Aditi Gokhale

CEO Catalyst Next

Aditi is a dynamic Fortune 100 C-suite leader with proven success in driving scalable growth, creating value through innovation, and leading through change. An all-around leader with expertise in strategy, digital, wealth and asset management, business transformation, marketing and product innovation, Aditi has left her imprint across the Financial Services, Health and Wellness, and Travel industries.

As Chief Strategy Officer at Northwestern Mutual, Aditi re-architected the company strategy which led to record growth and a historic number of new customers. In addition, Aditi oversaw more than $630 billion in company and client assets as President of the Wealth Management business and Head of Institutional Investments where both Chief Investment Officers reported to her. Under her leadership, the Wealth Management business achieved record growth of over 40%, making it one of the largest independent broker dealers in the country. Also, Institutional Investments, which backed the company’s life insurance products, consistently delivered above-benchmark returns. Prior to that, Aditi was appointed the first Chief Marketing Officer in company history and received wide recognition for transforming both the marketing strategy and organization. As a testament to her success, she was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the world’s most influential marketers and Forbes cited her as one of the “top 50 CMOs redefining the marketing role and driving its evolution.”

Before joining Northwestern Mutual, Aditi held executive roles at Nutrisystem, Travelocity, American Express, and Booz Allen. At Nutrisystem, she launched the next generation of digital products and services to grow its e-commerce business. While at American Express, she led the investment optimization strategy for cardmember services resulting in an 80% ROI increase. At Booz Allen, Aditi authored growth and marketing strategies for Fortune 100 global media companies.

With expertise in both B2B and B2C, Aditi leads with purpose and is known for her unique ability to be a visionary and a strong operator. She is an agile innovator with a track record of exceeding expectations, inspiring teams in a way that builds followership, and navigating environments filled with uncertainty and change.

Aditi is a sought-after speaker who has been frequently quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Insider, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Barron’s, and Investment News. She has served as a member of Milken Institute’s Executive Circle, Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community, and Fast Company’s Impact Council. Her leadership has been recognized many times, including: the “Leading with Humanity Award” by the CEO Forum, HERoes Women Role Model by Yahoo Finance, and Corporate Executive of the Year award by Milwaukee Business Journal.

Aditi has served on the boards of Churchill Downs (CHDN) and Froedtert Health. She holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and an undergraduate degree from MIT.