In a LinkedIn post, Arvind Krishna, CEO, IBM announced major leadership changes in the company. Diane Gherson, who has been IBM’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the past seven years, has decided to retire. 

Nickle LaMoreaux will succeed Diane as our Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer. Currently responsible for HR in Cloud and Cognitive Software, Nickle is a seasoned HR leader who has a deep understanding of our business and the needs of our clients. Nickle has held a variety of HR leadership roles around the world and has worked on many large transformational projects while at IBM, such as the acquisition of Red Hat. She is a trusted advisor to many IBM leaders around the world and her experience aligns to the future of IBM as we focus on creating the leading hybrid cloud platform and unlocking the power of AI. 

Additionally the company has created a new role to lead transformation and culture. Obed Louissaint has been appointed Senior Vice President of Transformation and Culture. While this is a new position with a scope that spans Leadership, Learning, Diversity and Inclusion, Transformation, and Talent, it is an area that Arvind says he has long been focused on. Arvind in his post shares, “Obed is a skilled leader who has firsthand experience in shaping an organization’s culture to spur innovation and in aligning the skills of IBMers with the evolving needs of our clients.”

Further on Diane retirement, he shared that Diane has played a key role in transforming IBM company’s culture and in providing IBMers with the skills they need to help the clients accelerate their journeys to hybrid cloud and AI. 

Arvind also shared that “At IBM, we are singularly focused on creating a culture that fosters curiosity, continuous learning, and speed. This is what I call a growth and entrepreneurial mindset. I know that transforming the culture of a company with IBM’s breadth and global scale is a tall order. But we are committed to it. And I have great confidence in Nickle and Obed’s ability to continue to move us in the right direction.”