PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #80 - John Iwata
Jon Iwata, a distinguished figure with a 35-year career at IBM, including roles as the global marketing and communications leader and chief brand officer, is the special guest on the PR Masters Series Podcast. Recognized for leading IBM's digital transformation and elevating its brand value to the second most valuable globally, Jon now serves as an Executive Fellow at the Yale Center for Customer Insights, directing the Data & Trust Alliance and contributing to various organizations in areas like responsible data and AI practices, governance, and innovation.
The Stevens Group is pleased to host this podcast, whose mission is to bring to PR, digital/interactive, and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.
About Our Guest
Jon Iwata is the Practice Leader of the Yale Program on Stakeholder Innovation and Management at Yale School of Management, where he is an Executive Fellow and Lecturer. The program, established in 2022, was founded based on the work Jon and his collaborators led exploring stakeholder capitalism's impact on leadership.
Jon is also the Founding Executive Director of the Data & Trust Alliance, a not-for-profit organization formed in 2020 by CEOs of leading corporations to develop and adopt responsible data and AI practices. It has produced algorithmic anti-bias safeguards for workforce practices, as well as the first cross-industry data provenance standards to bring transparency to how, when, and where data is collected or generated. Alliance members include American Express, CVS Health, GM, Humana, IBM, Mastercard, Meta, Nike, Pfizer, Starbucks, UPS, Walmart, and Warby Parker.
Over a 35-year career at IBM, Jon held multiple leadership roles, including Senior Vice President, Chief Brand Officer, and leader of the company's global marketing, communications, and citizenship organization. He reported to three IBM CEOs over two decades of significant transformation. He was chairman of IBM’s corporate strategy committee. According to Interbrand, IBM became the second most valuable brand in the world during Jon’s tenure as CMO.
Jon is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; a director of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and chair of its nominating and governance committee; and serves on the advisory board of Responsible Innovation Labs. He was appointed a Tech Ethics and Policy Mentor at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University in 2023.
Jon is an inductee of the Page Hall of Fame, B2B Hall of Fame, and the Marketing Hall of Fame. He was named a Brand Genius by AdWeek. In 2023 he was awarded the Harold Burson Award, the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communications by the Page Center at Penn State University, and was named to the 2023 NACD Directorship 100 – the annual list of the most influential people in the boardroom and on corporate governance. He holds a BA from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University.
Jon is co-inventor of a U.S. patent for a nanotechnology and process for 6 a /23 atomic-scale semiconductors.
