Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva is a scientist, entrepreneur, and author widely recognized as a global authority on reinvention and resilience. Called “The Reinvention Guru” by InVentures magazine and “The Queen of Reinvention” by TEDxNavesink, she has helped companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM, Cisco, L’Oréal Group, Danone, Henkel, Erste Bank, and Vienna Insurance Group reinvent products, leadership practices, and business models to thrive amid disruption. She previously served as the Coca-Cola Chaired Professor of Sustainable Development at IEDC-Bled School of Management in Slovenia and has taught at Weatherhead School of Management (USA), IPADE (Mexico), and CEDEP (France), where she also served on the Advisory Board.
A sought-after speaker, Dr. Zhexembayeva has delivered keynotes and workshops at more than 150 events worldwide (including four TEDx talks in Austria, Slovenia, Romania, and the United States) reaching audiences from intimate executive boardrooms to arenas of 5,000 participants. Her engaging, research-driven sessions blend science, storytelling, and interactive exercises, and her insights have been shared through over 70 podcast appearances and hundreds of lectures, webinars, and roundtables. Her work has reached more than one million people across 50+ industries and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes, where she is a regular contributor.
Dr. Zhexembayeva is the author of several award-winning books, including Overfished Ocean Strategy and Embedded Sustainability, both recognized among the top sustainability and innovation publications of their time. Her most recent work, The Chief Reinvention Officer Handbook: How to Thrive in Chaos, received the Kirkus Star and the Axiom Business Book Award. She earned her PhD in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, where she also served as Associate Director at the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit (now the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value).