Top 17 Digital Transformation Experts to Follow in 2026
The right digital transformation experts cut through the noise and show you what actually moves organizations forward. Whether you're modernizing legacy infrastructure or making the case for change to leadership, following the right voices shapes how you think and act. This list highlights the experts worth your attention—practitioners and thought leaders with real insight into where transformation succeeds and where it stalls.
Top 17 Digital Transformation Experts
Below are the profiles of the top digital transformation experts, covering who they are and the impact they've made in this space.
George Westerman
George Westerman is a senior lecturer and principal research scientist at MIT Sloan. His research and teaching connects executive leadership, digital innovation, and organizational change.
A pioneering digital transformation researcher, Westerman co-authored …
George Westerman is a senior lecturer and principal research scientist at MIT Sloan. His research and teaching connects executive leadership, digital innovation, and organizational change.
A pioneering digital transformation researcher, Westerman co-authored Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation. His work emphasizes leadership, organizational readiness, culture, and the capabilities companies need to turn fast-moving technologies into sustained transformation.
Didier Bonnet
Didier Bonnet is Professor of Strategy and Digital Transformation at IMD Business School, bringing more than 30 years in strategy and transformation consulting to his research, teaching, and executive advisory work.
Bonnet…
Didier Bonnet is Professor of Strategy and Digital Transformation at IMD Business School, bringing more than 30 years in strategy and transformation consulting to his research, teaching, and executive advisory work.
Bonnet co-authored Leading Digital and Hacking Digital and studies how organizations move from digital ambition to execution. His work focuses on strategy, business models, innovation, customer experience, and the organizational changes needed to benefit from digital technology and AI.
David Rogers
David Rogers is Academic Director in Executive Education at Columbia Business School and an author whose research, teaching, and advisory work has helped define digital transformation strategy.
Rogers wrote The Digital Transformation…
David Rogers is Academic Director in Executive Education at Columbia Business School and an author whose research, teaching, and advisory work has helped define digital transformation strategy.
Rogers wrote The Digital Transformation Playbook and The Digital Transformation Roadmap. His frameworks treat transformation as a strategy and leadership challenge rather than a technology upgrade, giving executives practical approaches to innovation, organizational change, and continuous adaptation.
Michael R. Wade
Michael R. Wade is Professor of Strategy and Digital at IMD and Director of its Global Center for Digital & AI Transformation, where he researches technology-driven business and organizational change.
Wade studies…
Michael R. Wade is Professor of Strategy and Digital at IMD and Director of its Global Center for Digital & AI Transformation, where he researches technology-driven business and organizational change.
Wade studies how leaders navigate digital disruption and AI, translating research into frameworks, books, executive programs, and practical guidance. His work includes transformation strategy, execution, innovation, business models, and the organizational implications of emerging technologies.
Raji Arasu
Raji Arasu is Autodesk’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, leading technology strategy, platform development, research, AI, data, security, and core engineering capabilities.
Arasu’s role connects emerging technology with Autodesk’s industry…
Raji Arasu is Autodesk’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, leading technology strategy, platform development, research, AI, data, security, and core engineering capabilities.
Arasu’s role connects emerging technology with Autodesk’s industry cloud and developer ecosystem. She previously helped lead Intuit’s shift to mobile, data, and cloud technologies and served as CTO of StubHub. This experience gives her a broad view of how platforms, engineering culture, and modern technology can support business change.
Peter Weill
Peter Weill is a senior research scientist and chairman of MIT CISR whose research helps executives and boards understand digital business models, governance, ecosystems, and enterprise value.
Weill’s research examines how enterprises…
Peter Weill is a senior research scientist and chairman of MIT CISR whose research helps executives and boards understand digital business models, governance, ecosystems, and enterprise value.
Weill’s research examines how enterprises organize technology, decision rights, data, platforms, and ecosystems to create value. His research on digital transformation and future-ready companies helps technology leaders make informed decisions that improve business performance.
Stephanie Woerner
Stephanie Woerner is director and principal research scientist at MIT CISR. She studies digital business models, enterprise operating models, organizational agility, and value from technology.
Woerner’s research gives executives practical ways to…
Stephanie Woerner is director and principal research scientist at MIT CISR. She studies digital business models, enterprise operating models, organizational agility, and value from technology.
Woerner’s research gives executives practical ways to redesign organizations for digital competition. Her recent work examines AI value, digital colleagues, business models, and the future of enterprise IT, extending her broader research on transformation and future-ready companies.
Isaac Sacolick
Isaac Sacolick is founder and president of StarCIO, an author and former CIO and CTO. He advises technology leaders on digital transformation, AI, agile delivery, product management, and DevOps.
Sacolick wrote Driving…
Isaac Sacolick is founder and president of StarCIO, an author and former CIO and CTO. He advises technology leaders on digital transformation, AI, agile delivery, product management, and DevOps.
Sacolick wrote Driving Digital and Digital Trailblazer and works with technology leaders on turning transformation goals into operating practices. His perspective spans data, low-code, product management, agile and DevOps culture, and the leadership choices required to deliver business results.
Arthur Hu
Arthur Hu is Lenovo’s senior vice president and chief information officer and chief technology and delivery officer for its Solutions and Services Group, spanning enterprise IT, R&D, and delivery.
Hu has helped…
Arthur Hu is Lenovo’s senior vice president and chief information officer and chief technology and delivery officer for its Solutions and Services Group, spanning enterprise IT, R&D, and delivery.
