Julie Averill

Julie Averill is a technology executive, board director, and author who has spent nearly three decades helping organizations navigate the messy, exhilarating work of transformation. As the former Global CIO and EVP at lululemon, Julie led technology strategy through one of retail's most remarkable growth stories, scaling the company from $2B to over $10B in revenue while building world-class global teams across the U.S., Canada, China, and India.

Before lululemon, Julie held senior technology leadership roles at Nordstrom and REI, giving her a front-row seat to how major retailers evolve, stumble, and ultimately thrive in the face of disruption. She holds several awards for building lululemon's India Tech Hub, a team she's particularly proud of for achieving nearly 50% women engineers in a field that doesn't always make that easy.

Julie now runs Gold Thread LLC, a global speaking and advisory practice focused on helping boards and CEOs cut through the AI hype and get to what actually matters: the human decisions, cultures, and capabilities that determine whether technology investments pay off. She serves on multiple boards.

Her book, "Chief Impact Officer: Real Transformation Requires Human, Not Artificial, Intelligence," publishes June 16, 2026 through Microsoft 8080 Books. It's the book she wishes she'd had earlier in her career.

Julie lives in the Seattle area with her wife Cindy and their three kids. She travels with her pickleball paddle, which she'll tell you is the best networking tool she's ever found.