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About George Westerman
In more than two decades at MIT Sloan, George Westerman has produced a series of pivotal insights for leaders, helping executives understand the potential of new technologies and build innovation capability in their firms. That work began with early research on digital transformation.
George's Keynote Topics
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
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.
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.
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.
Books by George Westerman
Articles by George Westerman
Warner Bros. Discovery: Seeking Growth With Generative AI
July 2026MIT Sloan Management ReviewTransforming Manufacturing at Pfizer: The Hard Part Was Not the Technology
June 2026MIS Quarterly ReviewLeading AI Transformation at HCA Healthcare
May 2026The Wall Street JournalIs Your Company One Outage Away From Chaos?
May 2025MIT Sloan Management ReviewGenerate Value From GenAI With ‘Small t’ Transformations
January 2025Harvard Business ReviewCase Study: How Aggressively Should a Bank Pursue AI?
May 2024Harvard Business ReviewFind the AI Approach That Fits the Problem You’re Trying to Solve
February 2024Harvard Business ReviewHow Generative AI Will Transform Knowledge Work
November 2023MIT Sloan Management ReviewHow to Deliver Career Development for All
August 2023MIT Sloan Management ReviewFrom ChatGPT to HackGPT: Meeting the Cybersecurity Threat of Generative AI
April 2023MIT Sloan Management ReviewWhy Companies Should Help Every Employee Chart a Career Path
March 2023MIT Sloan Management ReviewThe Questions Leaders Should Ask in the New Era of Digital Transformation
March 2022George in the Media
6 questions to guide your AI strategy
Agentic AI: What Leaders Wish They Knew Sooner
The AI Atrophy Problem: How CIOs Fight It
Looking Ahead at AI and Work in 2026
Scaling AI for Results: Strategies From MIT Sloan Management Review
Leading AI-Powered Transformation: Why the Hard Part Still Isn’t the AI
How Organizations Can Achieve Big Value With Smaller AI Efforts
How Classic Digital Transformation Lessons Apply to AI — and What’s Different This Time Around
Practical AI Implementation: Success Stories From MIT Sloan Management Review
Beyond the Hype: What CFOs Should Know About AI Agents
3 Elements to Developing and Improving a Skilled Workforce
It's Time for Everyone in Your Company to Understand Generative AI
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.
Denny MoynihanExecutive Director, External Engagement, Quest Diagnostics
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.
Gilbert GawFirst Vice President and Head of Information Technology and the Transformation Office, Smart Communications, Inc.
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