Kamales Lardi

AI won't fix your organizations. It will scale the weaknesses.

I have spent more than 26 years in the technology industry, working across complex systems, large-scale platforms, and global organizations. Across industries and regions, one pattern is consistent: transformation efforts fail not because of technology, but because decision-making structures, governance models, and human behavior are not designed for change at scale.

In the AI age, this gap has become a material business risk. AI amplifies bias in systems, accelerates poor decisions, and exposes fragile leadership and operating models. What many organizations frame as an “AI challenge” is, in reality, a decision quality, governance, and organizational resilience problem.

My work focuses on neuroscience-driven transformation - applying evidence-based insights on how humans think, decide, respond to risk, and collaborate under uncertainty. Neuroscience is not a soft discipline; it is a performance lens. Organizations that understand attention, motivation, fear, and cognitive bias build better systems, make better decisions, and execute transformation more effectively.

Since founding Lardi & Partner Consulting in 2012, I have led more than 50 major transformation initiatives worldwide, including strategic programs for governments and Fortune 500 organizations. My experience spans multiple industries and exponential technologies, including artifiticial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, AR, VR and emerging digital architectures; always with a focus on measurable outcomes and long-term enterprise value.

I am the author of Artificial Intelligence for Business, a comprehensive guide to AI and its practical application in organizations, as well as the bestselling The Human Side of Digital Business Transformation. Both reflect my focus on translating complex technologies into strategic, operational, and governance decisions that deliver real business impact.

I am a recognized global voice on digital transformation and leadership, with my perspective grounded in execution, not theory, and shaped by decades of working where technology, power, and organizational reality intersect.

I work with senior leaders and boards who want to strengthen decision-making, reduce systemic risk, and build organizations that are resilient, adaptive, and fit for the AI era.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Lardi & Partner Consulting GmbH is an experienced partner in digital business transformation. We enable organizations to transform traditional customer experiences, business models and, processes and operations to meet the needs of the digital economy. Based on practical experience, we help companies drive digital transformation initiatives, from strategy to execution. We also develop robust business use cases, proof of concepts and integration plan for technology application - blockchain, artificial intelligence, AR/VR, internet of things, 3D printing, robotics, sensor / wearables, social media among others.

Pluralsight

As a Principal Consultant I am crafting innovative strategies, delivering scalable engagement initiatives, amplifying learner proficiency and offering managers actionable insights for strategic decisions. My collaborative approach harmonizes HR, L&D, technology, and operations to create cohesive employee development strategies. By designing immersive programs, we empower learners to translate knowledge into real-world impact, and through executive and leadership coaching we increase alignment and leadership capabilities. I craft bespoke solutions by blending learning, change management, and organizational psychology, steering global strategic learning for leading organizations and institutions.

- Architect strategic learning programs including communication and change management, for a global portfolio of industry leading companies and academic institutions
- Pioneer scalable and sustainable engagement programs, boosting learner proficiency and equipping managers with actionable data for informed decision-making
- Develop and execute outcome-driven solutions including marketing materials, program assets, and sales enablement
- Collaboratively formulate solutions across HR, L&D, technology, and operations, optimizing each group's strengths to establish a unified employee development experience
- Design immersive programs enabling learners to apply acquired knowledge to real-world experiences, reinforcing learning and elevating on-the-job capabilities
- Deliver thought leadership to executive and senior leaders providing benchmarking insights, trends, and forward-looking strategies that catalyzed skills development progress

Principal Consultant - Workforce Transformation

Contemplating Life's Choices

Contemplating Life's Choices is for mid-career women, mothers, and diverse folks who are over-thinkers, people pleasers, and perfectionists who want to break free of these self sabotaging habits to redefine their relationship with work. 

Through 1:1/group coaching and experiential practices we:

- Deepen our inner wisdom 
- Build an empowered and diverse community of support 
- Establish a lifelong contemplation practice to understand yourself and your motivations so you can approach your life and career with confidence and clarity
- Develop communication, learning, and self-awareness capabilities that set us up for success in corporate spaces

Founder

EvoWorks Collective

Providing consulting and executive coaching services that transform organizations through human centered leadership, culture, and employee experience strategies and programs.

Managing Director

Zions Bancorporation

In just over seven months in role, I was promoted from individual contributor to leading the Enterprise Technology and Operations (ETO) team that provided clarity, guided people through change, and facilitated communication in going fully remote at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Successfully architected and optimized programs to support a workforce that had never been remote by transitioning in-person events online, increasing methods and frequency of communication, and providing a monthly toolkit of resources for all people leaders. 

