Peri Shamsai

Peri Shamsai holds the position of Senior Manager in Ernst and Young’s Risk Advisory Services group, providing a wide variety of strategic and operational services to their Media and Entertainment clients. Dr. Shamsai has extensive experience working both within industry and as a consultant in a variety of media industries, including music, television, and digital media services, where she has led initiatives in corporate strategy, marketing, business affairs and new media.

Prior to joining Ernst and Young, Dr. Shamsai held the position of vice president, International Strategic Planning at Discovery Communication global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. In this role, Dr. Shamsai worked with Discovery’s senior management teams in Silver Spring and abroad to identify, recommend and create strategies for international and cross-regional business initiatives. Dr. Shamsai joined Discovery Networks from BearingPoint, where she served as senior manager and was responsible for business strategy and technology initiatives in media and entertainment. Prior to joining BearingPoint, She was head of licensing and content management at Reed Elsevier – LexisNexis, where she led multiple large-scale corporate strategy, technology and operational initiatives. Dr. Shamsai also held several positions at BMG Entertainment, most notably senior director of worldwide business affairs and strategic development. In this role, she was responsible for leading several of the company’s corporate strategy and online initiatives while BMG Entertainment was restructuring its global business operations and entering the online market. She also held roles in marketing, business affairs and the office of the chairman.

Before entering the business world, Dr. Shamsai was a musician and academic, receiving a doctorate in historical musicology from Columbia University and having spent many years as a classical pianist. She has delivered papers on topics ranging from Beethoven to the Internet and has received numerous awards for her work, including Fulbright, Mellon and Rotary scholarships and awards from the German, Austrian and Italian governments. She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Insead and a bachelor’s degree in arts from Brown University.