Outthinker Networks Chief Strategy Officer & Intrapreneurs Summit
September 28, 2023 | Atlanta, GA
AI Workshop
Culture-Strategy Alignment Roundtable
Agenda | September 28, 2023
| Time | Activity |
| 9:00am-9:30am | Check-in and breakfast |
| 9:30am-12:30pm | AI Workshop- Insights and best practices delivered by fellow CSOs (*Coffee break 10:30am-11:00am) |
| 12:30am-1:30pm | Afternoon check-in and networking lunch |
| 1:30pm-1:40pm | Welcome and Introduction to Ozgecan Kocak | Framing her research and ideas in the context of a corporate strategy and innovation executive. |
| 1:40pm-2:00pm | CSO participant introductions and top questions about quantifying culture and using it as a competitive advantage |
| 2:00pm-3:00pm | Thought leader presentation and CSO group discussion and dialogue |
| 3:00pm-3:30pm | Coffee Break, group networking, and 1:1 connection concierge introductions and meetings |
| 3:30pm-4:30pm | Thought leader follow up remarks and discussion continuation/evolution |
| 4:30pm-5:00pm | Key takeaways and close |
| 5:00pm-6:00pm | Networking Reception |
*Final agenda TBD, exact times subject to change
AI Workshop: Insights and best practices delivered by fellow CSOs
In response to overwhelming demand, a Generative AI workshop breaking down the top questions being asked by strategists will facilitated by Outthinker Networks CSOs with real experience and practical insights to share. Most individuals and organizations have begun to explore the benefits of generative AI on a case-by-case basis: marketers are using ChatGPT to develop custom content and developers are harnessing AI to write code, but it has not yet been applied at scale across organizations in the foundation of strategies.
This CSO peer facilitated session will explore, questions such as:
- How can we prompt generative AI models to generate novel strategic options and perspectives beyond our normal cognitive biases?
- How can we broadly train employees on appropriate prompt engineering?
- What are the latest real-world examples of organizations using AI for competitive intelligence, scenario planning, visioning exercises and other strategy workflows?
- What governance is required for responsibly leveraging AI and how do we avoid issues such as bias, plagiarism, and factual inaccuracies?
*More workshop details coming soon
Chris Huff
As Chief Growth Officer, Chris Huff and his team advise the Board and CEO on global corporate growth strategies, product strategy, customer experience, vertical GTM, ecosystem, strategic alliances and growth marketing. His passion is building collaborative high performing leadership teams that drive operational excellence and create enterprise value in recurring revenue business models.
Prior to joining Kofax (private equity), Chris led Deloitte Consulting’s U.S. Public Sector Intelligent Automation / RPA practice, was founder-CEO of a high growth B2C start-up, and served as an Officer in the US Marine Corps. He is often called on by publications and conferences as a thought leader and speaker.
Elisabeth Moore
Elisabeth is responsible for developing strategies others become passionate about and for working for executive leadership to guide the organization through times of hyper growth and profitability - balancing challenging the status quo while staying true to the company's core values and entrepreneurial roots.
Elisabeth is a member of our Growth Mid-Market cohort. She brings more than 10 years of experience understanding business needs through the lens of market insights and internal #businessintelligence and translating that into tangible results. Her background in M&A and finance coupled with engaging the organization to think critically about the future blends into a unique, CX/EX data-driven and emotionally intelligent approach to strategy development.
She also leads the organization's Emerging Business group that helps support #innovation and launching up-and-coming businesses within the firm.
Konstanty "K"
With a proven track record of driving strategic growth and innovation across diverse industries, Konstanty is a visionary leader currently serving as the Vice President and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for HPC, AI & Labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. In this role since 2022, Konstanty reports to the EVP & GM of the business, contributing to the strategy of the #1 global leader in supercomputing and AI.
Throughout Konstanty's career, they have consistently demonstrated an ability to oversee complex business development efforts, both organic and inorganic. Prior to joining Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Konstanty held various key positions at American International Group, Inc. (AIG). As the Global Head of Strategy and Innovation and President of New Markets at AIG Life from 2020 to 2022, Konstanty played a pivotal role in executing the IPO and separation of the Life & Retirement ("L&R") division from AIG. They led a team of professionals focused on data, analytics, and digital technology, driving innovation and growth.
