Program Experience

In Leading Digital Transformation you will:

  • Explore digital disruption from the perspectives of strategy, organization, and leadership for the long term
  • Strengthen your skills as a visionary leader by learning how to spot digital opportunities, develop strategies around them, and pitch them persuasively to key stakeholders
  • Shift your mindset from traditional thinking on product- or service-based value creation and competition to a platform and ecosystem perspective, and understand the new set of strategic choices and tradeoffs they represent
  • Deepen classroom learning and begin reimagining your business through daily faculty-led integration sessions
  • Understand the challenges and opportunities presented by digital disruptions across industries and geographies by networking with a global peer group
  • Engage in a hands-on simulation to deepen your understanding of digital platform strategy

Experience and Impact

Technology can transform your business — or leave you far behind your competitors. In this highly actionable program, you will develop tools and capabilities for leading a continuous, agile, and strategic endeavor to harness and stay ahead of digital disruptions.

Because today’s technologies will quickly become obsolete and digital disruption looks different to every organization, this program does not focus on “how-tos” or one-size-fits-all approaches. Instead, Wharton faculty experts will help you develop your own framework for capturing opportunities for growth and competitive advantage. They will show you how to formulate digital strategies and align their execution across functions, harness the power of digital technologies and ecosystems, and strengthen vigilance and agility throughout your organization.

Leading Digital Transformation will help participants develop their own framework for capturing opportunities for growth and competitive advantage from emerging digital technologies.

You will deeply engage with these topics through classroom sessions, a hands-on simulation, small group work with fellow participants, and conversations with industry experts on some of today’s most cutting-edge topics. Daily integration sessions will help you extract key learnings that apply to your unique situation and consider what digital transformation means for your organization.

Session topics include:

  • Digital Disruption: Strategy, Organization, and Leadership Perspectives
  • Identifying and Pitching Digital Opportunities
  • From Products to Platforms (Simulation)
  • Organizational Agility and Networks
  • Vigilant Leadership

Post-Program Webinar

Leading Digital Transformation also includes a webinar conducted two months after the program ends to help participants integrate key learnings. Led by Professor Rahul Kapoor, the program’s academic director, this one hour session allows participants to share the main achievements in implementing concepts and ideas from the course as well as the challenges participants faced implementing concepts. Bringing the cohort back together, this webinar reinforces the importance of peer support as well as faculty insights.


Convince Your Supervisor

Here’s a justification letter you can edit and send to your supervisor to help you make the case for attending this Wharton program.


Due to our application review period, applications submitted after 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday for programs beginning the following Monday may not be processed in time to grant admission. Applicants will be contacted by a member of our Client Relations Team to discuss options for future programs and dates.

Who Should Attend

This program is designed for leaders in digital and non-digital industries affected by technology-driven disruption, whether or not their companies have already taken steps toward digital transformation. Those who are involved in the long-term strategic growth of their firms and who are interested in developing greater foresight, creating new and different types of value, staying ahead of the competition, and leading with agility will benefit.

Fluency in English, written and spoken, is required for participation in Wharton Executive Education programs.

This program is ideal for executives whose companies are significantly impacted by digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual reality to cloud computing.


Plan your stay in Philadelphia

Plan Your Stay

This program is held at the Steinberg Conference Center located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. Meals and accommodations are included in the program fees. Learn more about planning your stay at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus.

Faculty


Rahul Kapoor

Rahul Kapoor, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Academic Director

David W. Hauck Professor; Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Innovation, technology management and strategy, industry evolution, firm boundaries, business ecosystems


George Day

George Day, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor Emeritus; Faculty Emeritus in Residence of Mack Institute of Innovation Management, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Competitive strategies in global markets, strategic planning processes


Santiago Gallino

Santiago Gallino, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Associate Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Empirical operations management, retail management


Lori Rosenkopf

Lori Rosenkopf, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Simon and Midge Palley Professor; Professor of Management; Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship, The Wharton School


Scott Snyder

Scott Snyder, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Chief Digital Officer, EVERSANA; Senior Fellow, Management Department, The Wharton School; Adjunct Faculty, The Moore School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; Co-author Goliath’s Revenge


Tyler Wry

Tyler Wry, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School


Pinar Yildirim

Pinar Yildirim, PhDSee Faculty Bio

Associate Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Media, advertising, industrial organization, social networks, social media, news media, privacy, political economy, open innovation

Testimonials


The Leading Digital Transformation course under Professor Rahul Kapoor is a perfect mix of technology, innovation, and the change that is required for any business that's out there. We reviewed several case studies and identified the pitfalls and solutions needed for any business to be agile in this space. Everything from the teaching to the guest speakers to the hands-on activities were phenomenal, and gave me a vision on how to tie everything back to a core strategy, such as how to be open to taking risks and how to execute.”

