Darren Person

Darren Person currently serves as Cengage’s Chief Product & Digital Officer. In this role, Darren leads Cengage’s Digital organization, bringing together product management, content and production, engineering, research, user experience, design, accessibility, AI, IT, and data and analytics. He is focused on creating a connected, customer-centric approach that brings products from insight through development and production, enabling faster innovation and more seamless learning experiences across the education markets we serve—from K-12, to HED, workforce and ELL—while advancing the responsible use of emerging technologies, including Generative AI, across the company.

Prior to joining Cengage, Darren held a number of technology leadership roles across industry sectors. As the Global CIO at NPD, a global data analytics company, he played a crucial role in the company's evolution, partnering with the leadership team to facilitate the company's sale to Hellman & Friedman (H&F). Subsequently, he was instrumental in the acquisition of IRI Worldwide, which ultimately led to the formation of Circana. Person’s tenure at NPD was marked by his leadership of the technology and operations groups, integrating and streamlining the operations and technology organizations. He was also responsible for developing NPD’s next-generation platform, enhancing client services through innovative machine learning, AI, data and analytics solutions. Before NPD, Person significantly contributed to RELX Group, a global information and analytics company, where he drove the technology vision, strategy, and execution. His career also includes influential roles as CTO for CBS Television Stations, and senior positions at Lifetime Entertainment, Adecco and USA Networks.

Additionally, Darren has been an active member of The New York CTO Club since 2008 and also serves on the BWG Strategy advisory board, contributing to vital industry discussions and networking since 2015.

Darren holds an MBA from Columbia Business School in business administration and management and a bachelor’s degree in computer information science from Ithaca College. He is based out of New York City and lives in Long Island, New York.