcasts by Dr Kirk Adams, we hope you enjoyed today's conversation. Don't forget to subscribe, share or leave a review at WWW dot DRK adams.com, together, we can amplify these voices and create positive change until next time, keep listening, keep learning and keep making an impact. You.