- Redesigned the creation, execution, and monitoring of strategic initiatives, programs, and objectives resulting in increased event attendance, increased eNPS scores, and increased manager and employee engagement
- Directed the Technology Upskill Program in partnership with HR and L&D to engage 667 employees to complete 1,944 Pluralsight Skill IQ assessments fulfilling our goal of 100% completion
- Championed the Women in Tech ERG to more than double attendance at monthly events
- Delivered local, national, and global keynote and panel presentations on leadership development, workforce of the future, employee resource groups, and diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Instituted feedback loops to respond to employee engagement surveys, increasing eNPS scores and positive sentiment
- Guided individual contributors and leaders through coaching on leadership development, communication/presentation skills, establishing life-long learning habits, building a strong support network, soft skills, career planning, and diversity, equity and inclusion
- Optimized external messaging and branding with Public Relations, Marketing, Diversity, and Recruiting teams to support increasing diverse technology talent
- Synthesized quantitative and qualitative data across functions to pinpoint areas to improve outcomes for employees, customers, and the community

VP | ETO Strategy, Change, and Communications

I harnessed my diverse background in collective impact, change management, learning and development, gender equity, and diversity and inclusion to craft strategic initiatives to drive measurable outcomes. By forging impactful partnerships and establishing interactive events, the programs cultivated STEM skills in students, provided mission critical coaching that deepened understanding of diversity, and improved skill development. 

- Leveraged expertise in change management, learning and development, gender issues, and diversity, equity, and inclusion to craft strategies, drive initiatives, and measure outcomes
- Forged ten partnerships to create long-term impact in developing STEM skills in K-12 students through college to develop a diverse local talent pipeline
- Established seven events, three trainings, and dozens of resources designed to increase action towards creating a culture of diversity, inclusion, and continuous learning including workbooks, information sheets, presentations, and self-paced learning guides
- Provided coaching for individual contributors and leaders to deepen their understanding of gender, diversity, and soft skill development
- Created monthly and annual data and reporting to identify and close gaps aligned to business and program outcomes
- Optimized multi-channel communications to drive change and engage stakeholders across all levels and departments
- Administered the annual budget throughout the accounting lifecycle including effective stakeholder management
- Influenced programming and strategy for over 2,200 employees through research and reporting on industry trends and best practices
- Championed change across eight executive leaders with no formal authority, while managing ambiguity, and rapidly iterating to lead in a continuously evolving technology space

Business Program Manager

United Way of Salt Lake

Evolved the volunteer engagement program by implementing the Year of Action program that allowed us to capture corporate resources to fund volunteerism across regional, civic, and school partnerships. By effectively uniting corporate social responsibility goals with community identified needs, the Year of Action sponsorship program enabled us to provide resources and labor at no cost to the recipient organizations. Provided thought leadership, education, and mentorship to local and global non-profit leaders elevating the impact and visibility of the collective impact approach.

- Forged impactful collaborations across three regional networks, two civic partnerships, and over 25 community schools and centers to align volunteer engagement to core outcomes strengthening organizational ties by helping to shift volunteers from only engaging in one-time improvement projects to prioritizing projects that support long term outcomes including math and reading tutors and career readiness events
- Orchestrated the resource development team to secure and renew 15 Year of Action sponsors to ensure the appropriate resources for seven Year of Action events, community school/center projects, and civic/regional partnership projects
- Aligned corporate social responsibility goals of corporate partners to fulfill existing needs in our community schools and regional partnerships
- Engineered and conducted data and partnership inventories to develop theories about engagement interventions that impact outcomes and align with existing efforts
- Catalyzed continuous improvement cycles to prioritize and scale volunteer engagement based interventions that provide the greatest impact
- Delivered positive representation in media communications including print, radio, and television
- Provided coaching and mentorship for internal and external stakeholders in order to provide the exceptional volunteer experiences that meets community identified needs while creating lasting impact

Senior Director of Volunteer Strategy

Fostered a high-performing team of four, capitalizing on each member's strengths to drive collaboration, influence, and meaningful contributions
Formulated and executed strategies that increased volunteer engagement and referrals by 460% enabling us to lay the foundation for sponsorship based funding, successful grant funding for programs, and building broader community awareness and engagement
Stewarded our team in implementing volunteer strategies that increased volunteer hours served by 20% year over year
Guided the team to provide over 200 volunteer events engaging thousands of volunteers each year
Designed an organization wide volunteer engagement strategy by understanding corporate partner CSR goals, understanding school and organizational KPIs, identifying opportunities to utilize volunteers to meet CSR goals while addressing KPI needs, and establishing processes that provide meaningful and top-quality volunteer experiences
Lead a 10-person cross-departmental group responsible for the strategic alignment of volunteers, accurate collection of data, and clear collaboration and communication across the organization
Champion for the Organizational Change Management initiative engaging and educating staff for the roll out of Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud utilizing SCARF and change management frameworks
Delivered education and mentorship to local, national, and international nonprofits and NGO's sharing best practices, innovations, and ideas 
Optimized the alignment of internal resources and staffing with UWSL’s strategic direction for volunteer engagement

