Paul McDonagh-Smith

Paul McDonagh-Smith leads MIT Sloan Executive Education’s digital teaching and learning programs, building and implementing digital business strategy and undertaking digital experiments to identify and then engineer next generation digital learning products, services, and strategies.

Collaborating closely with faculty, labs, and schools across MIT as well as an extensive global network of industry partners outside of MIT, Paul’s approach to learning innovation is built upon a commitment to exploration, experimentation, and team work where he acts as a presentist rather than a Futurist, focused on helping teams identify and then invent their future, starting today.

In this role, Paul provides digital learning and transformation strategy guidance to organizations across multiple industries and geographies as well as a range of international government departments

Paul has created a broad portfolio of products, programs, and services that enable entrepreneurs, organizations, and governments to build the capability and confidence to convert challenges of Industry 4.0 and the digital economy into opportunities for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

By translating the computer and data science of transformative technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, cybersecurity, blockchain, and IOT into business science, Paul provides teams with a single digital language they can speak inside and outside of their enterprises. Recent innovations he has built include harnessing of AI/ML learning, AR/VR, robotics, and platform technologies to design and bring to market innovative new learning experiences and solutions.

Prior to undertaking his current role with MIT Sloan Executive Education, Paul held senior roles in engineering, human resources, emerging products and technology, R&D and global services functions during a 20 year career in the telecommunications industry.