From Framework to Founder: How Brittney Hannah Turned AI Fluency Into a Movement

Brittney Hannah didn’t just learn AI—she transformed how others engage with it. Through her company, The Sainth, she’s helping mission-driven teams move from curiosity to confident implementation, bridging the gap between strategy, trust, and storytelling. As part of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight series, Brittney shares how a personal learning agenda sparked a broader movement—turning her into a founder reshaping how organizations build AI fluency and culture. With clarity and conviction, she’s showing that human-centered innovation isn’t just possible in AI—it’s essential.

Hi, Brittney Hannah! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

At The Sainth, we help organizations move from AI aspiration to adoption—with clarity, trust, and cultural relevance. We work primarily with enterprise teams, public institutions, and mission-driven innovators who are grappling with how to operationalize artificial intelligence responsibly and effectively.

Our work is grounded in strategy and storytelling. We partner with leaders to design AI literacy programs, build governance frameworks, and shape go-to-market strategies for emerging AI tools. Whether it's helping a federal agency align GenAI with policy, or guiding a tech founder through launch messaging, our goal is the same: make AI understandable, usable, and trustworthy for the people it’s meant to serve.

The impact of our work shows up in multiple ways—workforces that are more confident engaging with AI, products that launch with intention and clarity, and organizations that can navigate emerging technologies with both technical alignment and human insight. We're not just here to build AI systems. We're here to build belief, fluency, and lasting strategic capacity across teams.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

The moment I felt like I went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur was when I realized that I wasn’t just upskilling for myself—I was building frameworks that helped others find their footing in AI too. It started with a personal learning agenda I created while at Deloitte, so I could go from “what does AI even mean here?” to confidently leading projects. But what shifted everything was watching my peers—mostly from non-technical backgrounds—use that same framework to get staffed on AI initiatives and grow their influence.

That’s when it clicked: this wasn’t just a personal learning journey. It was a repeatable pathway that others needed too. I wasn’t just curious about AI—I had something valuable to offer in helping teams build confidence, clarity, and readiness. That realization planted the seed for The Sainth. I stopped waiting for permission and started building the kind of strategic, human-centered AI advisory that I wished existed when I was learning. That’s when I knew I had stepped into entrepreneurship.

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

The real motivation came during my time at Deloitte, when I was advising health and human services agencies on policy and IT modernization. Around 2023, everyone started saying, “We’re implementing AI.” But when I asked what that meant—whether they were using Copilot, building chatbots, or just exploring automation—there was rarely a clear answer. That gap between intention and understanding lit a fire in me.

I realized we were entering a wave of AI adoption without the literacy, trust, or scaffolding to make it sustainable. So I created a learning agenda for myself—mapping out how to become AI-fluent in 90 days—and then started sharing it with my peers. What began as a personal upskilling tool turned into a blueprint others could follow. When I saw colleagues from non-technical backgrounds get staffed on AI projects using that same roadmap, something shifted. I knew this work had broader value.

That’s what pushed me to launch The Sainth. I didn’t want to just support AI strategy—I wanted to help shape AI culture. And I believed there was room for a company that prioritized literacy, ethics, and people-centered adoption as much as innovation.

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

One of the biggest game-changers for my business has been my customized GPT, which I call The Sainth Advisor. It’s built on ChatGPT Plus, but trained on everything from my writing and resumes to client frameworks, strategy decks, and even my vision board. It’s not just a chatbot—it’s a thinking partner. I use it daily to sharpen messaging, prep for panels, simulate stakeholder conversations, and refine the way I show up as a strategist, founder, and creator.

In many ways, The Sainth Advisor embodies how I think AI should work: as an extension of your values, your expertise, and your voice. It helps me create faster, communicate more clearly, and scale thought leadership in ways that would be impossible on my own. It’s not just a tool I use—it’s part of how I build and lead The Sainth.

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

One of the biggest pivot points in my career came when I realized that expertise alone doesn’t drive change—access does. Early on, I was deeply focused on building subject matter knowledge in data, policy, and AI. But I noticed a recurring pattern: brilliant ideas were getting stalled not because they lacked value, but because people didn’t understand them, didn’t trust them, or didn’t feel included in the conversation.

That realization shifted everything. It taught me that if I wanted to drive real impact, I couldn’t just stay in the data—I had to become a translator. I had to design for understanding, not just correctness. That’s what led me to build learning agendas, storytelling frameworks, and ultimately, The Sainth. I stopped seeing my communications background as “adjacent” to tech and started seeing it as essential. That pivot—from expert to enabler—completely changed how I approach strategy, adoption, and leadership today.

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

One unconventional strategy that’s made a huge difference for my business is designing and sharing personal AI learning agendas—internally and externally. Instead of gatekeeping knowledge or relying solely on expert-led trainings, I created practical, role-specific pathways that helped non-technical professionals build AI fluency on their own terms.

What started as a tool to upskill myself at Deloitte became something I openly shared with colleagues and friends, and later with clients. And it worked—people who once felt intimidated by AI started leading projects, asking sharper questions, and advocating for tools that made sense in their workflows.

It’s unconventional because we often assume learning has to be top-down, certification-driven, or overly technical. But this strategy showed me that trust, confidence, and readiness are built when people can learn in context—with structure, but also autonomy. That insight now anchors everything we do at The Sainth.

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

Do not underestimate the power of partnerships. One of the hardest parts has been building the right relationships to gain traction on bold, creative ideas.  Even with a clear vision, getting support as a newer founder without a deep bench of legacy connections has been challenging.

I’m fortunate to have a core circle—people like Bessie Watts, Jessica Couch, and my co-founder Cedric Kwindja—who anchor and accelerate what I’m building. But outside that, cultivating broader collaboration takes time and intention. So my advice is: build your business, yes, but also build your ecosystem. The right partnerships don’t just expand your reach—they sharpen your thinking, strengthen your infrastructure, and help you go further than you ever could alone.

Want to dive deeper into (guest name) work? Check out the links below!

• Visit The Sainth's website: thesainth.com
• Connect with Brittney Hannah on LinkedIn: Brittney Hannah
• Follow The Sainth on LinkedIn.