Our Team

Jesse Jacoby is the founder of Emergent, author of The Emergent Manager, and a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 and midmarket companies navigating high-stakes transformation. A sought-after management consultant, Jesse specializes in leading strategic initiatives and delivering measurable business outcomes. He combines sharp business acumen and AI-powered innovation with a deep understanding of organizational dynamics, culture, and change.

Jesse has led enterprise transformation efforts for leading companies including Lowe’s, Gap Inc., Mattel, Unilever, ServiceNow, Capital One, Mondelez, Walgreens, JetBlue, and Skechers. His work spans complex initiatives such as corporate restructuring, organizational redesign, mergers and acquisitions, technology implementation, process reengineering, and enterprise-wide cost reduction. Known for his ability to align people, processes, and strategy, Jesse helps clients accelerate progress and sustain meaningful change.

Jesse is also the developer of OrgChange.AI, an AI-enabled toolkit that helps organizations accelerate transformation and change, and of two free assessments used by change and transformation leaders: TransformationReady, which scores whether an initiative is ready to succeed, and Change Accelerator, which measures an organization’s change management capability and maps the path to the next level. He is the author of The Emergent Manager and publishes Emergent Journal and the Emergent Insights newsletter.

Jesse brings over 20 years of management and consulting experience, having held roles at Booz & Company, Accenture, and Manpower. He has worked across a wide range of industries including retail, financial services, automotive, healthcare, transportation, and energy. Comfortable operating at all levels of an organization, Jesse regularly partners with executive sponsors, project leaders, middle managers, and frontline teams. His engagements often leverage AI-powered diagnostics, insight generation, and automation strategies to deliver measurable business impact.

Before launching his consulting career, Jesse was Director of Marketing at COS, Inc. (now Pivot), a technology firm serving the scientific research community. His product marketing strategies helped drive the company’s fivefold growth, supported two successful rounds of venture funding, and played a key role in positioning the business for acquisition.

Jesse holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and an MS in Communications. He has held leadership roles within the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Council and was a founding member of the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board at the Carey Business School. A frequent contributor to industry thought leadership, Jesse’s insights have appeared in publications from the Project Management Institute (PMI), Association for Talent Development (ATD), ProjectsAtWork, Forrester, Leadership & Change, TechTarget, and N2.