Katie Watson is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Western Digital, where she leads the company’s global people strategy and champions a culture built on innovation, performance, and connection. As a member of the executive leadership team, she partners closely with the CEO, Board of Directors, and senior leaders to strategically enable the organization, accelerate transformation, and ensure the company is positioned for long-term success. She also serves as the management lead to the Board’s Compensation Committee.
Katie is a global HR leader with 25+ years of experience across technology, life sciences, and semiconductors. She has a proven track record of shaping high-performing organizations, scaling talent for growth, and fostering cultures where people and business results thrive together.
Before joining Western Digital, Katie was CHRO at Solidigm, a $9B Intel divestiture, where she built the HR function from the ground up and helped define the company’s culture and employee value proposition. Prior to that, she spent 17 years at Gilead Sciences, where she partnered with the CEO and leadership team to drive global expansion, establish an engaged global workforce, and build a mission-driven culture aligned to core values.
Katie is a graduate of Stanford’s Board of Directors’ Governance Program, a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), and a Certified Executive Coach. In 2017, she was named one of SF Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Business.
Katie has a B.A. in Psychology from UC San Diego and a Master’s in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.
