Emily Irving
Emily Irving is the CEO of Ask and co-creator of the Ask Approach. Since 2021, she has played a central role in shaping the ideas, programs, and partnerships behind the bestselling book Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You, named a Top Leadership Book of 2024. She leads Ask’s strategic direction and growth, overseeing initiatives that equip leaders with the tools to engage in deeper dialogue, surface untapped perspectives, and strengthen team performance across sectors.
At the heart of Emily’s work is a driving question: How can organizations cultivate the conditions where every individual can contribute their best—and where collective intelligence is unlocked to achieve the work that matters most? Her career has been animated by a deep and enduring curiosity about the forces that shape human systems—from the boardroom to the frontlines of organizational life.
During her undergraduate studies at Williams College, she earned the Arthur B. Graves Prize for outstanding scholarship in Political Economy, conducting thesis research that took her beyond the classroom into direct conversations with policymakers and practitioners. Focused on the challenges of organizational change in the public sector, she became deeply interested in the hidden human dynamics and barriers that often determine whether initiatives succeed or fail.
She built on that focus at Harvard Business School, where she worked as a research associate with corporate governance expert Professor Jay Lorsch. She developed Harvard Business School case studies for MBA and Executive Education programs, and helped design and deliver executive courses on governance, leadership, and organizational effectiveness. She also co-led a major study of the history of organizational behavior. Through this work, she gained a rare, panoramic understanding of how leaders and organizations adapt—or fail to adapt—to changing human and technological landscapes.
After receiving offers to pursue doctoral studies at several of the world’s top universities—including MIT, Stanford, and University of Michigan, she began a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Sociology at Harvard’s Business School and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. There, she had the opportunity to study under preeminent scholars including Amy Edmondson, Mario Small, and Tsedal Neeley. Her research focused on the impact of emerging algorithmic technologies—such as AI, big data systems, and predictive analytics—and how these technologies were reshaping social dynamics inside organizations and labor markets and raising urgent new questions about trust, communication, collaboration, and human experience inside increasingly digital and global workplaces.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emily took a pause from academia and spent a season working as a wrangler on a remote horse and cattle ranch in Wyoming’s Absaroka mountains. It was there that she met Jeff Wetzler, then a guest at the ranch. The conversations they shared on horseback—about leadership, learning, and human connection—planted the seeds for what would eventually become the Ask Approach and a powerful creative partnership.
A native of Cambridge, MA, Emily lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their rescue dog, Tiger.