Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management and Founding Chair of the Presencing Institute, where for over two decades he has advanced cross-sector systems transformation. His groundbreaking work on “presencing” — learning from the emerging future — has redefined leadership thinking and practice worldwide.

He is the author of the bestselling books Theory U and Leading from the Emerging Future, Essentials of Theory U, and co-author (with Katrin Kaufer) of Presencing: 7 Practices for Transforming Self, Society and Business. Through initiatives such as the MITx u-lab, Otto has mobilized a community of over 260,000 participants and co-created Action Learning Labs for UN agencies and SDG Leadership Labs in 26 countries.

A member of the Club of Rome and the World Future Council, his current work centers on shifting “from social systems to social soil” — the inner sources of attention, intention, and agency that enable profound societal regeneration.