Tsedal Neeley
Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, John B. Hess Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA Program
Unit
Organizational Behavior
Contact
Bio
Tsedal Neeley is the John B. Hess Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA program at Harvard Business School, where she is the Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, Faculty Chair of the Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning and the founding Chair of the HBS AI Academy. She is recognized as one of the Forbes Future of Work 50, a Thinkers50 ranked thinker in 2025, and 100 people transforming business who are innovating, sparking trends, and tackling global challenges. She focuses on leading transformation through digital innovation and global expansion, and regularly conducts research and advises organizations on scaling cultural change.
She has authored three award-winning books on organizations, technology, and transformation. The Digital Mindset: What It Really Takes to Thrive in the age of Data, Algorithms and AI introduces the "30% rule" outlining the minimum technology and change capabilities needed to succeed in a future driven by machine learning and AI. Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere highlights evidence-based best practices in remote and hybrid environments, grounded in over 50 years of research. The Language of Global Success: How a Common Tongue Transforms Multinational Organizations chronicles the five-year transformation of a globalizing company.
Tsedal's work has been featured in many media outlets, including television and online platforms. Her teaching and speaking have garnered over 15.5 million views, alongside a widely viewed featured video in TED’s The Way We Work series. Her popular online courses Remote Work Revolution for Everyone and Leading in a Remote Environment (with Ronald Heifetz), have nearly 270,000 learners. She has previously been the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research. She has taught extensively in the MBA program and previously led the required MBA course Leadership and Organizational Behavior, covering topics such as leadership, teams, change, and organizational alignment with strategic priorities. She has also chaired and taught extensively in various executive education programs, including in Program for Leadership Development, and Advanced Management Program. Tsedal has authored several best-selling HBS cases, including Managing a Global Team, which is the most widely used case worldwide on global and virtual work, as well as her patented software simulation on global collaboration.
Prior to her academic career, Tsedal spent a decade working for companies like Lucent Technologies and The Forum Corporation in various roles, including strategies for global customer experience, 360-degree performance software systems, sales force and sales management development, and business flow analysis for telecommunication infrastructures.
Tsedal is a recipient of the prestigious Charles M. Williams Award for Outstanding Teaching in Executive Education and the Greenhill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Harvard Business School (a two-time recipient). She serves on the Board of Directors of Brown Capital Management, and Rakuten Group, Inc. She previously served on the Board of Brightcove and The Partnership Inc. She received her Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, specializing in Work, Technology and Organizations. Tsedal was honored as a Stanford Distinguished Alumnus Scholar and as the recipient of the School of Engineering Lieberman Award for excellence in teaching and research.