Katia Walsh, Ph.D., helps global brands retain relevance and gain an edge through emerging tech. She is Harvard Business School’s inaugural Chief Digital Officer and a member of the School’s executive leadership team. Katia and her team develop and deliver Generative-AI-enabled products that enhance educational experiences and contribute to the revenues of the $1 billion mission-driven organization.
Before HBS, Katia served on the executive team of Levi Strauss & Company as its first Chief Global Strategy and Artificial Intelligence Officer. She pioneered the use of AI, including generative AI, to advance the company’s direct-to-consumer vision; optimize pricing; transform merchandise planning and inventory management; and enhance design and marketing. Prior to Levi’s, Katia was the first Chief Global Big Data and AI Officer at Vodafone Group, responsible for providing a predictive, proactive, and personalized experience for its 500 million customers. She and her teams across 25 countries also contributed to the use of data and AI for research innovation and social good. Before that, she co-founded the Chief Customer Office at Prudential Financial as part of the company’s digital transformation and held leadership roles at Fidelity Investments and Forrester Research, Inc., helping businesses thrive on technology change.
Katia serves as Vice Chair of the Strategy Committee for the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation, a digital identity not-for-profit organization headquartered in Zurich. She is also an Independent Board Director at Avolta, a leading global travel retailer headquartered in Basel, and Securian Financial, a North American diversified financial services firm and Fortune 500 company. She has been recognized as a 2024 Constellation Research AI150 leader, 2023 Swiss Cognitive Global AI Ambassador, 2022 Global Data Power and Top 50 Women of San Francisco, and received the 2021 global AI Mentorship Award by VentureBeat. She is passionate about responsible and ethical use of AI, as well as encouraging diversity, re-skilling the workforce, and mentoring youth. Katia holds a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia with specializations in new communication technology and quantitative methodology. Her dissertation, one of the first large-scale experiments on digital channels’ effectiveness won the International Communication Association’s Hur Dissertation Award.
