At one point in her career, Liv Benger was working in Hollywood, helping produce shows like Love Island; now, she spends her workdays helping colleagues solve tough problems with AI.
In her role as a manager on WHOOP’s AI @ Work team, she helps the wider organization gain the skills needed to effectively leverage the best AI tools in the industry.
Benger first developed a passion for AI while she was helping build an AI-powered solution at AnyQuestion. When AnyQuestion was acquired by WHOOP in 2023, she brought that enthusiasm for the technology with her, and now, she gets to teach others how to unlock its full potential while building new skills in the process.
“That kind of growth used to take months or years — now it’s at my fingertips,” Benger told Built In Boston.
As she helps others at WHOOP build up their knowledge of AI, she feels as though she’s evolving alongside them. Benger considers the technology a “force multiplier” that doesn’t threaten people’s autonomy but instead makes it easier for them to share their talents.
“Your work is still your work, and you should be proud of what you put out into the world,” she said.
Below, Benger shares more about how she carved out a career in AI and the works she does to help everyone at WHOOP harness its power.
About WHOOP
WHOOP’s wearable devices are designed to allow individuals to track health and fitness metrics, such as daily performance scores, real-time stress levels, physical strain and more.
What’s your professional and academic background, and how did you break into the tech industry?
My path into tech wasn’t traditional. I studied business and film at Brooklyn College, planning for a career in entertainment. After earning my undergraduate degree, I moved to Los Angeles and joined a talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, in their corporate communications department, where I worked on public relations for both the agency and its clients. After CAA, I moved to ITV America, which is a non-scripted television production company. This was a super exciting time. I supported the development and production of shows like Queer Eye and Love Island while also helping independent producers bring new show ideas to life.
Eventually, I felt burned out by Hollywood and wanted to return to Boston, my hometown. I joined Accomplice, a venture capital firm. I quickly fell in love with supporting early-stage founders building startups and fellow tech operators. Instead of working with independent producers on pitching TV shows, I was supporting early-stage founders building startups.
That role marked my official entry into tech. I met my current manager, Ryan Durkin, through a partner there, and we’ve been on a journey together across three startups: The Operators, AnyQuestion and now WHOOP, as a result of its acquisition of AnyQuestion.
How did you learn how to use AI, and how do you apply it to your work?
I started using AI regularly in 2023 while working at AnyQuestion. We were building the “Substack of Knowledge,” a question-and-answer platform featuring experts like Olympic athletes and top doctors answering AI-generated questions. I used AI to generate social content and help our creators organize their voice-to-text responses. That’s when I realized how powerful AI could be. WHOOP’s AI @ Work team is focused on enabling an AI-powered workforce. We ensure our team has access to the best AI tools, learns how to use them and feels supported. People come to us with ideas and problems, and we aim to help them solve them with AI.
“People come to us with ideas and problems, and we aim to help them solve them with AI.”
AI can be intimidating. We want people to feel safe and comfortable experimenting. I learn mostly from colleagues and experimentation. Our companywide AI Slack channel is full of shared resources and clever use cases. We also host internal learning and development sessions covering everything from prompt writing to tool-specific tutorials. Outside of work, I’m constantly testing new AI tools to see what we may want to adopt. Lately, I’ve been into video generation platforms like Kling, Runway and Veo, which we believe will be powerful for teams like marketing and industrial design.
What do you consider the greatest benefits of leveraging AI, and how has it positively impacted your career?
AI isn’t just about saving time; it’s a force multiplier. It helps us develop skills and make better decisions. My favorite use case is thought-partnering. When I’m stuck or unsure about how to start a project, I open ChatGPT, use voice-to-text, and just talk it out. Then I go back and forth with it as I would with a teammate in order to find the right direction. That process has helped me trust my judgment more. I’m also building skills I never imagined: I can vibe code simple apps, create professional designs, and even generate animated films. That kind of growth used to take months or years — now it’s at my fingertips.
To wrap things up: Always remember that AI is a tool. Your work is still your work, and you should be proud of what you put out into the world. Did I use ChatGPT to help review and edit these responses? Yes. It’d be silly of me not to. Did I write everything from the heart, take time to draft a precise prompt to ChatGPT to ensure it was reviewed and edited as I wanted, read and reread to make sure no errors were made, and my voice still came through? Also, yes. AI’s evolving daily, but so am I. That’s what makes this ride so exciting.
