Greg Kihlström

Greg is a best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur, currently an advisor and consultant to top companies on customer experience, employee experience, and digital transformation initiatives as Principal and Chief Strategist at GK5A. He is also the host of The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. He is a two-time CEO and Co-Founder, growing both companies organically and through acquisitions, and ultimately leading both to be acquired (one in 2017, and the other in 2021). As a strategist, digital transformation, and customer experience advisor, he has worked with some of the world’s top brands, including Adidas, Choice Hotels, Coca-Cola, Dell, FedEx, HP, Marriott, MTV, Starbucks, Toyota, and VMware. He is a member of the School of Marketing Faculty at the Association of National Advertisers, and currently serves on the University of Richmond’s Customer Experience Advisory Board and on the Workhouse Arts Foundation Board as Chair of the Marketing Special Committee. Greg was the founding Chair of the American Advertising Federation’s National Innovation Committee, and served on the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Marketing Mentorship Advisory Board. Greg is Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certified, is an Agile Certified Coach (ICP-ACC) and holds a certification in Business Agility (ICP-BAF). Meaningful Measurement of the Customer Experience (2022), Greg’s eighth and latest book provides guidance on how to create a customer-centric culture that prioritizes customer needs while aligning internal teams around a common goal. Greg’s sixth book, The Center of Experience (2020) talks about how customer and employee experience can be operationalized into a cohesive brand experience. The Agile Brand (2018), follows the evolution of branding from its beginnings to the authentic relationship with brands that modern consumers want, and gives practical examples of what you can do to create a more modern, agile brand while staying true to your core values. His podcast, The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström, launched in early 2019 and discusses brand strategy, marketing, and customer experience with some of the world’s leading experts and leaders. Greg is a regular contributing writer to Forbes and CMSWire, and has been featured in publications such as Advertising Age and The Washington Post. Greg has been named a 2022 Top 10 Marketing and Customer Experience Thought Leader by Thinkers 360, was named one of ICMI’s Top 25 CX Thought Leaders of 2022, and a DC Inno 50 on Fire winner as a DC trendsetter in Marketing. He’s participated as a keynote speaker and panelist at industry events around the world including Internet Week New York, Internet Summit, DigiMarCon, Digital Summit, EventTech, MarTech, SMX Social Media, and VMworld. He has guest lectured at several colleges and universities including VCU Brandcenter, Georgetown University, Duke University, American University, University of Maryland, Howard University, and Virginia Tech.