Dr. Katia Walsh is an award-winning business technologist who helps iconic global brands retain their competitive advantage and position themselves for the future through Digital, Data, Artificial intelligence (AI), and emerging tech capabilities. She has 20+ years of experience in leading Digital and Customer-Centric transformations across multiple industries and countries around the world.

She recently joined Harvard Business School as its inaugural Chief Digital Officer with the mission of harnessing the power of Digital and Emerging Technology to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. Before that, she served on the executive leadership team of Levi Strauss & Company where she pioneered a Chief Strategy and Artificial Intelligence Officer role that combined strategy and technology in service of the enterprise vision for the iconic brand.

Prior to Levi Strauss &Company, Dr. Walsh was the first Chief Global Data and Analytics Officer at Vodafone Group and 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 artificial intelligence for research innovation and social good. Before that, she served as the first Head of Data Analytics at Prudential Financial where she co-founded the Chief Customer Office as part of the company’s digital transformation. Dr. Walsh has also held leadership roles at Fidelity Investments, now considered the original FinTech company, and Forrester Research, Inc., where she helped businesses thrive on technology change.

Dr. Walsh serves as a Director on the Board of Securian Financial, a North America diversified financial services firm and Fortune 500 company, and the not-for-profit Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation. She has been recognized as a 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 digital technology, data and AI, as well as encouraging diversity and mentoring youth. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Strategic Communication with a specialization in quantitative methodology.