Tor Even Sogn Nergård had dreams of becoming a community pharmacist, earning his PharmD degree from the University of Oslo in his native country, Norway. His goals changed, however, when he had an opportunity to work in the pharmaceutical industry. “I wanted to have dynamics, to have air under my wings,” says Tor Even, who enjoys being at the forefront of therapeutic research and development — and its potential to help millions of people live healthier lives.
Tor Even built his career as a global marketing director and international brand leader for pharma companies, with an interest in treatments for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. “Developing and delivering innovative medicines that make life better for patients is incredible,” he says.
Since 2021, Tor Even has served as associate vice president for the Cardio Metabolic Health business unit of Eli Lilly and Company’s Germany hub, which focuses on diabetes and obesity-related conditions. With technology and pharmaceuticals evolving at a rapid pace, Tor found himself “at a crossroads” in his knowledge and use of digital tools.
“I needed to deepen my understanding of data analytics and artificial intelligence, which were becoming integral to our operations,” he says. “How could I, as a leader, facilitate better understanding on how to leverage these tools and create internal adoption?”
This desire to learn how to lead his division through ongoing digital transformation brought Tor Even to Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education.
Learning in the Heart of Silicon Valley
After an extensive search of programs, Tor Even found that Stanford’s Digital Transformation: Leading Organizational Change in the Age of AI program met all his needs.
“The decision was driven by the exceptional faculty and the comprehensive content the program offered,” Tor Even says. “Stanford’s reputation for excellence in AI research and education was a significant factor, and I was eager to learn from the best minds in the field. The curriculum promised a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical applications, which was exactly what I was looking for.”
During one week on campus, the curriculum covers new technologies including data analytics, machine learning, and AI, as well as how to identify business opportunities, implement digital initiatives, and lead organizational change.
“My experience was nothing short of fantastic,” Tor Even says. “The evolution of technology started in Silicon Valley. And Stanford is in the heart of that. It was exciting to learn in that environment. The quality of the lectures, from faculty to guest speakers, was top-notch throughout the program. It was really fun to be a part of those discussions.”
For a business leader like Tor Even who “did not study IT,” this was just the right balance of technology- and strategy/leadership-related content.
“Understanding how to collect and leverage data is a topic I work with every day,” he says. “The faculty used a lot of examples that people could relate to, such as how the inventors of Uber and Netflix rolled out their solutions and got traction. This helped illustrate the program’s themes in a very practical, hands-on way.”
Learning with other leaders from different industries and spending time together was a big part of the immersive Stanford experience for Tor Even. “We shared a general curiosity of how we can improve,” he notes. “We all had a desire to see the helicopter view of things and apply that to our daily work.”
Leading Through Digital Transformation
Tor Even says he’s applying what he learned in the program to ongoing digital initiatives within his business unit at Eli Lilly and Company.
“If you think about digital transformation,” Tor Even says, “digital is the tech side and transformation is the people side. The program was nicely built around that.” Tor Even notes that he learned more about better leveraging many types of technology his company uses, from productivity tools to data analysis and AI. How to lead people to adopt and implement these technologies in their daily work was equally important, he says.
“For me, the application came more from the transformation side in how we can drive organizational change through technology. My learnings have helped me reflect on how I can do a better job when we roll out new solutions, so we set the right expectations.”
Tor Even concludes: “As a leader, I want to be at the forefront of change. Our company is investing in driving digital transformation at all levels. There’s a huge challenge to build broad and effective adoption of these solutions. I want to help people be comfortable with change and technology, including AI. If we can better leverage new and existing digital tools, that will help us become more productive and continue to make progress.”