From 2018 to 2020, Konstanty served as the Head of Strategy for AIG Life & Retirement, directly reporting to the CEO of L&R as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. His strategic insights contributed to the evaluation and execution of M&A transactions in the US and internationally, bolstering AIG's market presence. Earlier, as Managing Director of AIG Corporate Development from 2015 to 2017, Konstanty led global strategy initiatives and played a key role in significant transactions, including the $1 billion sale of AIG's Lloyd's Syndicate Ascot.
*CSO Emeritus
Dr. Renee Dye
Dr. Renee Dye is an award-winning Associate Professor of Practice in Organization & Management at Emory University Goizueta Business School. Prior to teaching she was Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for Navigant Consulting, a $1B publicly traded consulting firm based in Chicago. Before her role as CSO, she spent 16 years at McKinsey and Co as a part of their global strategy practice consulting with organizations across industries, including healthcare, energy, and financial services. Her extensive research has been published in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and McKinsey Quarterly.
Roundtable: Refreshing our Thinking on Aligning Culture to Strategy
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” When Peter Drucker purportedly uttered these words, he drew attention to the fact that no strategy – no matter how grounded or precise or accurate – can succeed if it conflicts with a company’s culture. Whether we aim to facilitate communication between units, encourage innovation, or create an inclusive climate, we all appreciate the fundamental importance of culture to the success of our plans. We also accept that any significant strategy redesign should be followed by an effort to align our cultural values with the strategic priorities on which our organization’s future depends.
But what if this assumed approach to cultural alignment is actually, in many cases, false? Recent research puts several broadly accepted assumptions on the topic into question:
- Does cultural change have to take a long time, or can it be affected more rapidly?
- Should cultural change efforts focus on shared values or focus on socializing members into a set of norms?
- Should we pursue cultural alignment or are there instances when cultural diversity should be preferred?
- Should we align culture to strategy, or should we rethink its relationship with strategy?
In this session, Professors Özgecan Koçak of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School will share some of the latest research and practical examples so we can better understand the intricate dynamics between organizational culture and strategy. We will explore why norms may be more powerful tools for cultural change than values, why and when cultural diversity may be preferred, and how to incorporate culture into the formulation of strategy. Ultimately, we hope that by updating our understanding of cultural change, we can all become more effective at affecting strategy transformation.
Özgecan Koçak
Associate Professor of Organization & Management
Özgecan Koçak
Özgecan Koçak (pronounced as ohz-gay-john ko-chuck) is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2017, Koçak held positions at Columbia Business School and Sabancı University (in Istanbul, Turkey). Her research in the fields of organization theory and strategy explore how shared understandings (such as communication codes, categorization systems, and identity schema) emerge and shape behavior in organizations and markets. Her work has been published in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Journal of Organization Design, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategy and Organization, and Strategy Science.
Outthinker Strategy Network Attendees and Guests
Alok Agrawal
Alok K. Agrawal is an executive with over fifteen years of finance experience in industrial and technology companies. He is proficient in developing and executing organic and inorganic strategies, grounded by experience running a P&L and performing operations turnarounds. He has substantial international exposure, including long-term assignments in Europe and Asia.
Alok is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Celestica, a $6 billion services company focused on the industrial and technology markets. He is a member of a seven-person Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and reports directly to the CEO.
He recently held leadership positions with global responsibility for strategy and corporate development at Federal-Mogul and Meritor, both multi-billion dollar automotive suppliers. Previously, Alok worked in Johnson Controls' automotive businesses (now Adient) leading strategy development and executing transformation projects, including the turnaround of the interiors business. His assignments included 18 months in China with the Yanfeng Automotive Interiors joint venture and ownership of a $100 million product line P&L.
Earlier, he worked at Kearney as a consultant, primarily on growth strategy and product management engagements. Alok began his career as a powertrain engineer at Ford Motor Company. He received his M.S. and B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and his M.B.A. in strategy and finance from the Ross School of Business.
Antonio Beniamin
With 15 years of experience in top-tier consulting firms and medium to large corporations, Antonio Beniamin is a seasoned Strategy & Innovation, Data & Analytics professional. Antonio has a strong track record of collaborating with C-suite executives to drive decisions, lead change, and propel growth. Their expertise spans corporate strategy, innovation, and data analytics, with cross-industry proficiency. Antonio holds dual citizenship (USA and EU) and is fluent in Italian, English, and Spanish. He is committed to fostering innovation and mentoring talent while continuously driving organizational success.
Brian Hankin
Brian Hankin is a forward-thinking executive leader with 20+ years of experience in business consultancy, specializing in marketing. He is renowned for his entrepreneurial mindset and a track record of rapidly steering start-ups to profitability.
With a diverse background that includes launching and selling an innovation consultancy, driving substantial revenue growth for corporations, and forging strategic partnerships, Brian is a visionary leader known for creating value in any situation.
His unique blend of business and technical acumen allows him to translate marketing and sustainability practices into lucrative business opportunities. With a deep understanding of the intersection between business and technology, Brian excels at converting technology breakthroughs into profitable ventures, consistently driving innovation and growth.
Chris Huff
As Chief Growth Officer, Chris Huff and his team advise the Board and CEO on global corporate growth strategies, product strategy, customer experience, vertical GTM, ecosystem, strategic alliances and growth marketing. His passion is building collaborative high performing leadership teams that drive operational excellence and create enterprise value in recurring revenue business models.
Prior to joining Kofax (private equity), Chris led Deloitte Consulting’s U.S. Public Sector Intelligent Automation / RPA practice, was founder-CEO of a high growth B2C start-up, and served as an Officer in the US Marine Corps. He is often called on by publications and conferences as a thought leader and speaker.
*CSO Emeritus
Claudio Garcia
Claudio is President of Outthinker Strategy Networks, a global network of strategy executives from large organizations the are committed to staying ahead of the pace of change.
Before joining Outthinker, Claudio was Executive Vice Presidency for Strategy and Corporate Development at Lee Hecht Harrison, where he was responsible for the expansion and innovation of the company with operations in more than 60 countries. Prior to this role, he was LHH’s President of Latin America where he helped solve critical business challenges and personally supported dozens of complex transformation projects for large client organizations. During his tenure leading strategy LHH, Claudio was a member of the Outthinker Strategy Network.
Claudio has experience across a variety of industries, including food and beverage, entertainment, and media and communications. In addition to his role at Outthinker, Claudio is a board member and teaches Global Management and International Human Resources Management at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.
Elisabeth Moore
Elisabeth is responsible for developing strategies others become passionate about and for working for executive leadership to guide the organization through times of hyper growth and profitability - balancing challenging the status quo while staying true to the company's core values and entrepreneurial roots.
Elisabeth is a member of our Growth Mid-Market cohort. She brings more than 10 years of experience understanding business needs through the lens of market insights and internal #businessintelligence and translating that into tangible results. Her background in M&A and finance coupled with engaging the organization to think critically about the future blends into a unique, CX/EX data-driven and emotionally intelligent approach to strategy development.
She also leads the organization's Emerging Business group that helps support #innovation and launching up-and-coming businesses within the firm.
Jason GInsberg
Jason Ginsberg joins OSN, having recently come on board at Zoetis as the Head of Global Strategy. His career up to this point has been in strategy / management consulting, starting at Capgemini and then spending the last ~6.5 years at BCG, all focused on healthcare (biopharma and MedTech) and spanning Manufacturing & supply to Commercial. Jason brings a passion challenging the status quo and thinking outside the box. In his spare time, Jason is an avid reader, a big New York sports fan, and a middling golfer. Jason is based in New York, has a BSE in Materials Science from UPenn and an MBA from Chicago Booth.
Konstanty "K"
With a proven track record of driving strategic growth and innovation across diverse industries, Konstanty is a visionary leader currently serving as the Vice President and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for HPC, AI & Labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. In this role since 2022, Konstanty reports to the EVP & GM of the business, contributing to the strategy of the #1 global leader in supercomputing and AI.
Throughout Konstanty's career, they have consistently demonstrated an ability to oversee complex business development efforts, both organic and inorganic. Prior to joining Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Konstanty held various key positions at American International Group, Inc. (AIG). As the Global Head of Strategy and Innovation and President of New Markets at AIG Life from 2020 to 2022, Konstanty played a pivotal role in executing the IPO and separation of the Life & Retirement ("L&R") division from AIG. They led a team of professionals focused on data, analytics, and digital technology, driving innovation and growth.
From 2018 to 2020, Konstanty served as the Head of Strategy for AIG Life & Retirement, directly reporting to the CEO of L&R as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. His strategic insights contributed to the evaluation and execution of M&A transactions in the US and internationally, bolstering AIG's market presence. Earlier, as Managing Director of AIG Corporate Development from 2015 to 2017, Konstanty led global strategy initiatives and played a key role in significant transactions, including the $1 billion sale of AIG's Lloyd's Syndicate Ascot.
Claudio Garcia
Claudio is President of Outthinker Strategy Networks, a global network of strategy executives from large organizations the are committed to staying ahead of the pace of change.
