Speaker · Author · Board Director

Real transformation comes from human, not just artificial, intelligence.

lululemon Global CIO · Forbes CIO Next 50 · $2B → $10B

I help leaders build the trust, culture, and capabilities that turn technology investments into lasting change. Former CIO of lululemon. Author of Chief Impact Officer.

$2B → $10B+
Revenue growth at lululemon
8 Years
Global transformation led
4 Continents
Global teams built
20+
Years in technology leadership
Julie Averill
NRF 2024 · New York

A speaker who's actually done the work.

Julie doesn't do corporate platitudes. Her talks blend hard-won lessons from scaling billion-dollar transformations with the kind of honesty you don't usually hear from the stage — about failure, about being underestimated, about the masks we wear and what it costs us to wear them.

She's not a retired executive on the speaker circuit. She's actively advising boards and leadership teams, which means the insights are current, the examples are real, and the bullshit detector is finely calibrated.

  • AI Without the BS: What leaders actually need to know
  • Scaling Without Breaking: Building cultures that grow with you
  • Leading Through Uncertainty: The psychological safety playbook
  • Building Global Teams That Become Competitive Advantages
  • Chief Impact Officer: Lessons from lululemon's transformation
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Chief Impact Officer book cover

Chief Impact Officer

Real transformation comes from human, not just artificial, intelligence

A deeply personal leadership memoir woven with the unvarnished business reality of transforming a global company. Julie shares how being a gay woman in technology shaped the way she led — and why authenticity became her greatest competitive advantage.

While scaling lululemon from $2B to $10B, she discovered that the hardest parts of transformation had nothing to do with systems or code. They were about trust, identity, and unlearning long-standing habits of self-editing and silence.

"The leadership dopamine we all need in the AI era. Julie's authentic reflections provide a precise blueprint for people-first transformation."

— Venki Krishnababu, CTO Dutch Bros, ex CTO Premera, ex CTO lululemon

Upcoming Events

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Mar 4 2026

Keynote · Virtual · 12PM EST

International Women's Day — Event Minds Matter

Online

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Mar 24–26 2026

Panelist

Various Panels & Events

Mandalay Bay · Las Vegas, NV

Apr 7–8 2026

Keynote

Digital Enterprise CIO Transformation Assembly

Miami, FL

Event Info →

Hear from Julie directly.

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Julie Averill
"My mom was an upholsterer and a seamstress. I think of gold thread as the beauty that connects our stories, the craftsmanship that holds transformation together."

Julie Averill spent two decades proving that culture isn't soft — it's the infrastructure that determines whether transformation succeeds or fails. As Global CIO and EVP at lululemon, she led an eight-year transformation that grew the company from $2B to over $10B in revenue while building world-class technology teams across four continents.

Today, through Gold Thread LLC, she advises boards, CEOs, and founders at the critical intersection of technology, strategy, and organizational readiness — the space where most transformations stall.

Forbes CIO Next 50 NRF Foundation Honoree 2024 NASSCOM AI Game Changer 2024 CIO Dive CTO of the Year 2019
Full Bio

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Let's Work Together

Bring clarity to your next event.

Whether you need a keynote that challenges your leadership team's assumptions about AI, a workshop that builds real capability, or an advisor who's navigated what you're navigating — Julie is available for select speaking engagements and advisory relationships.