Mark Guarraia

From AI ambitions to everyday practices

– Meeting employees where they are to create lasting impact

Introducing AI into large organizations is not simply a question of giving employees access to new tools. Companies need a clear strategy and aligned business priorities, and the humble acknowledgement that technology transformations begin with people.

In this session, Mark Guarraia shares Novo Nordisk’s approach to creating meaningful and lasting impact through an AI-enabled workforce. Participants will get a glimpse into the company’s overall AI strategy and learn about specific tactics it is taking to achieve its ambitions.

This session will explore various topics, including how employees develop the confidence, curiosity, and critical thinking needed to use AI effectively and to enable change. Mark will also address the role leaders play as role models, and in connecting capability-building with strategic direction setting.

Finally, Mark will discuss why training and upskilling – while extremely valuable – cannot live agnostic of the real-world use cases employees face daily. Moving from isolated pilots and individual enthusiasm to having AI as an organisation-wide business driver takes persistence, focus, and effort – and mandates that technology, human competency, and leadership work seamlessly together.

Participants will gain insight into:

• How to align AI capability building with the organisation’s AI strategy and business priorities
• How to build AI literacy, critical judgement, and confidence across the organization 
• AI enablement as a human challenge to solve for, and not simply a technical solution
• How leaders can enable experimentation and set clear direction with guardrails
• How to successfully anchor AI adoption in leadership, governance, and everyday ways of working
• What it takes to turn AI initiatives into sustainable organizational practice

Bio:

Mark Guarraia is Senior Director, AI Employee Experience & Enablement at Novo Nordisk.

A product designer by background, Mark’s focus has always been on human-centric innovation. He has spent the majority of his career building strong design and UX teams within the medical and consumer health industries, delivering physical and digital product experiences in pursuit of better patient outcomes.

In his current role, Mark sharpens this focus onto employee experience – ensuring colleagues have the tools, the knowledge, the confidence, and the understanding to create meaningful change with the help of AI.

Mark joined Novo Nordisk in 2018 to lead the design and user experience of the device portfolio, and has since also been responsible for the design and delivery of global digital health products. He moved to the Enterprise AI organisation in September of 2025. 

Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Mark was Creative Director of Digital Health at Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Director of Human-Centered Industrial Design at a large Boston-area consultancy. As well, Mark has been a visiting professor at two US-based universities, where his courses have focused on user-centred design and unlocking creativity within large organisations. 

Originally from New England, Mark holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and a Master’s Degree in Design Management from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Outside of work, Mark is a board member of Design Denmark, and an advisory board member at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS).

Mark takes the stage in Copenhagen.