VP & Senior Partner · IBM VP Technology Strategy · TIAA VP Governance · PNC / BNY Mellon GAICD · Australian Institute of Company Directors Board Member · StrandSense AI MBA · University of Pittsburgh VP & Senior Partner · IBM VP Technology Strategy · TIAA VP Governance · PNC / BNY Mellon GAICD · Australian Institute of Company Directors Board Member · StrandSense AI MBA · University of Pittsburgh
Independent Executive · Board Advisor · Interim Executive · US & Australia
Kwafo Ofori-Boateng

I step in when things that looked sensible on paper stop working.

AI programmes that do not land. Transformation that keeps moving without resolving anything. The investment is real. The results are unclear.

Interim CIO/CDO  ·  Operating Model  ·  Post-Merger Integration  ·  AI

Talk to me See What I Do
Available globally · US, UK, Canada, Australia
Kwafo Ofori-Boateng
Featured Essay

Strategy Is Not the Problem.
Your Operating Model Is.

Most transformation programs do not fail because the strategy is wrong. They fail because the operating model cannot deliver it.

Read Essay

I usually get called after the money is spent and the commitments are made, when momentum is no longer translating into progress.

Board pressure rising while delivery slows. AI becoming a budget line without becoming business value. Transformation generating activity without clarity.

These are intervention points.

Where I Usually Get Called

Not at the beginning.
Usually in the middle.

The strategy is already approved, but the organization cannot translate it into operating reality.
The work is active, but ownership is diffused and the commercial result is getting harder to see.
Leadership knows the issue is structural, but the system is too loaded to reset itself from inside.
Everyone is busy, but no one is really holding the whole thing end to end.

That is usually the moment where an operator is more useful than another plan.

What That Tends to Involve

The patterns are different.
The underlying failure mode is often the same.

AI is funded, discussed, and highly visible, but still not changing the economics of the business.
The missing piece is rarely ambition. It is usually governance, operating design, decision rights, and execution discipline.
AI to P&L
Transformation exists as programme activity, but the enterprise feels more fragmented, not less.
The issue is not whether work is happening. It is whether the work is being organized into a controllable system.
Operating Model Reset
Integration was supposed to unlock value, but coordination cost, ambiguity, and drag are swallowing it.
At that point, the organization does not need more slides. It needs tighter operating grip, clearer architecture, and intervention.
Post-Merger Execution
What I Do

Three phases.
Each with a defined output.

Phase 01
Weeks 1 to 2  ·  Rapid Diagnostic
Diagnose where value is being lost

Week one: decision rights mapped, blocked decisions identified, value loss points isolated. Week two: intervention priorities defined, leadership aligned.

→
Phase 02
Weeks 3 to 8  ·  Operating Model Reset
Redesign how the organization works

Governance, decision velocity, accountability, and AI integration redesigned and stabilised.

→
Phase 03
Ongoing / Interim  ·  Execution Stabilization
Close the gap between strategy and delivery

Embedded at CIO/CDO level. Execution gaps closed. Initiatives tied to commercial impact.

Implemented with the leadership team, not delivered as a report. Time-bound, outcome-driven. Entry and exit criteria defined at the start.

Impact

Results stated in context,
not as metrics in isolation

Situation Intervention Outcome
Fragmented governance and unclear decision rights across a major financial institution Redefined accountability, decision rights, and operating cadence across business and technology 65% reduction in unplanned IT initiatives within six months. Awarded Best IT Governance recognition.
AI and digital investment generating activity but no measurable commercial impact Introduced P&L-linked ownership, commercial metrics, and decision pathways for AI initiatives 330% revenue growth over four years leading IBM’s global front-office transformation for banking and financial markets
Transformation programme active but not delivering credible board-level outcomes Stabilized execution, clarified accountability, and re-anchored delivery to economic outcomes Board and executive confidence restored. Programme re-established as credible strategic investment.