Selling Smarter: Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, and the Art of Influence

John Westman has led commercial efforts resulting in significantly improved business results for health care companies. He is currently Vice President (VP) for Citius Pharmaceuticals, launching a new medicine for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Prior to working at Citius, he was co-founder of Novellus Inc., an mRNA-based biotechnology start-up. Prior positions include Corporate VP for Fresenius Medical Care's hospital business, General Manager for NxStage Medical's critical care business, and VP of Business Development for PharMetrics, Inc., a venture capital-backed pharmaceutical information start-up sold to IMSHealth. Westman was Chief Revenue Officer at Decision Resources and held leadership positions at Baxter Healthcare's Renal division in global and North American marketing and sales. Westman teaches part-time at Harvard Extension School, Harvard Professional and Executive Development, and Boston College. He has a BA in French and English from Colgate University, an MA in international relations from the University of Wisconsin, an MBA in marketing from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, was a Fulbright Scholar, and is on the Global Trade Advisory Board for ThistleFarms.org.

Cherilynn Castleman is an executive sales coach, keynote speaker, and instructor at the Harvard Extension School. She also serves as a sales coach for Harvard Business School. With over 30 years of experience as a Fortune 500 global sales executive—including a decade in market-facing roles—she teaches sales leadership through the lens of artificial intelligence (AI) fluency, relationship intelligence, and inclusive excellence. Castleman is the Managing Partner of CGI LLC, a coaching and training firm that helps organizations shorten sales cycles, expand deal sizes, and build high-trust buyer relationships. She has advised global leaders including Salesforce, Amazon, LinkedIn, T-Mobile, and Experian. She is a Salesforce Top Sales Influencer and LinkedIn Sales [In]sider (2020-2025). A bestselling author (What's in the C.A.R.D.S.?), Castleman is also a Udemy course creator on AI-powered, relationship-driven selling. Her work has been featured in LinkedIn, Sales Hacker, HubSpot, Entrepreneur, and Yahoo Finance. Castleman holds an executive MBA from Colorado State University and is passionate about the intersection of technology, trust, and transformation. Her teaching philosophy equips sales managers and teams to integrate generative AI tools while building executive presence, financial fluency, and coaching confidence. Her mission is to empower one million women of color to thrive in leadership by 2030—and to prepare all professionals to lead with purpose in today's AI-driven marketplace.