Rúna Magnúsdóttir, Icelandic entrepreneur, author, and creator of BeBBY-AI, knows what it means to reinvent your life from the ground up. When a life-altering cycling accident left her with five broken bones, Rúna didn’t just recover; she redefined how leadership and healing intersect with technology. From that moment, BeBBY-AI emerged not as a productivity tool but as a reflective partner for those craving authentic growth.

As founder of Interconnect – The Change Maker and co-creator of the #NoMoreBoxes Movement, Rúna has turned personal disruption into a leadership revolution. She now empowers executives, changemakers, and teams with intuitive, AI-supported tools to connect deeper with themselves and others.

From Bergís to BeBBY: An Entrepreneur’s Evolution

Rúna’s entrepreneurial spirit started early. In 1988, she co-founded a wholesale company, Bergís, alongside her mother, her first mentor and role model. After nearly two decades, she sold the business in 2006 and transitioned into the personal development world. By 2007, Rúna was mentoring politicians, entrepreneurs, and executives in leadership and personal growth, anchoring her work in clarity and inner alignment.

She founded Connected-Women, one of the earliest global online communities for female entrepreneurs, and later co-created the EU-WIIN Award-winning BRANDit Personal Branding Program. These milestones established her as a trusted voice in conscious entrepreneurship and transformational leadership.

Merging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Tech

Rúna’s most innovative creation to date is BeBBY-AI, a custom-trained AI mirror that helps leaders align their communication, energy, and patterns. Built on the Five Elements philosophy (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal), this AI assistant doesn’t aim to fix you; it reflects you.

With BeBBY-AI, leaders gain:

  • Real-time feedback on decision-making and communication
  • AI-generated leadership prompts customized to their energy profile
  • A mirror for unconscious habits that impact relationships and clarity

This is not about optimizing output. It’s about reclaiming your true leadership identity, a method Rúna delivers through programs like The Leadership Mirror™, The Alignment Reset™, and The Culture Shift™.

The No More Boxes Movement and Beyond

Rúna is also the co-creator of the No More Boxes methodology; a response to the cultural rigidity that limits potential. With co-author Nicholas Haines, she wrote “The Story of Boxes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” sparking a movement that challenges black-and-white thinking and outdated norms.

Her latest project, a new book in progress titled “What If Genders Have No Future?” proposes a four-generation roadmap toward gender equity for all identities. It builds on her previously acclaimed work, Beyond Gender: The New Rules of Leadership, a guide that’s been praised by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and listed her among US Reporter’s 15 Visionary Leaders Shaping the World.

Impact Through Speaking, Books, and Recognition

Rúna’s approach blends humour, practicality, and deep insight; qualities that have made her an in-demand speaker at conferences like INBOUND, JUMP, and Enterprising Women Awards. Her keynote, “Five Broken Bones and an AI Mirror,” captures the power of resilience and innovation in leadership.

She’s been interviewed or featured in The Huffington Post, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Times, and Entrepreneur. Recognitions include:

  • Leadership Award of the Year (2019) by the Network for Transformational Leaders.
  • EU-WIIN Capacity Building Award (2011).
  • Excellence in Entrepreneurship by the Women Economic Forum (2022).
  • Forbes.com’s Women to Follow on Twitter.
  • Named one of 100 women worldwide making a difference by The International Alliance of Women.

What sets Rúna Magnúsdóttir apart is her rejection of conventional, reactive leadership. She encourages clients to pause, reflect, and lead with presence rather than pretense. She doesn’t offer shortcuts; instead, she offers insight.

Her tools and coaching are designed to:

  • Promote conscious self-leadership.
  • Foster alignment within diverse teams.
  • Replace inherited thinking with energetic clarity.
  • Utilize AI to enhance, not replace, human intelligence.

This approach is transforming how leaders across industries respond to uncertainty, complexity, and transition —not with more noise, but with greater self-awareness and trust in their inner compass.

The question that titles this article: “When life forces you to start over, can AI be the guide?” finds its answer in Rúna Magnúsdóttir’s extraordinary journey. Her journey is not just about bouncing back. It’s about evolving forward. Her leadership philosophy, powered by ancient insight and AI innovation, invites us all to stop performing and start reflecting.When life pushes you to reset, AI doesn’t have to be a threat. In Rúna’s world, it becomes a guide. To explore how BeBBY-AI and the No More Boxes framework can support your journey, visit runamagnus.com, connect with her on LinkedIn, or follow her journey on Instagram.

Written in partnership with Tom White