David Charles has joined the iSchool as a specialized faculty member. He holds over fifteen years of industry experience in the areas of digital transformation, innovation culture and strategy, business and people analytics, and change management.
Previously, Charles served as chief digital and innovation officer and co-founder of Talinnt Inc., a human-centered HR technology and services firm. Before Talinnt, he held various executive roles at John Deere and CVS Health. From 2013-2020, Charles filled multiple roles within Deere & Company, including program executive, Enterprise Analytics Strategy; director, Workforce Planning and People Analytics; and manager, Data-Driven Innovation at the John Deere Technology Innovation Center in Champaign. At John Deere, he led research projects throughout the company in collaboration with University of Illinois faculty and students. Earlier in his career, he was both a strategy and systems integration consultant.
Charles has served as an adjunct lecturer for Babson College Olin Graduate School of Business, teaching Global Connection through Technology. He is a member of the International Institute for Analytics Expert Network dedicated to sharing of knowledge and best practices to improve the collective discipline of professional analytics. Charles holds a BS in management information systems from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and he is completing his EdD in organizational change and leadership from the University of Southern California.
He currently teaches Information Consulting (IS 534OA) and Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management (IS 595CIK).
"I am thrilled to join the iSchool and work with all the outstanding faculty, staff, students, and alumni. I am looking forward to contributing my combined practitioner and scholar experiences to help our students thrive and significantly impact the world for the better," said Charles.