Hu has helped drive Lenovo’s shift from a PC-led business toward a broader technology solutions model. His work connects internal transformation with customer delivery, including global platforms, e-commerce, as-a-service models, AI, R&D, and technology-enabled operating change.
Vijay Sankaran
Vijay Sankaran is vice president and chief digital and information officer at Johnson Controls. He leads enterprise digitization through software, data, AI, cybersecurity, and technology operations.
Sankaran uses technology to reshape customer…
Vijay Sankaran is vice president and chief digital and information officer at Johnson Controls. He leads enterprise digitization through software, data, AI, cybersecurity, and technology operations.
Sankaran uses technology to reshape customer and workforce experiences while simplifying and securing Johnson Controls’ digital landscape. His earlier CIO and innovation leadership at TD Ameritrade adds experience across digital strategy, engineering, platforms, analytics, and enterprise innovation.
Gerald Kane
Gerald Kane is a digital transformation and AI researcher, author, professor, and advisor. He examines how leadership, culture, and organizational capabilities shape technology-enabled change.
Kane’s research argues that successful transformation depends as…
Gerald Kane is a digital transformation and AI researcher, author, professor, and advisor. He examines how leadership, culture, and organizational capabilities shape technology-enabled change.
Kane’s research argues that successful transformation depends as much on people and organizational capability as on technology. His work on digital maturity, strategy, leadership, and AI gives executives a framework for understanding how organizations adapt when technologies alter how work gets done.
Brian Solis
Brian Solis is Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, a bestselling author and futurist whose work explores AI, digital transformation, customer experience, leadership, and business innovation.
Solis studies how emerging technologies change…
Brian Solis is Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, a bestselling author and futurist whose work explores AI, digital transformation, customer experience, leadership, and business innovation.
Solis studies how emerging technologies change organizations, markets, customer behavior, and work. His writing and executive advisory work encourage leaders to move beyond technology adoption toward business reinvention, combining AI with experimentation, foresight, and human-centered innovation.
Jeanne Ross
Jeanne Ross is a retired MIT CISR principal research scientist and former center director whose research shaped thinking on enterprise architecture, operating models, and digital business design.
Ross studied how established companies…
Jeanne Ross is a retired MIT CISR principal research scientist and former center director whose research shaped thinking on enterprise architecture, operating models, and digital business design.
Ross studied how established companies redesign themselves around digital capabilities. Her book Designed for Digital examines the platforms, accountability frameworks, and organizational building blocks companies need to deliver digital offerings and sustain transformation rather than treating it as a series of isolated projects.
Paul Daugherty
Paul Daugherty is a senior technology advisor to Accenture and an author. He previously served as chief technology and innovation officer, helping shape enterprise research and strategy around AI.
Daugherty co-authored Human…
Paul Daugherty is a senior technology advisor to Accenture and an author. He previously served as chief technology and innovation officer, helping shape enterprise research and strategy around AI.
Daugherty co-authored Human + Machine and Radically Human, exploring how organizations redesign work around new technologies. After decades leading Accenture’s technology agenda, his work continues to focus on AI-driven reinvention, human-machine collaboration, and the organizational choices needed to turn innovation into business change.
Werner Vogels
Werner Vogels is vice president and chief technology officer at Amazon, where he drives its customer-centric technology vision and has helped shape its approach to cloud and distributed systems.
Vogels combines deep…
Werner Vogels is vice president and chief technology officer at Amazon, where he drives its customer-centric technology vision and has helped shape its approach to cloud and distributed systems.
Vogels combines deep systems engineering with enterprise technology leadership. His work around AWS has influenced cloud architecture, scalability, resilience, serverless computing, and modern application design, while his writing regularly explores how organizations can use technology to become faster-moving digital businesses.
Marianna Tessel
Marianna Tessel is a technology executive and board director with senior leadership experience at Intuit, VMware, Docker, and Ariba, spanning engineering, AI, product development, and platforms.
At Intuit, Tessel led technology as…
Marianna Tessel is a technology executive and board director with senior leadership experience at Intuit, VMware, Docker, and Ariba, spanning engineering, AI, product development, and platforms.
At Intuit, Tessel led technology as CTO before running its Small Business Group, including QuickBooks and Mailchimp. Her career combines large-scale engineering and platform leadership with business ownership, offering a perspective on transformation that connects technical architecture, AI, products, and customer outcomes.
Tomoko Yokoi
Tomoko Yokoi is Scientific Director of the Zurich AI Lab at the University of St. Gallen, and a researcher and advisor. Her work includes digital transformation, agentic AI, innovation, and work.
Yokoi…
Tomoko Yokoi is Scientific Director of the Zurich AI Lab at the University of St. Gallen, and a researcher and advisor. Her work includes digital transformation, agentic AI, innovation, and work.
Yokoi combines research with two decades of executive experience across B2B and B2C industries. A co-author of Hacking Digital, she studies how organizations execute transformation, work across silos, deploy senior talent, and respond to emerging technologies; her newer work examines agentic AI and the future of insurance.
Selection Methodology
I selected the leaders on this list based on their relevance, demonstrated expertise and impact, professional credibility, and ongoing contributions to the field.
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I look for evidence such as leading meaningful initiatives or delivering notable results within their organizations, developing influential ideas or practices, publishing research or educational resources, speaking or teaching, and other contributions that demonstrate impact within their work or the broader field.
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