Biography

Tjai Nielsen is a Senior Partner in Global Leadership Advisory at WittKieffer. In this role, he advises private equity firms, venture capital investors, and Fortune 500 senior executives on critical leadership challenges, including CEO succession, M&A, talent assessment and development, and organizational performance optimization. He has extensive experience working with investors across various industries, both pre- and post-transaction.

Before joining WittKieffer, Tjai was a Senior Principal at ghSMART for over 7.5 years, where he earned a 97% average client satisfaction rating. He built trusted advisor relationships with numerous private equity leaders and portfolio company CEOs, coached C-suite executives from Fortune 125 companies, and was an invited speaker at venues such as MIT, Harvard Business School, and the United Nations.

Earlier in his career, Tjai worked with RHR International specializing in CEO succession, executive assessment, leader development, and senior team dynamics, partnering with organizations ranging from large corporations to the United States Congress across more than 20 countries in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

Along with his consulting career, Tjai spent over 12 years as an academic, primarily at George Washington University’s School of Business, where he served as Director of Executive Education, Dean’s Research Scholar, and Professor of Management. His teaching and research on senior team performance, leadership development, and international investment strategies garnered multiple awards, including the university’s top teaching award, the business school’s top research award, and an invitation to join a United Nations Expert Group. He has authored over 55 refereed research articles, book chapters, and technical reports, and has delivered more than 85 invited talks and conference presentations.

Tjai holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, an M.A. in Health & Human Performance, and a B.S. in Psychology. He resides in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife and three children.