Emma Furniss

Chief People Officer.

Emma Furniss began her career in 2007 as a Strategy Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She led multi-industry strategic assignments, focusing on the energy and consumer sectors. After eight years, Emma joined the Human resources team at Philips where she held several positions. In her first role, she developed and deployed Philips' first global People Strategy, impacting approximately 80,000 employees. Emma served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Human Resources Officer and then became HRBP for Population Health Management. Emma led the people’s aspects of an acquisition from due diligence to integration, demonstrating her expertise in managing complex HR processes during organizational changes. In 2018, she was appointed Head of HR for Innovation & Strategy. In 2020, Emma became Global Head of Learning, Talent, and Leadership for the entire Philips organization. In 2022, she was appointed Head of HR for Health Systems Businesses.

Emma holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts (Honours) in Modern History, a PhD in History from Oxford University and an MBA from Columbia University (New York) where she focused on Organization Change and Leadership. She also pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Leiden University, during which she conducted research in both the Netherlands and Spain.