Videos
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Generative AI Demystified: What it Really Means for Business -
Scaling GenAI: Get Big Value From Smaller Efforts
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Integrating Generative AI Into Business Strategy: Dr. George Westerman
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Finding Transformation Opportunities With Generative AI
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Preparing Your Organization for a Generative Future
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Breaking Down Today’s Technology Topics for the Non-IT Executive
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Becoming a Digital Master in Today's Changing World
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10 25 23 Digital Westerman
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The Transformer CLO: The Right Model for Today's Challenging Times
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Digital Transformation After the Pandemic
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Coming Back From the Coronavirus as a Stronger Organization
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Digital for the Non-Digital Executive
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Leading Your Company's Digital Transformation
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Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation – George Westerman, MIT
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12 George Westerman What It Takes
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Open lectures. George Westerman.
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George Westerman: Digital Transformation
Learn More About George Westerman
Dr. George Westerman is a Senior Lecturer and Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research helps executives to understand the transformative potential of new technologies, and the steps they can take to build innovation capability in their firms.
During more than 20 years with MIT Sloan, he has produced a series of pivotal insights for leaders. A pioneer in the study of Digital Transformation, his early research and award-winning book, “Leading Digital: Turning Technology into Business Transformation,” helped to frame the executive conversation on the topic. His research on workforce transformation and on digital-ready culture provides tangible insights to improve organizational innovation capability. And his most recent research on AI transformation, in Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review, provides tangible insights to thrive in the fast-moving world of generative AI.
Westerman is cochair of the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Awards, a member of the Digital Strategy Roundtable for the US Library of Congress, Board of Directors member for workforce non-profit WorkCred, and advisor to executives in numerous large organizations. Prior to earning a doctorate in Innovation Strategy from Harvard Business School, he gained more than a decade of experience in product development and technology leadership roles.
George Westerman is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group®.
What Every Executive Needs To Know About AI
In today’s business environment, every leader needs to consider the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). But not every leader feels comfortable doing that. In this engaging session, which can be delivered in keynote or workshop format, MIT researcher and digital transformation pioneer George Westerman will provide you with the information you need to be confident in talking about AI and making decisions about it. He’ll demystify AI and provide an executive-level overview of key categories including generative AI, deep learning, rule-based systems and other models. Participants will explore practical applications across various sectors, highlighting the transformative potential and potential risks for customer experience, operations, decision-making, and employee careers. This is not a technical discussion; it’s a leadership one that reveals what every leader needs to know about these fast-moving technologies. Audiences walk away ready to ask the right questions and make the right decisions about how to lead an organization through the AI revolution.
Leading the New Era of Digital Transformation
Companies and researchers have been talking about digital transformation for many years. While not all organizations are good at it yet, most understand the key concepts. But, in leading digital transformation, much more is needed than just speaking the language or choosing and executing digital projects, says MIT researcher and digital transformation pioneer George Westerman. A new wave of capability and change is now emerging as critical to success for companies and individuals. Drawing on more than ten years of research and working closely with executives, Westerman shares his latest insights on how to prepare your company for long-term success in the digital economy.
IT for the Non-IT Executive
For nearly 20 years, George Westerman’s MIT Sloan executive education course on the non-IT executive has drawn business leaders from around the world who want to improve the way their IT units and CIOs deliver for the company. They learn frameworks and just enough about technology to allow them to make better, more informed decisions. In this presentation, Westerman condenses two full days of executive education into the essential elements needed to improve the way executives interact with their IT staff so, together, they can deliver for the business.
Digital Enough: Building a Digital-Ready Culture in a Traditional Firm
Top executives often lament that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But if you build the right culture, you can eat the lunch of your competitors. While it’s tempting to try copying the culture of digital native companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, it’s tough to do when you can’t hire, fire, pay, or manage in the same way that those companies do. Fortunately, MIT professor George Westerman’s research with more than 500 companies shows that traditional companies can build a digital-enough culture that can thrive. You can get the speed and innovativeness you need while preserving the best of what has made you strong. In this session, he examines the values and practices that can help you win in today’s fast-moving, digitally powered markets.
Participants will leave this session understanding:
- What’s wrong with just trying to copy the cultures of digital darlings like Google and Amazon
- The key values and practices of digital-ready culture for traditional firms
- What to start, keep, and reorient to build a digital ready culture
- Numerous case studies and examples to help you make it happen
Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation
(Harvard Business Review Press, October 2014)
The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value
(Harvard Business Press, October 2009)
Ask us about George Westerman’s hands-on experiences that take learning beyond the boardroom.
Building Capabilities and Culture for Digital Transformation
MIT professor George Westerman and his collaborators have been studying digital transformation for more than a decade – from before it was a term anyone used. During that time, they have continually provided useful research-based frameworks and examples to help leaders get a handle on digital transformation – what it is, what capabilities they need, and what it can mean for the future of their companies. In this workshop, Westerman will help you diagnose your digital transformation capabilities and identify strategies to become a digital master. Using numerous examples, he’ll show you where to look for opportunities and how to build a culture that can beat digital startups. This workshop can be tailored for board level, top management team and middle management, depending on where you want to start driving digital transformation in your company.
The Future of Work in the Post-Covid Era
For decades, automation and technology innovation have changed the mix of skills businesses require. The Covid-19 crisis created a discontinuity in these trends. As businesses reopened, they were different from the past – both in the work they do and the skills their workers need. The “future of work” conversation that has been taking place in recent years has much more urgency now. How will jobs change as we return to “normal”? Which skills and jobs will grow or shrink in demand? What does this mean for workers who will need to learn new skills to cope with these changes? How do we reskill and upskill in ways that meet the needs of employers and employees, and how quickly can we do that? In this hands-on workshop, MIT professor George Westerman works closely with participants to help them understand how the pandemic changed the nature of and demand for certain skills and makes projections about how these changes will affect their company’s future.
Transforming IT From Struggle to Strategic Asset
In too many companies, IT is seen as a black hole. Money time and attention go into it, and little ever gets out. But MIT professor George Westerman’s nearly 20 years studying IT, including an award-winning book on the topic, shows that there is a way to fix this problem. Whether you’re inside or outside of IT, you can take specific steps to help your IT leaders communicate better, deliver better, and provide continuous strategic value to your company. Drawing on frameworks from his long-running course Essential IT for Non-IT Executives, and numerous examples from co-chairing the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Awards, Westerman will help you turn your IT unit into the strategic asset you need it to be. This workshop can work successfully for IT leaders, or, even better, non-IT leaders in collaboration with their IT counterparts.
"Day 3 at MIT Professional Education – another insightful day packed with deep discussions on corporate resilience, sustainability, AI and the evolving carbon economy. One of the standout moments? Dr. George Westerman’s Masterclass on 'Making Business Sense of AI.' His ability to cut through the AI hype and focus on what truly matters for business leaders made this one of the most thought-provoking sessions of the program. The strategic takeaways and real-world applicability of AI in leadership were invaluable – I’m eager to revisit and reflect on this session."
“George hit a home run with our group. He does an amazing job breaking down a complex topic in a way everyone can understand. Great having George with us; our team loved him.”
