A conversation with Miri Rodriguez
A wide-ranging conversation with Microsoft’s Senior Storyteller for the Future of Work explores empathy, brand storytelling, design thinking, AI, inclusion, and personal resilience.
The latest episode of the Creative Class Podcast features a thoughtful and deeply personal conversation with Miri Rodriguez, Senior Storyteller for the Future of Work at Microsoft. Spanning topics from immigrant identity and brand storytelling to artificial intelligence and wellness, the interview offers a rare look at how narrative, empathy, and lived experience shape meaningful communication in today’s digital economy.
What emerges clearly throughout the discussion is that storytelling, when done with intention, is not a surface-level marketing tactic. It is a strategic and human discipline, one that demands listening, self-awareness, and a willingness to evolve.
From immigration to influence in big tech
Rodriguez begins by tracing her journey from Venezuela to the United States, where she arrived as a teenager, navigating a new language, culture, and education system. Raised in a missionary family with limited means, she speaks candidly about the early challenges of immigration and the importance of perseverance, scholarships, and community support.
Her entry into the technology sector was not part of a grand plan. Early roles at companies such as Motorola and Citrix gradually opened doors, eventually leading to an unexpected call from Microsoft. That opportunity, she explains, fundamentally shifted how she viewed her own potential.
Rather than allowing her background to define limits, Rodriguez reframed it as a source of perspective. That mindset has since informed her advocacy for women in tech and Latina representation, as well as her broader work around inclusive storytelling.
Designing stories inside engineering-led environments
One of the most compelling segments of the interview focuses on Rodriguez’s early experience working with engineering teams at Microsoft. Despite her background in communications and journalism, she openly admits that her first attempts at telling stories about data security and AI fell short.
The turning point came when she stopped trying to translate technical work into traditional narratives and instead began studying how engineers themselves understood value and meaning. This led her to adopt design thinking as a storytelling framework.
Her approach reframes storytelling as a structured, iterative process:
- Empathizing with the audience and environment
- Defining a clear story mission
- Ideating across perspectives and disciplines
- Prototyping narratives before full production
- Testing emotional resonance and clarity
By focusing on the people behind the technology, she found a way to bridge human experience with complex systems. The result was content that invited curiosity first, then guided audiences deeper into technical detail.
Rodriguez’s thinking is further distilled in her book, Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story, which grew directly out of her early challenges working in highly technical environments at Microsoft. Written as a practical guide rather than a theoretical manifesto, the book demystifies storytelling for brands by grounding it in empathy, design thinking, and real-world application.
Released in March 2020, it became even more relevant during the pandemic, as organizations were forced to rethink how they connect with audiences, employees, and customers amid uncertainty and rapid change.
Future of work, empathy, and engagement
As Senior Storyteller for the Future of Work, Rodriguez operates at the intersection of employee experience, hybrid work, inclusion, and emerging technologies. She emphasizes that the post-pandemic workplace has permanently shifted priorities.
Productivity alone is no longer the benchmark. Engagement, trust, and psychological safety now shape how people relate to organizations.
A central theme in her work is empathy, which she describes as a learnable skill rather than a personality trait. Within Microsoft’s culture, empathy informs how tools are built, how employees are supported, and how stories are told internally and externally.
In this context, storytelling becomes a way to demonstrate care rather than simply promote capability.
Brand storytelling beyond marketing
Rodriguez is clear about where many brands go wrong. Too often, storytelling is treated as a campaign layer rather than a foundational practice. She argues that compelling brand storytelling always begins with the origin story, the reason a company exists and the values it claims to uphold.
That narrative must then be reinforced across every function, from HR and finance to product design and customer experience. When there is a disconnect between stated values and lived reality, audiences quickly sense it.
Her perspective is particularly relevant in moments of social reckoning, when organizations feel pressure to respond to issues of equity and inclusion. Authenticity, she notes, often means acknowledging where a brand is still learning rather than projecting certainty or perfection.
AI as a tool, not a replacement
The conversation also explores artificial intelligence and its growing role in content creation. While Rodriguez recognizes the efficiency AI can bring to research and ideation, she firmly believes that emotional truth remains uniquely human.
Technology, in her view, should act as an assistant, accelerating processes and removing friction. The responsibility lies with humans to decide how far automation should go and to ensure that empathy remains embedded in systems and stories alike.
A machine can replicate structure and pattern, but it cannot fully understand love, loss, fear, or resilience. Those experiences remain at the core of storytelling that resonates.
Wellness, resilience, and a new chapter
The interview closes on a deeply personal note as Rodriguez discusses her health journey after discovering she carries the BRCA gene. Multiple surgeries and months of recovery prompted a renewed focus on mindfulness, meditation, and holistic well-being.
This chapter of her life led to the launch of Be Mindful, Be Happy, a wellness and mindfulness platform rooted in sustainability, ethical sourcing, and community care. For Rodriguez, wellness is not separate from professional life. It is foundational to clarity, creativity, and leadership.
Why this conversation matters
This episode stands out for its breadth and sincerity. Rodriguez’s story illustrates how empathy operates across scales, from personal healing to global organizations. Her insights offer valuable guidance for creatives, technologists, and leaders navigating complexity without losing sight of humanity.
In an era shaped by rapid change, this conversation serves as a reminder that storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools we have to connect, reflect, and move forward with intention.