Peri Shamsai

Biography

As an Executive Director at Ernst and Young (EY), Peri Shamsai focuses on Media and Entertainment clients, working on transformational initiatives in the TV, publishing, music and new media industries. Most of her client work centers on migrating large media companies from traditional to robust digital businesses. Through this work, she has contributed significantly to growing this strategic area of services at EY.

Peri comes to EY with deep industry experience in all of these sectors. Prior to joining EY she held the position of vice president, International Strategic Planning at Discovery Communication global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. In this role, Peri worked with Discovery's senior management teams in Silver Spring and abroad to identify, recommend and create strategies for international and cross-regional business initiatives. She joined Discovery Networks from BearingPoint, where she served as senior manager and was responsible for business strategy and technology initiatives in media and entertainment. Prior to joining BearingPoint, she was head of licensing and content management at Reed Elsevier ��" LexisNexis, where she led multiple large-scale corporate strategy, technology and operational initiatives. Peri also held several positions at BMG Entertainment, most notably senior director of worldwide business affairs and strategic development. In this role, she was responsible for leading several of the company's corporate strategy and online initiatives. She also held roles in marketing, business affairs and the office of the chairman.

Before entering the business world, Peri was a musician and academic, receiving a doctorate in historical musicology from Columbia University and having spent many years as a classical pianist. She has received numerous awards, including Fulbright, Mellon and Rotary scholarships and awards from the German, Austrian and Italian governments. She also holds a master's degree in business administration from Insead and a bachelor's degree in arts from Brown University.

In addition to her client work at EY, Peri is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University in their Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media and an Associate Adjunct Professor at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Courses Taught

• Entertainment and Media Industries