Senior Director of Volunteer Engagement

United Way of Southern Nevada

- Implemented and managed national day of service opportunities for up to 200 volunteers and corporate service projects including Make a Difference Day, 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance, National Volunteer Week, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and seasonal projects
- Managed the ongoing maintenance and content creation for social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and Flickr
- Oversaw implementation of a new volunteer database including ongoing maintenance of volunteer and agency information
- Developed new non-profit partnerships to increase volunteer opportunities available through community outreach and site visits
- Established training programs for volunteers and non-profit organizations including the volunteer Project Leader program
- Created and published monthly volunteer and partner organization newsletters
- Provided supervision and management of 10 AmeriCorps VISTA members

Volunteer Manager

The Blind Center of Nevada

- Organized and implemented the volunteer program including interviewing potential volunteers, facilitating tours of the Center, coordinating correspondence to volunteers, training of volunteers, maintenance and growth of volunteer program and organization of volunteer tracking and recognition program
- Collaborated with volunteers to provide expanded programing options for members including classes in yoga, poetry, and bell choir
- Implemented a monthly volunteer newsletter to recognize outstanding volunteers, communicate about upcoming volunteer opportunities, and share information about the Center
- Oversaw the intake process for new and existing members regarding available services, advocacy requests, and questions about Center programs
- Represented available center programs and services at community events and on the radio
- Coordinated and supervised AARP volunteers, Catholic Charities volunteers, and Vocational Rehabilitation candidates

Volunteer and Program Coordinator

South Tech Construction

- Sole Project Manager responsible for all major projects and maintenance work orders
- Oversaw bid process and issued contracts
- Scheduled subcontractors and vendors with field superintendents
- Collaborated with owners, architects, engineers, tenants, and property management
- Issued and controlled maintenance work orders
- Issued purchase orders and completed all work order billing
- Developed training documents for new employees
- Managed training for the project management assistant and other team members

Project Manager

Focus Property Group

- Collaborated with architects and engineers throughout the Design Review process
- Oversaw builder submittals including producing Design Review letters for 12 home builders in the Mountain's Edge Master Planned Community and 10 home builders in the Providence Master Planned Community
- Managed requests for waivers and variances in plans that did not meet community standards 
- Delivered ongoing training of current and new Design Review Techs
- Facilitated resolving non-compliance/waiver issues
- Coordinated the review and feedback of non-compliance/waiver issues

Design Review Tech.

Jacobsen Construction Co. Inc

- Facilitated the administrative needs for the project manager, project engineer, and project superintendent on the job site for the OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center and Merit Medical Systems projects.
- Optimized Microsoft Access to track relevant project information
- Received, prepared, and delivered submittals and RFI's
- Created, organized, and prepared reports for presentation

Project Assistant

My name is Heather Motogawa-MacDonald and my pronouns are she/her/hers. My expertise is in systems change and organizational transformation. I work with executive leadership teams to build a competitive advantage through their people and leadership strategies. 

My approach is people centered and based on building relationships of trust to co-create solutions that align to business needs while ensuring workplaces work for everyone. 

I contextualize information, trends, best practices, and frameworks to address the needs of the clients I’m partner with to ensure the solutions we co-create are a fit for their people in this current moment. Together we utilize continuous improvement techniques to monitor, assess, and evolve solutions ensuring we remain adaptable to change.

My experience and capabilities focus on adding value by: 
- Supporting leaders in shifting from an in-person/co-located culture to a hybrid/remote/global workforce 
- Creating a culture of psychological safety, learning, and trust to enable creativity, innovation, diversity, and employee wellbeing
- Ensuring all people focused efforts are aligned to organization strategies and goals by using a data informed approach to prioritize work, capture best practices, and amplify wins 
- Building leaders capabilities to navigate change over time 
- Maximizing the multi-generational workforce by creating opportunities to share information, build future leaders, and create programs that work across generations 

CliftonStrengths: Strategic | Maximizer | Relator | Learner | Individualization
Predictive Index: Captain
EOS Crystallizer: Integrator
Motivators: Impact | Empathy | Creativity | Learning | Variety | Excelling | Autonomy 
MBTI: Mediator INFP-A

I welcome connections with leaders who are looking to evolve their operating model so their leaders and people can adapt to change and thrive.

taplio

The Battle

Kamales Lardi

Heather MacDonald

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?