Bridget van Kralingen

Bridget van Kralingen is a partner and member of the management committee at Motive Partners where she is responsible with her partners, for growing the firm. Prior to this she was Senior Vice President of IBM Global Markets, where she led the company’s global sales and operations across IBM’s 172 counties of operation, driving client adoption of hybrid cloud and AI in enterprises in all industries. Bridget was responsible for IBM’s revenue, profit, business development and client satisfaction worldwide. Global Markets combines all IBM regions, clients, strategic partnerships, and industry capabilities in a single go-to-market to provide a superior sales, service and delivery experience. Bridget began her career as an industrial psychologist with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, followed by years guiding global leaders on innovation agendas, business strategy and technology adoption. Prior to her current role, Bridget led IBM Industry Platforms, where she was responsible for the team who built AI and cloud-based software platforms industries such as financial services. During this time, Bridget was instrumental in advancing the company’s leadership in distributed ledger technology and established IBM as the recognized leader in enterprise class blockchain. Bridget has served in numerous leadership roles at IBM, including Senior Vice President of Global Business Services; General Manager of North America; head of Global Business Services for Northeast Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Managing Partner of the Financial Services Sector. Before joining IBM, she was Managing Partner of Strategy and Organization Development for Deloitte in South Africa, followed by National Managing Partner for Financial Services for Deloitte Consulting in New York City. Bridget is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, and served as executive sponsor of IBM’s LGBT+ community globally. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Bank of Canada, Travellers, Discovery, IEX , Partnership for NYC, and the Board of Trustees of the New-York Historical Society. Since 2011, Bridget has been listed as one of Fortune Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business.” Bridget holds a Masters of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa, as well as a Bachelors of Commerce degree from the University of Witwatersrand. Bridget is based in New York City, she is married with two children. She is an avid runner who has competed in the New York City and Boston Marathons