Dr. John Sviokla

Bio

Dr. John Sviokla

I help leaders understand and reap tangible results from the adoption of new technologies and technology-enabled business models.

Today I am a co-founder of GAI Insights, an AI research and education firm, and an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, where I research and write teaching materials on AI and generative AI for MBA and executive education programs. I also write a column for Forbes.

I have worked on this subject since I was a professor at Harvard Business School. With Benn Konsynski I helped create the school’s first course on AI, Building the Knowledge Based Organization, in 1986. With Jeffrey Rayport I helped create its first course on electronic commerce, Managing in the Marketspace, in 1995. The thinking behind them appeared in Harvard Business Review as Putting Expert Systems to Work (1988), Managing in the Marketspace (1994) and Exploiting the Virtual Value Chain (1995).

From there I moved into practice. I was Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Innovation Officer at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, then a Senior Partner at PwC, where I served as US Chief Marketing Officer and led The Exchange, an award-winning executive think tank whose members included executives from GE, GM, Google and Walmart. After retiring from PwC in 2018, I founded Group Bionic, led the advisory practice at the venture holding company Manifold Group, and then co-founded GAI Insights.

I am also fascinated by what drives successful growth businesses. I conceived and led the first comprehensive study of self-made billionaires to document the personal traits that enable them to achieve breakthrough growth in existing markets, and I advise companies on ways to attract and retain people with these traits. The findings are in my 2015 book, The Self-Made Billionaire Effect: How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value, written with PwC Vice Chairman Mitch Cohen.

The frameworks behind this work, from marketspace in 1994 to the bionic company in 2018, are collected on the Ideas page.

I welcome opportunities to collaborate with executives on the bleeding edge of technology-driven change. Please reach out to start a conversation.

Experience

  • 2023 to present
    GAI Insights, Co-founder
    AI research, education and events for commercial organizations
  • 2023 to present
    Harvard Business School, Executive Fellow
    Research and teaching materials on AI and generative AI
  • 2020 to 2023
    Manifold Group, Partner
    Led the advisory practice for a venture holding company
  • 2018 to present
    Group Bionic, Founder
    Consulting on digital transformation and executive development
  • 2010 to 2018
    PwC, Senior Partner
    Led The Exchange executive think tank. US Chief Marketing Officer, 2016 to 2018
  • 1998 to 2010
    Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Vice Chairman of the Board and Partner
    Chief Innovation Officer, 2000 to 2010
  • 1986 to 1998
    Harvard Business School, Assistant and Associate Professor
    Taught the first course on AI and the first on electronic commerce

Selected leadership work

  • 2005 to 2018
    The Exchange
    An award-winning executive think tank that brought together scientists, executives, academics and entrepreneurs, including leaders from GE, GM, Walmart and Google. Started at Diamond and led for 13 years, through the PwC acquisition.
  • 2016 to 2018
    US Chief Marketing Officer, PwC
    Led a marketing function of more than $300 million. Cut its cost by 25% while growing revenue and the brand.
  • 2013 to 2018
    Global Thought Leadership, PwC
    Designed a new governance model for the global team and realigned strategy+business after PwC acquired Booz & Company.
  • 2012 to 2015
    Self-made billionaire research
    Profiled 250 self-made billionaires, interviewed 16 of them and studied more than 100 entrepreneurs. The work became the 2015 book and an advisory offering on retaining high-potential talent.
  • 2018 to 2020
    Group Bionic
    Research, frameworks and executive development on digital transformation, the bionic company and computability.
  • 2020 to 2023
    Manifold Group
    Led the advisory practice on growth and digital transformation. Advised portfolio firms and executives on strategy and investments.

Focus areas

Digital technologies and AIResearch and thought leadershipStrategyMarketingExecutive educationExecutive coachingTechnology investing

Boards and councils

  • InfuSystem, Board member. Chair of the Strategy Committee and member of the Audit Committee
  • Inveniem, Board member and investor, 2018 to present
  • Gemline, Board member, 2018 to present
  • Uniform Adjusted Financial Reporting Standards (UAFRS) Council, Member, 2018 to present

Past

  • SpeciateAI, 2018 to 2020
  • AMICAS (NASDAQ: AMCS), 2006 to 2010
  • Diamond Management Consultants (NASDAQ: DTPI), 1998 to 2010
  • Alliant Food Services, 1998 to 2002

Board service paused from 2010 to 2018 under PwC partnership independence policies.

Memberships

  • 100 Coaches, member of the premier executive coaching group

Education

  • D.B.A., Harvard Business School, 1986
  • M.B.A. with Distinction, Harvard Business School, 1983
  • B.A., Magna cum Laude, Harvard College, 1979

Editorial boards

  • Management Information Systems Quarterly, 1988 to 1998
  • Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1994 to 1998