George Wolf ’16 IST, LA is the cofounder and CTO of Guidewise and executive producer for the Implementors podcast, which has grown to over 208,000 active subscribers on YouTube. He earned a BS in Security and Risk Analysis from IST along with a BA in Philosophy from the College of the Liberal Arts. He and his father, Ted Wolf '76 Smeal, cofounder and CEO of Guidewise, combine strengths in technology expertise, innovation, and strategic thinking to help organizations successfully navigate change.
What is Guidewise?
GW: It’s a modern consulting firm that merges operational expertise with AI-powered workforce analytics to intelligently guide change adoption, digital transformation, and implementation success. Leveraging AI and machine learning, our proprietary enterprise software quantifies deep people data and embeds it directly into change management practices in real time to provide an adaptive infrastructure that helps organizations anticipate, mitigate, and resolve resistance for lasting impact with minimal disruption to business operations.
How did your IST experience lead to the development of Guidewise?
GW: The college gave me the perfect blend of technical knowledge, interdisciplinary thinking, and entrepreneurial inspiration. I served as a learning assistant, co-founded and served as president of the Competitive Cyber Security Organization (CCSO), and was actively involved in IST Startup Week, where I had the chance to learn from tech legends like Justin Kan (Twitch), Drew Houston (Dropbox), and the Penn State alumni team behind Weebly. Hearing their stories and seeing alumni build incredible companies made me realize that building something impactful was possible for me, too.
These experiences directly shaped the foundation of Guidewise. The interdisciplinary approach of IST—bringing together technology, business, security, and human factors—deeply influenced how I think about solving complex problems. More than anything, my time in IST gave me the curiosity, confidence, and courage to take risks and the problem-solving framework to take on big challenges, think outside the box, and build something that makes a real impact.
Tell us about your podcast.
GW: The Implementors podcast was launched to expand Guidewise’s thought leadership and brand awareness in the implementation, transformation, and change management space. Much like the interdisciplinary approach at the College of IST, the podcast explores the intersection of people, technology, and change, featuring experts from diverse fields—including ground breaking psychologists, entrepreneurs, AI researchers, former Fortune 500 executives and CEOs, change management leaders, nonprofit innovators, and decorated business school professors.
The podcast has quickly gained traction, rapidly growing its subscriber base on YouTube and forming partnerships with industry-leading AI companies, PR firms, and publishing groups eager to feature their clients. Implementors has taken on a life of its own, and we’re excited to feature more of the Penn State community in future episodes. We’re also always on the lookout for ambitious interns who want to gain hands-on experience in content creation, podcast production, and brand-building!
