About - Charlene Li

Charlene’s Mission

At the forefront of some of society’s biggest transformations.

From the emergence of the Internet to the rise of artificial intelligence, Charlene has been at the forefront of some of society’s biggest transformations. For the past three decades, she’s worked as an author, analyst, and entrepreneur, exploring and explaining the new world being created right before our eyes by these new technologies.

That’s what Charlene does. But what she lives and works for is creating the “big gulp” moment.

That moment is what happens when you move from a place of confusion, where something is happening to you, to a place of understanding, where you have agency over your situation. Helping leaders take that first step toward a sense of empowerment and optimism, tempered by the knowledge of the journey ahead, is what drives her.

My Story

For the past three decades, Charlene has been helping people see the future and thrive through disruption. She has advised executives and boards to recognize the vital truth that companies can’t simply innovate in order to stay competitive. They must transform.

As a sought-after expert on disruptive transformation, leadership, customer experience, and the future of work, Charlene has worked with hundreds of organizations—ranging from Adobe to Southwest Airlines and 14 of the Dow Jones Industrial 30 companies—to provide her insights to support a winning strategy for disruptive growth and a plan to identify and seize an opportunity no one else has the audacity or confidence to reach for.

Throughout her career, Charlene has been at the edge of disruption. She worked in newspapers in the early 1990s and helped them navigate the shift from print to online. As a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, she covered interactive advertising, search marketing, and the rise of social media. In 2008, she founded Altimeter Group, a disruptive competitor that challenged analyst firm incumbents such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, which was acquired by Prophet. Charlene went on to serve as the Chief Research Officer at PA Consulting, where she led the company’s thought leadership program. She currently leads her own firm, Quantum Networks Group.

Charlene is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Disruption Mindset, Open Leadership, and the critically acclaimed Groundswell. Her latest book, Winning with Generative AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, lays out a master plan for generative AI strategy.

She is an experienced speaker who has inspired leaders in intimate forums and expansive conference halls. She has delivered keynote addresses at such venues as the World Economic Forum, TED, and South by Southwest.

Charlene is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USAToday, Reuters, and The Associated Press, and she’s shared her expertise on 60 Minutes, The McNeil NewsHour, ABC News, CNN, and CNBC.

Charlene earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College. In her spare time, she teaches her beloved cat new tricks.