Claus Otto Scharmer

Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT and co-founder of the Presencing Institute. He introduced the concept of “presencing” in his bestselling books Theory U and Presence. He also co-authored Leading from the Emerging Future, which outlines strategies for transforming capitalism and wrote The Essentials of Theory U, a primer on awareness-based systems change.

In 2019, Otto created u.lab 2x, an innovation structure for team-based learning. Since its launch, u.lab has involved over 140,000 users from 185 countries. In 2020, Otto and the Presencing Institute launched GAIA (Global Activation of Intention and Action), a free, online, six-week journey geared toward learning, renewal, and transformation.

A member of the World Future Council, Otto also received the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching at MIT and the European Leonardo Corporate Learning Award. The UN Deputy Secretary-General appointed him to its Learning Advisory Council for the 2030 Agenda.

For more information visit www.ottoscharmer.com and www.presencing.org