Skip to main content
Marc Le Menestrel.jpg

Chengyi Lin

Affiliate Professor of Strategy

Biography

Research Areas: Digital Transformation, Sustainability Transition, Twin Transformation, Innovations.

Teaching: Digital Transformation, Sustainability Transition, Leadership Duality, Change Management, Leadership Transition.

Industry areas: Hi-tech, professional services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotech, financial services, consumer goods, industrials and services, start-ups.


Professor Chengyi Lin is an Affiliate Professor of Strategy, renowned for his expertise in digital transformation. His research is dedicated to exploring digital strategy, innovations, and organizational transformation within the context of global and multinational corporations.

Since 2013, Professor Lin's research work has delved into the strategic implications of digital technologies, including AI, and the essential factors driving successful business and operating model changes. He has created unique strategy frameworks for twin transformation, encompassing both digital transformation and sustainable transition, as well as leading organisational change. He also helps accelerate senior executives to a strategic level during their career transitions. Professor Lin has collaborated with top executive teams, providing insights and guidance on digital strategy and organizational transformation for industry leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Accenture Strategy, Schneider Electric, and more.

At INSEAD, Professor Lin has been a trailblazer in teaching innovations and digital transformation for executive education. Having designed and implemented the INSEAD online strategy, he played a pivotal role in establishing the institution as a pioneer in hybrid and cascade learning, making it a global leader in online executive education since 2014. The programs he (co-)directed and developed received more than fourteen prestigious awards over four consecutive years.

Beyond academia, Professor Lin is actively engaged in board memberships, consulting for multinational companies, and advising C-suite executives on digital transformation, strategic innovations, and leadership transition. Notably, he serves as a board member for Sanofi CHC Digital Advisory Board and is the youngest standing member of the European Executive Council. His mentorship extends to entrepreneurs and digital startups, including involvement with the Lafayette Plug and Play Accelerator.

Professor Lin has been featured as an expert on digital transformation in major media outlets, including BBC, CNN, EuroNews, and Forbes, and as keynote speaker for major think tanks and industrial conferences, including World Mobile Congress and AI Everything Conference.

Professor Lin previously worked at Bain & Company in Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, a certificate from Kellogg School of Management and a B.Sc. from Tsinghua University. He regularly publishes thought leadership pieces in the Harvard Business Review. He has also published in top scientific journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and Nucleic Acids Research.

Latest posts

Sort by

Strategy

Chinese Automakers’ Secret to Scaling Up Electric Vehicles

Chengyi Lin

How China’s electric vehicle sector drove to the front of the pack.

Career

Are Multiple Job Interview Rounds Really Necessary?

Chengyi Lin

How companies can simplify the process without compromising their evaluation of candidates.

Strategy

Leveraging Generative AI for Digital Transformation

Chengyi Lin

Opportunities and risks for companies incorporating generative AI as part of their digital transformation strategies.

Career

A Flexi-Work World Needs New Performance Appraisals

Chengyi Lin

Adopting the right metrics could help align objectives and encourage more companies to embrace flexible work arrangements.

Career

What’s Behind the Tech Layoffs?

C. Lin, A. Fatás, H. Bresman, M. Mortensen, W. Jiang

INSEAD faculty on the state of the labour market and what’s to come for firms and employees.

Economics & Finance

China is Back: What Its Reopening Means for the World

L. Fang, C. Lin, G. Chen, X. R. Luo, B. Zhou, A. Fatás

What the world economy, businesses and investors could expect from China’s return to the fray.
1 comment