Usmaan Ahmad is Co-Founder and CEO at Expeditionary, partnering with the world's most ambitious enterprises to transform how they navigate complex, high-stakes negotiations through the convergence of human expertise and artificial intelligence.
He brings more than two decades of experience advising leaders on complex negotiations and deals across private and public sectors. He has led crisis response and expeditionary diplomacy initiatives in some of the world's most challenging environments. Usmaan also founded Renoorable, a venture studio building impact companies that push boundaries for a better, sustainable future. He serves on the board of the Adaptive Leadership Network and chairs its Innovation and Impact Committee. The Adaptive Leadership Network is affiliated with Harvard Kennedy School and connects leaders across six continents.
At Conflict Management Group (CMG), Usmaan worked directly with Professor Roger Fisher, founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and author of Getting to Yes. Working on frontline negotiation challenges across countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, he managed integrated peacebuilding programs at Mercy Corps in South and Central Asia, built peace process capacity at The Bridgeway Group, and led conflict stabilization initiatives at CMPartners. As Chief Innovation Officer at CMP Cambridge, he focused on sophisticated corporate deals and investments, beginning to integrate AI and emerging technologies for dynamic, multi-stakeholder challenges.
In the private sector, Usmaan advises C-suite executives on negotiation, stakeholder engagement, and risk management - covering M&A deals, joint ventures, investments, accessing and navigating new markets, and cross-sector partnerships. He has helped clients navigate regulatory frameworks across multiple jurisdictions, including frontier/emerging markets, and structured utility-scale renewable energy deals including negotiations with major OEMs (Solar and Wind), multi-decade PPAs and equity investments. His work includes advising leaders on corporate coalition-building toward ambitious decarbonization objectives. Usmaan leverages AI-driven insights to enhance decision-making speed, identify non-obvious deal structures, and applies design thinking and adaptive leadership frameworks to help clients develop creative breakthrough strategies.
In the public sector, Usmaan specializes in conflict management and peace processes. He has advised heads of state, ambassadors, and UN officials on peacebuilding strategies, helped parties prepare for negotiations, facilitated back-channels and supported constitutional negotiations and political transitions. His work transforming community opposition into support for major infrastructure projects has been featured as a case study by Development Finance Institutions.
Usmaan and his co-founders built Expeditionary to pioneer applied Human × AI solutions to deliver breakthrough outcomes in humanity's most important negotiations. They are guided by their belief that the world's critical challenges deserve our most powerful capabilities.
Usmaan holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He has completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School in Adaptive Leadership and holds advanced certificates from IDEO in Design Thinking and Business Innovation.
