Phil Gilbert

Transforming organizational culture is not just about directives—it’s about cultivating enthusiasm, engagement, and momentum. By treating change as a product that people voluntarily adopt, leaders can inspire alignment, spark innovation, and drive transformations that last.

Keynote Details:

Drawing from his experience leading IBM’s global transformation of almost 400,000 people, Phil Gilbert will show how to approach change in a way that excites teams and sustains progress. By framing change as something teams chose to adopt and were happy to pay for, we turned skepticism into momentum and reshaped IBM’s culture.

This session unpacks actionable strategies to help leaders engage teams authentically, build leadership buy-in, and create environments where change becomes second nature. Through vivid stories and real-world tactics, participants will gain a practical framework for designing cultures that adapt and thrive.

Audience:

This keynote can be shaped to serve audiences of most any size, from C-suite executives and senior leadership teams to larger organizational units preparing for a change agenda.

• Leading or preparing for significant transformation initiatives.
• Struggling to gain traction or overcome resistance to change.
• Seeking sustainable strategies to embed adaptability into their organizational culture.

Outcomes:

• A framework for treating change as a product people choose to adopt.
• Tactics for igniting early adoption and maintaining momentum.
• Strategies for aligning leadership and empowering teams.
• Actionable next steps to realign your change initiatives.

Suggested Formats:

• Leadership retreats
• Strategy sessions
• Change management workshops
• Executive Kickoffs

Design is one of the most underutilized strategic tools in business. When positioned at the heart of decision-making, it transforms organizations, driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage.

Keynote Details:

For too long, design has been sidelined as a support function, missing from critical business conversations. At IBM, we shifted this paradigm, growing from virtually no design capability to a global team of 5,000 formally-trained designers, and dozens of Executive-ranked designers leading the teams, and the business. This transformation didn’t happen by chance—it was intentional and strategic.

Attendees will discover how to build a design culture that thrives in the midst of an entrenched Enterprise, secure executive sponsorship for design initiatives, and connect design to tangible business results. By the end of the session, participants will leave with actionable insights on how to make design a driving force within their organization, creating lasting impact and earning the respect of their peers.

Audience:

This keynote serves design leaders and teams who are:

• Seeking to increase the influence of design within their organization.
• Struggling to connect design thinking with measurable business outcomes.
• Aiming to foster greater collaboration between design teams and other business functions.

Outcomes:

• Tools for positioning design as a strategic partner.
• Frameworks for embedding design into core business processes.
• Real-world examples of aligning designers with top-line business outcomes.

Suggested Formats:

• Design leadership or all-hands summits
• Innovation conferences
• Executive strategy sessions

In times of change, we often look to silver bullets like design, agile, AI, or even a typical reorganization. But these fail to address key cultural elements that must also be challenged in order for change to be meaningful, and to stick. In this session, Phil talks about the three attributes of any civilization, how they were all addressed holistically in the IBM design transformation, and how they apply to all change efforts. He discusses examples that came from grass-roots changes that were introduced by first-year employees as well as global efforts led by his CEO. None of these examples were directly related to the new ways of working, but all of them supported the change agenda by giving people freedom to do all things differently.

Works in intimate and large settings. Recommended for change leadership offsites and as a keynote for all-hands meetings.

Phil Gilbert delivers course lectures based on the book "Irresistible Change." This is especially appropriate for Leadership or Entrepreneurial courses at the Master’s level for Design, Engineering and Business students.