---
id: "entity-louis-gerstner"
type: "entity"
entityType: "person"
canonicalName: "Louis Gerstner"
aliases: ["Louis V. Gerstner Jr.", "Lou Gerstner"]
source_timestamps: ["§ Change Management"]
tags: ["leadership", "ibm"]
related: ["claim-culture-is-the-game", "quote-culture-is-the-game", "concept-federated-ai-deployment"]
sources: ["commercial"]
isSpeakerEntity: true
---
## Segment 5 — commercial

## Article 64 — a064

# Louis Gerstner

**Louis Gerstner** is the former CEO of **IBM**, credited with transforming the company in the 1990s, and author of *Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?*.

**Role in this source:** He is a **cited voice**, not a co-author. The authors quote his reflection on IBM to argue that organizational culture is the primary factor in executing major changes such as AI adoption.

**Attributed contributions in this vault:**
- [[quote-culture-is-the-game]] — "culture isn't just one aspect of the game—it is the game."
- [[claim-culture-is-the-game]] — the claim the authors build on his testimony.
- Conceptual anchor for [[concept-federated-ai-deployment]].

> **Enrichment context:** The quote is correctly attributed to his IBM turnaround memoir; Gerstner is widely cited for the view that culture is central to organizational change.