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David C. Edelman

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  • Advisor on AI, Digitization, Go-To-Market Strategy, Marketing Organization, and Agile Operations
  • Senior Lecturer in Marketing at HBS
  • Executive Advisor, Independent Board Member

David Edelman’s leadership in driving strategic digital and marketing change over the past 30 years – as a top CMO and as a Strategic Consultant -- has made him a sought-after advisor and speaker on AI, digitization, go-to-market strategy, marketing organization, and agile operations. Known for developing foundational concepts such as “The Customer Decision Journey,” and “Segment-of-One Marketing,” David has been repeatedly recognized by Forbes as one of the “Most Influential CMOs in the World,” and by AdWeek as one of the “Top 20 Marketing and Technology Executives.”  His writing and work attracts over 1.1 million followers to his LinkedIn blog, and he has delivered dozens of keynote presentations at conferences around the world. In October 2024, Harvard Business Review Press published his co-authored book: Personalized! Customer Strategy in the Age of AI.

From 2016 through 2020, he guided Aetna (now part of CVS Health) through becoming a digitally-oriented, customer-centric enterprise. Currently, David teaches Marketing at HBS. Via his Edelman Advisory Services LLC, he also works with a wide range of CEO’s and CXO’s on Marketing and Strategy, focusing on where AI and personalization unlock transformational opportunities. A proven change agent, David built new practice areas as a partner with The Boston Consulting Group, Digitas (now part of Publicis Groupe), and then for McKinsey & Company, all based on guiding clients through global digital transformation initiatives.

In 2022 and 2023, he published three articles for the Harvard Business Review, Customer Experience in the Age of AI,  Generative AI Will Change Your Business -- Here's How to Adapt, and What Smart Companies Know About Integrating AI, following his earlier cover story on Branding In the Digital Age (2010), and a follow-up article Competing On Customer Journeys (2015).  These have become core reading at business schools and in many corporate marketing departments. Through his affiliation with the “Growth Master” council of the Association of National Advertisers, he co-leads an ongoing taskforce on “Responsible Personalization,” helping CMO’s navigate the many challenges of using AI and customer data to deliver breakthrough experiences.    

 
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Past Hosts Include:
  • Harvard Clubs of New York, Toronto, and Miami
  • Yum Food's Global Marketing Leaders' Conference
  • Visa Global Marketers Conference
  • TriNet People Force
  • Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International
  • National Association of Corporate Directors
  • Association of National Advertisers (ANA)
  • Boston Consulting Group CEO Forum
  • LinkedIn Financial Services Conference
  • Google Think! Brand Forum

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Talks & Conversations with David C. Edelman
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Personalized! Customer Strategy in the Age of AI

Drawing from his book published by Harvard Business Review Press in Oct. 2024, Edelman will share how leaders are already harnessing the power of many different forms of AI to build customer preference, and drive growth. So much of the discussion on AI has focused on efficiency, but personalization unlocks growth -- by activating customer information to offer dramatically preferable value propositions, enter new markets, and speed up the metabolism of a business' operations.  He will share frameworks and examples that you can use to build your own business' strategy, and dig deep into the operational; changes needed to make it happen. With decades of speaking experience on personalization, Edelman brings to life the realities, the inspiration, and the motivations for competing on personalization. His talk can be tailored by sector, to B2B, and to seniority of the audience. 

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Leadership and Transformation in the Age of AI

Drawing on decades of experience with clients and as a CMO who drove a major overhaul of marketing and customer experience at Aetna, Edelman will bring to life the issues at the rockface of making change happen in today's environment. With AI powering new forms of advantage and efficiency, businesses have to build new capabilities for managing data as a strategic asset, for drastically speeding up their marketing and service operations, for relentlessly innovating, testing, learning, and optimizing, and for upskilling their teams. Through memorable stories and with tangible tools an audience can use, he gets down to the realities of getting value from digital and AI at scale. What it takes to make it happen. His talk can be tailored by sector, to B2B, and to seniority of the audience. 

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David C. Edelman’s 5 Powerful Business Mantras

  1. Customer First: Solve real needs with empathy. Personalization builds trust.
  2. Smarter AI: Blend automation with human insight for meaningful impact.
  3. Move Fast: Test, learn, and scale quickly. Agility drives results.
  4. Team Unity: Break silos. Cross-functional teams win faster.
  5. Think Beyond Now: Balance short-term ROI with long-term brand value.

Books by David C. Edelman
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Biography
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