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Teamwork & collaboration expert

Erica Dhawan

Erica Dhawan helps organizations break down silos, build trust across distance, and drive innovation through modern teamwork and digital collaboration. A WSJ bestselling author and top-ranking keynote speaker, she has been called the Oprah of Management Thinkers by Thinkers50.

Trusted by McDonald's, The Walt Disney Company, Goldman Sachs

Erica Dhawan, Speaker | Communication And Teamwork Authority
Erica Dhawan

Erica Dhawan

Tampa, United States

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Erica Dhawan's biography

At a glance

  • Founder and CEO of global collaboration consultancy Cotential
  • Bestselling author on collaboration, communication, and teamwork
  • Featured in NYT, WSJ and at the World Economic Forum

Erica Dhawan is an internationally recognized authority on 21st century teamwork, collaboration, and innovation, helping leaders break down silos, drive growth, and build high-performing teams across a rapidly changing digital workplace.


She is the WSJ bestselling author of three books, Use Your Brain, Digital Body Language, and Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence, and Thinkers50 named her the Oprah of Management Thinkers. Erica holds degrees from Harvard, MIT, and Wharton.


As digital tools reshape how teams work, Erica has built practical frameworks for unlocking collective performance, building trust across distance, and sustaining authentic engagement in the age of AI. Her research and storytelling translate shifting workplace behavior into strategies leaders can put into practice the next morning, helping organizations stay competitive and original as collaboration itself becomes a defining advantage.


Audiences leave Erica's sessions with interactive, research-backed strategies for stronger cross-team collaboration, clearer digital communication, and more resilient, innovative teams, paired with humor and storytelling that make dense research immediately usable back at work.


Ranked the top women's keynote speaker and featured in Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, Erica gives audiences a fresh, practical lens on modern, innovation-driving teamwork.

Erica's showreel and videos

Topics, sessions and talks

Get Big Things Done: The Power Of Connectional Intelligence

Two teams can spend six months solving the same problem without knowing the other exists, and Erica Dhawan explains why that is a relationships problem rather than a tools one. Drawing on her concept of Connectional Intelligence, Erica shows leaders and teams how to turn people into superconnectors who surface tacit knowledge no system captured, build trust quickly across functions, regions, and levels, and unlock the collective expertise already sitting inside their own organization.

Use Your Brain: Critical Thinking Intelligence For The Era On Autopilot

Most teams now draft with AI and simply approve what comes back, and Erica Dhawan calls that cognitive surrender rather than productivity. She argues Critical Thinking Intelligence is becoming this decade's defining skill, the way Emotional Intelligence defined the nineties. Through case studies and practical rituals such as the Think Sandwich, the Friction Meeting, and a Decision Filter for what to automate or protect, Erica sends teams home with ways to keep original judgment at the center of AI-assisted work.

Collaborate Faster And Further Together

Every message now reads as polished, warm, and well-structured, and Erica Dhawan points out that polish no longer proves anyone read it, cared about it, or even wrote it themselves. She decodes what still signals care and credibility once effort stops being visible in the writing, from response time to specificity to showing reasoning. Erica leaves audiences with shared rules for what gets automated, what gets drafted, and what has to come from a person.

Why we recommend booking Erica

Erica Dhawan offers a research backed approach to breaking down silos and building trust across distributed teams. Her Connectional Intelligence framework gives organizations a practical way to keep collaboration and original thinking intact amid rapid AI adoption.

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Trusted by McDonald's, The Walt Disney Company, Goldman Sachs

Testimonials

Erica's presentation was absolutely perfect for our leaders. Our group was diverse and Erica was a hit with everyone! Her storytelling style of presenting along with a healthy dose of informative case studies kept everyone engaged and interested and excited about using connectional intelligence to transform our business.

George Chavel

Chairman Emeritus, Sodexo

Erica's session was engaging, relevant, and actionable. She is thoughtful, inspirational, and smart with a contagious positive energy. All organizations and executive leaders would benefit from having her as an advisor to drive behavioral change, harness the power of networks, and think beyond traditional cohorts. She is a thought leader in the development of collaborative ways of working, improving productivity and customer engagement and experience.

Lisa McCann

COO & Global Head of Customer Success and Delivery Services, Korn Ferry

Non-verbal cues are vital to understanding each other. Now that so much communication happens online--and with the massive shift to distance learning and remote workplaces--we need Erica Dhawan's book more than ever. In Digital Body Language, Erica shares tips and strategies for communicating effectively on chats, emails, and video calls, so everyone can successfully share and connect in the digital age.

Sheryl Sandberg

COO, Facebook

Featured Projects

Erica Dhawan - Use Your Brain book cover
Erica Dhawan - Digital Body Language book cover
Erica Dhawan - Get Big Things Done book cover

frequently asked questions

Something we've not covered here?

How do I book Erica Dhawan for my next event?

Email erica.dhawan@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Erica's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.

What is Erica Dhawan's speaking style like?

Erica Dhawan builds sessions around named frameworks drawn from her research — such as Connectional Intelligence, the Think Sandwich, and the Decision Filter — and delivers them through case studies paired with practical rituals that audiences can apply immediately after the session.

What topics does Erica Dhawan specialise in?

Erica Dhawan's sessions cover Connectional Intelligence and breaking down organisational silos, Critical Thinking in AI-assisted work, and digital communication and collaboration. She is a WSJ bestselling author of three books, including Get Big Things Done and Digital Body Language, and was named the Oprah of Management Thinkers by Thinkers50.

Can PepTalk help plan the speaker programme for my event?

Yes. Beyond booking a single speaker, PepTalk helps shape a full programme, matching voices to your agenda, audience, and goals across a day or a series. It is a consultative service, not just a booking. Tell us about your event at getapeptalk.com.

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