Anand Shah Director of Technology, Verizon


As digital technologies are advancing with a speed that has never been seen before, many organizations are facing the same questions. Do we need AI solutions? Do we need them to integrate machine learning into our current process? What should we do to make sure our brand is going to stay relevant in the next 20 years? Leading Digital Transformation provides a very constructive framework and teaches you how to correctly identify the digital opportunities under the best practices in managing digital disruptions. I highly recommend this course to executives who want to lead their own organizations' digital transformation successfully.”

Lucy Zhu Head of Marketing Analytics, EXL Service


I enrolled in Leading Digital Transformation because I’ve always been much more operational than technology-savvy. I thought it would be interesting to see how the business side aligns with the technology side. Also, I’ve always been attracted to Wharton and its reputation. I enjoyed all the sessions, but I particularly liked the one on organizational agility and networks with Professor Lori Rosenkopf. I realized that our organization is very matrixed, which can limit agility. I’ve proposed some changes within my department so that we can move more quickly and with agility, especially with the health care space changing so fast.

Professor Tyler Wry’s session on identifying and pitching digital opportunities was also very thought-provoking. He talked about not being distracted by the latest shiny new object in digital, and that you have to work on growing your company’s technology in line with its core cultural values. I’ve used some of his concepts in discussions with my company’s leadership.

One of the biggest benefits of the class for me was exchanging ideas with people outside of my industry. There were folks from pharma, biotech, banking, accounting, and advertising and sales. I connected with quite a few on LinkedIn. Overall, the program was terrific, and I would definitely recommend it.”

Ben Negley Vice President, Physician Practice Management and Ambulatory Care, AtlantiCare


The disruptions that digital technologies have caused in Big Pharma have been drastically accelerated by the global pandemic. As a driver of patient-centric innovation in oncology, I signed up for the Leading Digital Transformation program to develop my knowledge, insights, and skills into how best to transform digital disruption into an opportunity to provide optimal health care for oncology patients across the world. Walking into the course, strategic digital transformation was a relatively abstract concept. Walking out, I was pleasantly surprised about how tangible and concrete this abstract concept became.

Aside from the key learnings of the course itself, we were provided with ample opportunities through the program to network with fellow peers through virtual networking cafes and virtual fireside chats. My classmates came from a melting pot of industries and brought forth an abundance of experiences and learnings to share.

One of the highlights of the course, amongst many, was the simulation we underwent to react to key decisions driving value creation, competition, and our business' financial health. Following this course, I now look forward to bringing back to my work environment the key course learnings, especially around creating and executing a defined roadmap to digital maturity and fostering an innovative culture that embraces change. A special shoutout to Professor Kapoor for being a true visionary and leader in bringing together all the key elements of this very much-needed course, including a stellar faculty! Especially in light of today's global challenges, I would strongly recommend this course to anyone leading or directly involved in digital transformation in any capacity, across any industry."

Sherin Al-Safadi, MSc, MBA, PhD Global Medical Affairs Oncology MED3 Director, Bayer U.S.
Co-Founder, President, Fondation Amal


If you are a decision maker, Leading Digital Transformation offers a powerful approach and valuable strategies to set the stage for you to lead a digital transformation and build a sustainable business and brand. The course structure provides a framework for guiding business thinking, thoughtful examples, and illuminating business cases. It also offers an opportunity to network with a top-notch faculty and like-minded professionals. A timely and thought-provoking executive training that is essential for all C-suite level aspiring leaders and anyone leading an enterprise.”

Miguel Molina CFO, Avocados from Mexico


I signed up for Leading Digital Transformation because the way business is conducted is transforming very rapidly with digitalization as the main driver. I needed to gather insights on how to tackle this properly and effectively. I enjoyed that we had multiple professors teaching the different subject areas, which enabled us to learn different perspectives. The highlight of the course was the simulation game we played with Professor Kapoor. It was fun to do and also very eye-opening. I have applied my learnings by taking a step back to identify a customer need where digitalization is the appropriate tool for the business area to thrive. I learned a lot in this course and would definitely recommend it to others.”

Karen Grau President, PCCI Finance Corp.

Date, Location, & Fees

If you are unable to access the application form, please email Client Relations at execed@wharton.upenn.edu.

April 29 – May 3, 2024Philadelphia, PA$12,000

November 4 – 8, 2024Philadelphia, PA$12,500


Download the program schedule, including session details and format.

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Contact Us

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