/ /

Chike Aguh

Senior Advisor, Project on Workforce at Harvard; Former Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor, Biden Administration

Chike Aguh is currently a Senior Advisor to the Project on Workforce at Harvard, Fulbright Scholar, non-profit CEO and holds multiple advisory and senior fellow roles in prestigious institutions
Appointed by President Biden as Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor, making history as the first black person to hold this position
Recognized authority on the future of work, economic opportunity, and innovation, committed to promoting an inclusive American economy

Play Video View Fees Add to List

Check Fees & Availability

Subscribe to the Circuit: The latest speakers and stories in the news.

Chike Aguh (Chee-Kay Ah-Goo) is a Fulbright Scholar, educator, award winning non-profit CEO, Biden presidential appointee, current Senior Advisor at the Project on Workforce at Harvard and the first person in his entire history of his family born in America. A recognized authority on the future of work, economic opportunity, and innovation, Chike is committed to an economy that creates opportunity for every family just like America did for his.

Previously, Chike was appointed by President Biden on day one of his administration to serve as Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor, the first black person to do so. Reporting to Deputy Secretary and later Acting Secretary Julie Su, he led efforts to use data, emerging technologies (AI, quantum computing, etc.), and innovative practice to advance and protect American workers. These efforts included creating the department’s first enterprise data strategy, serving a pivotal role in the $2B modernization of the nation’s unemployment insurance system, piloting the nation’s first workforce scorecard, and serving as the DOL’s designee to the National Space Council.

Chike holds degrees from Tufts University (B.A.), Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M), Harvard Kennedy School (MPA), and University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School (MBA). He is a life member at the Council on Foreign Relations and appointee to the Maryland Higher Education Commission by Gov. Wes Moore. Chike, his wife and their two kids are proud Marylanders and Prince Georgians.

Speaker Video

Chike Aguh – 2022 Wharton MBA Program for Executives Graduation Speech

Chike Aguh: Hiring for Talent vs. Skills | 2022 Wharton Future of Work Conference

Chike Aguh - Scaling Systems Change

load more videos

The Future of Work: How to Avoid the Perils and Achieve the Promise. By 2030, a third of all jobs will be automated and another third will be irrevocably changed. Technology has altered the ways that workers interact with each other and their organizations and those organizations must plan for how they will keep up. In this talk, Chike Aguh will draw upon his own background as a recognized expert on the future of work and his background as Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor appointed by Pres. Biden, Future of Work Lead at the McChrystal Group working with some of the world’s largest organizations, Technology and Human Rights Fellow at Harvard, impact investor in workforce technologies, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations Future of Work taskforce to explore and focus on the key trends of the future of work and examine through case studies, anecdotes and hard data how organizations to avoid the pitfalls and achieve the promise of this new future of work that technology is bringing about.

Themes include:

Upskilling and Reskilling
Technology disruption to current modes of work
Multi-generational workplace
Effect of emerging technology like generative AI, quantum computing, and XR
Effect on economy of new federal investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act

Race to the Future: The Future of Work and Equity. By 2030, new and novel technologies could automate a third of all jobs and irrevocably alter another third. These new and novel technology-driven changes to the economy collide with persistent racial and societal inequities that have been with us for time immemorial. In this engaging talk, Chike Aguh will draw upon his own background as a recognized expert on the future of work from his time as Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor appointed by Pres. Biden, Future of Work Lead at the McChrystal Group working with some of the world’s largest organizations, Technology and Human Rights Fellow at Harvard, impact investor in workforce technologies, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations Future of Work taskforce to explore and focus on a single question: how can countries, companies, and organizations of all types create a future of work with economic dynamism, social justice and racial equity. Through case studies, anecdotes, his research, and hard data, Chike will explore current trends at the intersection of the future of work and racial equity and more importantly outline real solutions to make sure the future of work is one for all of us.

Crossing the Strategy Valley of Death: Ensuring Your Strategy Survives from Formation to Execution. According to Fortune Magazine in 2017, over 90% of corporate strategies are never fully implemented. The cause is not external but rooted in the sociology of organizations, leaders and teams. In an engaging and interactive talk, Chike Aguh will explore the human and team factors that doom most corporate strategies and how strategies can last so that they survive from formation to execution. Chike will draw on over a decade of experience working across all sectors, cutting edge research from academia, and work at the McChrystal Group with some of the largest organizations in the world to share how organizations can proactively build a bridge across the strategy valley of death to success.

Themes include:

Common causes of strategy failure and elements of successful organizational strategy
Strategy lessons from across sectors
The habits of leaders and teams that can ensure strategy success

Making a Team of Teams for Social Impact: How to Achieve Collective Impact at Scale. To make any type of social impact today, one must work in concert with others across sectors and geography. However, these differences can impede social impact if not planned for and managed around. In an engaging speech and using the Team of Teams framework of General Stanley McChrystal, Chike will draw on over a decade of experience working across all sectors, cutting edge research from academia and work at the McChrystal Group with some of the largest organizations in the world to show how any organization, particularly those working in coalition with others to make social change, can be more effective at making change in the world.

Themes include: