The CEO's Tightrope
Forthcoming
Leading Through the Greatest Business Transformation of Our Time.
Artificial intelligence is not simply changing jobs. It is reshaping how organizations are designed, how decisions are made, and how leaders create value.
The CEO's Tightrope explores the tensions executives face between innovation and stability, efficiency and humanity, automation and trust. Drawing on decades of leadership experience across technology, marketing, customer experience, and enterprise transformation, Eric Larsen offers a practical framework for navigating one of the most consequential shifts in modern business.
Key Themes
AI as Enterprise Redesign
The Risk of Over-Optimization
Leadership in an Era of Disruption
Human Judgment as a Competitive Advantage
Building Resilient Organizations
About the Author
Eric Larsen is an executive advisor and former Fortune 500 operating executive who advises CEOs, founders, boards, and leadership teams navigating growth, transformation, customer experience reinvention, organizational redesign, and practical AI adoption.
Over the course of his career, Eric has led businesses at the intersection of customer experience, operational performance, analytics, growth strategy, and enterprise transformation. His experience spans global operating leadership, management consulting, and board-level advisory work.
Eric served on the U.S. Executive Management Team at Apple during a formative period of rapid growth, where he led Customer Communications Product Marketing organization and managed major institutional relationships across the United States.
At Gateway, he served on the Executive Management Team and held multiple leadership roles, including President of PC Technology Services, Inc., Gateway's national services division. He also led the global customer support call center network, customer experience transformation, analytics, and operational improvement initiatives. Under his leadership, support costs were reduced by more than 30 percent from a cost base exceeding $500 million annually while customer outcomes and operating performance improved significantly. His organizations generated insights from more than 32 million customer interactions each year, helping drive better business decisions across the enterprise.
Eric later served as Executive Vice President and Global Consulting Practice Leader at Young & Rubicam/WPP, where he advised many of the world's leading enterprises on growth strategy, customer transformation, and operational performance.
At Wunderman, one of the world's largest direct marketing organizations with more than $3.4 billion in annual revenue, Eric served as President and member of the Global Partnership Board. During his tenure, he led significant growth initiatives, doubled revenue performance, and delivered the highest operating margins in the company's global network.
Throughout his career, Eric has advised and led organizations ranging from Fortune 500 enterprises to entrepreneurial growth companies, helping leaders align strategy, customer experience, operations, technology, and organizational design to create sustainable competitive advantage.
Today, through Eric Larsen Advisory, he works directly with CEOs, founders, boards, and investors facing the challenges of growth, transformation, leadership, customer experience reinvention, and AI-driven business change.
Eric is also the author of the forthcoming book, The CEO's Tightrope: Leading Through the Greatest Business Transformation of Our Time.
To inquire about keynote presentations, executive roundtables, podcast appearances, media interviews, or other speaking opportunities, please contact Beth Marcus at Eric Larsen Advisory.