Before joining Outthinker, Claudio was Executive Vice Presidency for Strategy and Corporate Development at Lee Hecht Harrison, where he was responsible for the expansion and innovation of the company with operations in more than 60 countries. Prior to this role, he was LHH’s President of Latin America where he helped solve critical business challenges and personally supported dozens of complex transformation projects for large client organizations. During his tenure leading strategy LHH, Claudio was a member of the Outthinker Strategy Network.
Claudio has experience across a variety of industries, including food and beverage, entertainment, and media and communications. In addition to his role at Outthinker, Claudio is a board member and teaches Global Management and International Human Resources Management at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.
Kevin Ilcisin
As Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, Kevin is responsible for ensuring cross-functional alignment of NI's strategy planning and execution activities including the use of partnerships and acquisitions.
Prior to joining NI in 2015, Kevin served as the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Tektronix, where he was responsible for the core technology development, R&D strategy, and portfolio processes governing R&D investments. He has held leadership roles at Novellus (LAM Research) and a number of start-ups including Zight and Technical Visions.
Kevin holds a Ph.D. and M.A degrees in plasma physics from Princeton University and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering with Distinction from the University of Alberta.
Linda Roubinek
Linda Roubinek leads the development and execution of the enterprise’s corporate strategy to fulfill Grange’s mission and vision and drive profitable growth. She also leads the company’s key transformational focus areas including systems modernization program, business process management and operational excellence functions, in addition to digital/customer and agent experience, project management and innovation. Previously, Linda served as our Chief Customer Interactions Officer and prior to Grange, served in various technology leadership roles at Nationwide Insurance.
*CSO Emeritus
Mark SIms
Results-driven executive and board member with diverse experience driving transformations globally as a Chief Executive, head of strategy, Chief Information Officer, and as a management consultant. A strategic thinker skilled in leading organizational change, defining and driving strategy, successfully buying and integrating acquisitions, and leveraging technology to optimize business objectives. Experienced in multiple industries including Retail and Consumer Products, Packaging, Manufacturing, and Distribution.
Nadeen Matthews Blair
Started in commercial banking at JP Morgan, wanted to go back to business school, 2005 Wharton MBA – position for a multinational career. Then joined McKinsey in Atlanta. She had left Jamaica at age 11 – wanted to come back, did an MBA internship at current company. Wanted to move from #2 bank to #1 bank – accomplished. Moved from only a presence in Jamaica to #1 in Jamaica, to becoming a top 5 bank in the English-speaking Caribbean with her as head of Strategy. CEO wanted her to come on full time as an exec – offered leading strategy & marketing portfolios. Were looking externally to hire Chief Digital Officer – they offered her the role bc she has the vision, new exciting value and impact out of very little. Launched agile – now they are 30 agile teams.
Özgecan Koçak
Özgecan Koçak (pronounced as ohz-gay-john ko-chuck) is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2017, Koçak held positions at Columbia Business School and Sabancı University (in Istanbul, Turkey). Her research in the fields of organization theory and strategy explores how shared understandings (such as communication codes, categorization systems, and identity schema) emerge and shape behavior in organizations and markets. Her work has been published in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Journal of Organization Design, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategy and Organization, and Strategy Science.
Prasad Padman
Prasad Padman has twenty plus years of experience in energy, industrial, aerospace, defense, and medical end markets. He is experienced in leading strategic planning, business development, and business transformation for large global corporations.
He has been exposed to diverse work cultures, having lived and worked in several countries, including India, China, Singapore, and the USA.
He currently acts as the chief advisor to the CEO in making critical business choices, including Organization Design, Business Portfolio, M&A, and Resource Allocation decisions. He also works closely with the executive management and the board of directors in communicating and driving key strategic change initiatives:
- Digital Transformation
- Growth beyond the core (Innovation, Lean Startup and New Ventures)
- Profit from the core (simplify matured complex businesses to drive market share growth and improved profitability).
*CSO Emiritus
Dr. Renee Dye
Dr. Renee Dye is an award-winning Associate Professor of Practice in Organization & Management at Emory University Goizueta Business School. Prior to teaching she was Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for Navigant Consulting, a $1B publicly traded consulting firm based in Chicago. Before her role as CSO, she spent 16 years at McKinsey and Co as a part of their global strategy practice consulting with organizations across industries, including healthcare, energy, and financial services. Her extensive research has been published in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and McKinsey Quarterly.
Stephen Von Oehsen
Stephen Von Oehsen joined Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern) in 2005 in Miami as Vice President-Strategy & Business Development. In 2009, he was promoted to Senior Vice President-Strategy & Business Development. With the combination of Southern and Glazer’s in 2016, Stephen was appointed Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (Southern Glazer’s) Senior Vice President, Office of Strategic Management (OSM).
Stephen’s current responsibilities include charting the strategic course of the company, pursuing business development opportunities through expanded supplier and customer relationships (with over $2 billion in incremental revenue growth due to these activities in 2016-18 alone), and managing and supporting strategic initiatives (with his internal OSM consulting team of 15) for improved business process efficiency and effectiveness.
Before joining Southern, Stephen held several positions in the public and private sectors, including principal at A.T. Kearney, Inc. (Chicago), manager at CSC Index management consultants (Chicago), executive director for the Society for International Development-Washington, DC, and legislative assistant to US Representative Robert G. Torricelli (Washington, DC).
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Dartmouth College; a Master of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London; and a Master of Business Administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Stephen also has completed his Master Sommelier Level 1 certification and Southern Glazer’s Preeminent Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.
Born and raised in the State of New York, Stephen is married to Cynthia Mickelson and the proud father to Stender, Evan and Lucas. In his spare time, he serves on charitable boards and committees, enjoys pairing wines with his culinary creations, is a public policy “wonk”, raises orchids and bonsai trees, and collects air mail stamps and associated ephemera.
Ying McPherson
Ying McPherson is chief commercial officer and responsible for the commercial strategy and the development at Unifi. In addition, Ying also leads demand and resource planning, enterprise data analytics and customer solutions and marketing departments. She was most recently chief strategy officer responsible for corporate development and overall strategy of the company.
Ying began her career at PriceWaterhouse Coopers and spent the next seven years in investment banking joining SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist), and Citizens M&A Advisory. Prior to joining Unifi, Ying held several leadership positions at WestRock, including, corporate development, finance, supply chain optimization and commercial analytics.
Ying earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Outthinker Intrapreneur Network Attendees
Chris Brunone
I help leaders inspire others to willingly take action to effect change, and, to help leaders to excite people to exceptional performance. In the end, it is all about getting results --- with character, competence and the ability to connect with others.
Specialties: Leadership Communication, Leadership Development, Creating a Culture of Engagement and Executive Team Performance.
Chris Gilbert
An analytical, hands-on engineer with expertise in Engineering principles as well as the ability to identify root cause and make informed decisions. Chris is a problem solver who enjoys using creative thinking while remaining calm under pressure and a quick learner. His excellent leadership skills combined with an understanding of mechanical principles help him understand the needs of both customers and his organization in order to be effective in business.
Darcy Dement
Darcy Dement is Senior Director of Technologies Platform Management at NI. She has held several positions in general management, business leadership, and product management and has experience in starting up, scaling up, and turning around organizations. She applies her passion for resolving our global challenges through science and technology as an advisor to B2B startups. She is multilingual with experience working and living in the US and Europe.
Laura Devoni
My name is Laura Devoni. I am Director, Business Analytics and Government Affairs for Algoma Steel Inc. I have worked with Algoma since 2004 and am currently responsible for Algoma’s
government affairs activities, marketing and market development activites and trade matters. Since joining Algoma I have represented the company’s trade and public policy interests as a member of the Trade and Public Policy Committee and Climate Committee of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, and through participation in other select committees and organizations with focus on international trade, manufacturing and the global steel industry.
Travis White
Travis White is the Sr. Director of Corporate Strategy and Corporate Development at NI. Prior to corporate strategy, he’s held key leadership positions in NI’s semiconductor business unit and product management organization as well as management positions in engineering, applications, and technical marketing. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.
Tuoyo Ebigbeyi
Tuoyo is a seasoned business leader with a wealth of experience in driving strategy and operations across diverse industries, including real estate, telecommunications, and energy. Currently serving as the Vice President of Energy Strategy and Innovation at American Tower, Tuoyo is responsible for driving the global strategy for the company's energy practice, which includes managing a portfolio of over 4 Terawatt-hours per year. Tuoyo has held several leadership positions at American Tower, including Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for the company's Africa business and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for American Tower's Nigeria business. In these roles, he oversaw the operations of over 20,000 distributed telecommunications assets across 7 Sub-Saharan countries and more than 15,000 distributed power-as-a-service sites. Prior to joining American Tower, Tuoyo worked as an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase, where he executed large-cap M&A and capital markets transactions within the industrial and automotive sectors. Tuoyo holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
