SigTalks with Keith Krach

Join us and the New York City Alumni Chapter for our next SigTalks event. We’ll be having a conversation with Significant Sig & 64th Grand Consul Keith Krach about Sigma Chi, leadership, and American diplomacy. 

Keith Krach
Former United States Under Secretary of State

Keith Krach is an American businessman, Silicon Valley innovator, philanthropist and public servant, noted for bringing transformational leadership to multiple sectors, including robotics, engineering, commerce, education, philanthropy, economic statecraft and even the way people sign. Krach most recently served as Under Secretary of State, leading America’s economic diplomacy portfolio and having the rare distinction of being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

As the nation’s top economic diplomat, Krach led the development of the bipartisan Global Economic Security Strategy; built the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies to defeat the CCP’s masterplan to control 5G communications; spearheaded the largest onshoring in US history to secure the semiconductor supply chain; drove divestment in CCP companies to protect investors from unknowingly financing Chinese military; championed the human rights by mobilizing action against CCP’s genocide in Xinjiang; directed the repatriation of 100,000 US citizens during the 2020 global pandemic and expedited 1 billion pieces of PPE in Operation Airbridge; served as catalyst for $100B Endless Frontiers Act & $50B CHIPS for America Act; and strengthened ties with Taiwan by orchestrating the Lee Economic Prosperity Partnership and was highest-ranking State Department official to visit in 41 years. As a result of these national security initiatives, Krach and his family were sanctioned by the CCP.

Krach served as CEO & Chairman of DocuSign (2009–2019), leading its transformation from a 50-person startup to a public company and global standard it is today. In 1996, Krach co-founded Ariba and served as Chairman & CEO, creating the world’s largest B2B e-commerce network with a market value of $40B which now transacts $3.7 trillion annually. He is the former Chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees and recruited sitting Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, to be the 12th President. Krach also was the Chairman of the Board for Angie’s List, the co-founder and COO of mechanical design software leader Rasna Corporation, the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Benchmark Capital, the International President of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, the 2000 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year, 2019 Harvard Business School Leader of the Year and the youngest-ever Vice President of General Motors.

Krach grew up in Rocky River, Ohio and at the age of 12, Krach worked as a welder in his father’s 5-person machine shop, an experience which inspired him to earn a B.S. Degree in Engineering from Purdue in 1979, and MBA from Harvard Business School in 1981, receiving a full scholarship from GM for both schools. In 2018, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Purdue University. He currently lives with his wife Metta and 5 children in San Francisco.