Charlene Li
- Catalyst for Transformative Change in a Disruptive World
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For more than three decades, Charlene has been on the front lines of disruption, where she’s predicted and navigated the global power shifts brought on by the internet, social media, and AI.
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As a devoted storyteller and an influential thought leader, she helps her followers understand that disruptive change should not be feared but rather embraced - with the knowledge that only by transforming our organizations and communities can we create a better future for all of humanity.
Travels From
California
Charlene Li Speaker Biography
or the past three decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future and thrive through disruption. She has advised executives and boards to recognize the vital truth that companies can’t simply innovate in order to stay competitive. They must transform.
As a sought-after expert on disruptive transformation, leadership, customer experience, and the future of work, Charlene has worked with hundreds of organizations—ranging from Adobe to Southwest Airlines and 14 of the Dow Jones Industrial 30 companies—to provide her insights to support a winning strategy for disruptive growth and a plan to identify and seize an opportunity no one else has the audacity or confidence to reach for.
Throughout her career, Charlene has been at the edge of disruption. She worked in newspapers in the early 1990s and helped them navigate the shift from print to online. As a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, she covered interactive advertising, search marketing, and the rise of social media. In 2008, she founded Altimeter Group, a disruptive competitor that challenged analyst firm incumbents such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, which was acquired by Prophet. Charlene went on to serve as the Chief Research Officer at PA Consulting, where she led the company’s thought leadership program. She currently leads her own firm, Quantum Networks Group.
Charlene is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Disruption Mindset, Open Leadership, and the critically acclaimed Groundswell. Her latest book, Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, lays out a master plan for AI strategy.
She is an experienced speaker who has inspired leaders in intimate forums and expansive conference halls. She has delivered keynote addresses at such venues as the World Economic Forum, TED, and South by Southwest.
Charlene is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USAToday, Reuters, and The Associated Press, and she’s shared her expertise on 60 Minutes, The McNeil NewsHour, ABC News, CNN, and CNBC.
Charlene earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College. In her spare time, she teaches her beloved cat new tricks.
WINNING WITH AI (Three different descriptions, depending on the audience)
For Large Conference Audiences:
Winning With AI: Crafting a Future-Ready Strategy
Explore the transformative world of AI in this keynote, tailored to introduce its strategic implications. Learn how to integrate AI with your organization's core mission, enhancing competitive advantage and driving long-term growth. This session offers insights into prioritizing transformative initiatives, understanding workforce implications, and mitigating risks while maximizing opportunities. Gain foundational knowledge to develop a robust AI strategy that aligns with your strategic goals and prepares your organization for the future.
In-Company Executive Session:
Creating a Unified AI Strategy: An Executive Roadmap
Delve into the strategic integration of AI, specifically crafted for executive leadership. This session focuses on aligning AI with the company's overarching objectives, identifying key initiatives for substantial impact, and addressing workforce evolution. Discussions will also cover risk management and the importance of a cohesive, actionable plan that commands executive alignment. Emerge with a unified vision and a clear strategy for leveraging AI to enhance organizational excellence.
For AI Leaders:
Strategizing AI: Vision, Alignment, and Execution
This session is designed for AI leaders, focusing on the intricacies of formulating and executing a comprehensive strategy. Create a compelling vision for AI that aligns with long-term organizational goals, ensuring stakeholder buy-in and executive support. Explore the balance between innovation and risk, the impact on the workforce, and the steps needed to maintain a competitive edge. This discussion aims to equip leaders with advanced strategies for leading their organizations in the AI space, fostering innovation and sustainable growth.
Audiences will learn to (based on the session content):
-Ground the AI strategy in the company’s purpose, values, and business strategy
-Identify the top ways AI can strengthen and defend your competitive advantage
-Understand the workforce, leadership, and culture implications of AI adoption
-Create a robust AI strategy amid a fast-changing and uncertain technology landscape
DISRUPTIVE TRANSFORMATION
“Disrupt or die” has been the rallying cry for decades, but what does it actually mean to be disruptive, to make it the center of your strategy? Many established companies set a goal to develop “disruptive” innovations, believing innovation will disrupt their market and drive growth. But that’s not how it works: Disruption doesn’t create growth. Growth creates disruption.
In this speech, Charlene acknowledges that transformations are never easy, and the unrelenting pace of technological change makes it doubly difficult. But there’s hope and a way forward—starting with reframing your strategy, leadership, and culture so that disruptive growth is at the top of your agenda.
Audiences will learn to:
-Define what disruption is—and isn’t—and how it can drive disruptive growth
-Identify and prioritize the right disruptive growth moves and align the organization around them
-Understand how leaders must show up differently when pursuing a disruption strategy
-Instill disruption into a status-quo culture
THE FUTURE OF WORK
New technologies pop up daily that allow us to connect and communicate with employees in real time. Yet organizations are wired for a bygone era when there was the luxury of time and proximity. Most organizations measure employee engagement in yearly surveys—hardly the way to truly engage employees in the digital era.
In this speech, Charlene makes the case to develop a new mindset, one that’s centered on creating a long-term relationship with employees that melds holistically with creating great experiences for customers. From creating belonging among hybrid workers to the adoption of AI, we'll dig deep into how technology is changing the nature of work and our relationship with employees.
Audiences will learn to:
-Understand how employee expectations in the workplace are being influenced by their personal use of technology , especially AI
-Prepare for the long-term implications for employee engagement
-Identify the experiences that employees value the most
-Create rich collaboration experiences that support a different way of work
LEADERSHIP IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Digital technologies have revolutionized relationships, and leadership is no exception. To be truly engaged, effective leaders must harness and master the power of digital communications and branding, especially with the challenges of leading a distributed team.
In this speech, Charlene explains that the key is understanding how your personal leadership style can be extended and scaled through digital techniques to achieve your most important goals. You’ll learn the art and science of how to listen, share, and engage with employees and customers in the digital era. We’ll also discuss common objections and concerns of leaders and how to address them.
Audiences will learn to:
-Master a new way of developing relationships, which begins by stepping out of traditional hierarchies
-Listen at scale, share to shape, and engage to transform
-Shift to a digital mindset
-Apply the right digital tools to meet strategic goals
LEADING WITH WISDOM
What does it mean to be wise? Wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence, knowledge, or character. Smart people make foolish decisions all the time. But what if we could improve our decision-making even a little bit and make consistently wiser choices? Imagine the exponential impact if we could intentionally support the people in our organizations to be wiser, regardless of their experience levels.
In this speech, Charlene takes audiences on a journey of discovery toward experiencing the true power of wisdom. With the right tools and guidance, you, too, can learn to make the right decisions and create a life and organization filled with meaning, purpose, and happiness.
Audiences will learn to:
-Define wisdom in the context of leading an organization
-Develop wisdom in themselves and others
-Create a wise organization capable of consistently making great decisions
