David Cuenca is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience leading enterprise-wide transformation, automation, and operational excellence initiatives for global organizations. Currently serving as Vice President of Business Transformation at IBM, David specializes in driving large-scale transformation post-merger IT integration, and technology-enabled growth through AI, automation, and process optimization. Throughout his career, David has partnered with C-suite leaders to deliver measurable business impact in high-growth, restructuring, and M&A environments. Known for building high-performing, agile teams, David combines strategic vision with hands-on execution to accelerate digital transformation and enhance user experience across global operations. David brings a global perspective shaped by leadership roles across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, David is an active member of the Executive Council for Leading Change, a limited partner at More Than Capital, and a member of HBS Angels of New York. He has received multiple awards for transformation excellence, including the Stevie Award and Globee Award for Best Transformation Program.
· Gain insights into how to leverage OKRs to align with your business goals
· Explore effective strategies to engage SMEs, process owners, and executives in your operational excellence journey
· Sharing key practical challenges and how to overcome them during implementation
· Setting up a Circle of Excellence to scale your operational excellence initiatives across the business
It's been a year of seismic change for global enterprise. Tariffs & market upheaval. Conflict. AI proliferation. The result? A climate of unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty which looks unlikely to abate in the near-term. Read one way, the challenges are many and overwhelming. Read another, the climate might be a catalyst for real enterprise transformation. With a much higher tolerance for uncertainty and disruption than most of their C-suite peers, they have both the mentality and skillset to drive genuine reinvention in stormy seas. Before they can do that, though, it makes sense to stop and to take stock of Transformation's core purpose in 2026. This opening session examines how a challenging backdrop can be used as a catalyst for moving from efficiency-led to mission-led transformation and, crucially, how that mission can be applied to build resilience for the business.
• How has the purpose of Transformation changed in an agentic age? Are its core principles of efficiency, standardisation and business value unshakeable, or do we need to update them?
• What does an uncertain political climate mean for our approach to setting and implementing a Transformation vision? Can we move expand on Transformation’s role as an efficiency driver to enable genuinely purpose-led transformations?
• Does Transformation need to formally own the change mandate, or can they deliver comparable or even superior value by enabling and empowering communities of change champions across enterprise?
• Do Transformation leaders need to review their focus on strategic, long-term planning in an environment where the pace of change is increasing exponentially and unpredictably?
• What responsibility does Transformation have to promote uncertainty tolerance across the wider business?
Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining David.
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