My Story

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, I've always balanced art and science in my interests in school; conducting musical theater bands while also nerding out on the high school math team.

At Harvard College, I pushed it further, starting a theater production company, Shockwave Productions, that staged an unofficial David Bowie musical, and put on a revival of Hair, set in the 80's. Academically, for my honors thesis I wrote about the intersection of technology and economics in the music business.

Heading on to Harvard Business School, I focused on Marketing and Strategy, then joined the Boston Consulting Group, rising to partner, and catching the early wave of the tech/marketing intersection. I penned "Segment of One Marketing", a widely-shared article in 1989, foreshadowing the personalization waves to come, and helping build BCG's e-commerce practice.

Getting closer to the "rock face," in 1999 I joined Digitas, a pioneering interactive agency, where I spent nine years as EVP, Strategy and Analysis. In 2008 I joined McKinsey & Company, where I spent eight years as a Partner and co-led its global Digital Marketing practice. Separately, I served as CMO of McKinsey's own Marketing & Sales practice. My article on how the "Customer Decision Journey" was evolving in the digital age became a cover story in the Harvard Business Review. Going client side in 2016, I became CMO of Aetna, serving from 2016 to 2020 and leading a multifaceted brand and digital transformation through the CVS Health merger.

Now back full circle, I returned to my roots as a professor at Harvard Business School, while guiding clients around the globe on AI and digitization as an executive advisor, also serving as a senior advisor with BCG and an advisor to a bevy of AI start-ups.

I've been serving on more boards, as an Independent Director to Stratatech, a PE-holding focused on vocational education, and as a Trustee with Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Still an avid tenor saxophonist, I enjoy my time as a novice musician in a local jazz ensemble.

Residing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I remain entertained by my three artistically-minded grown children, and wonderful wife, with whom I've shared the past 35+ amazing years.