Costas Markides

Costas Markides

Pioneer of Strategic Innovation, Agility, and Corporate Transformation

Core Intelligence Domain: Strategy & Innovation
Location: London, United Kingdom | Languages: English, Greek
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence

Costas Markides is an internationally recognised authority on strategic management, business model innovation, and corporate restructuring. As a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the prestigious London Business School, he equips C-suite executives and global boards with proprietary frameworks designed to navigate continuous disruption, embed organisational agility, and conceptualise game-changing strategies. His work bridges the gap between rigorous academic research and actionable corporate foresight, empowering leaders to rethink their strategic positioning in highly volatile markets.

Academic Excellence and Global Influence

Professor Markides possesses a distinguished academic background, having earned his BA and MA in Economics from Boston University, followed by an MBA and a DBA from Harvard Business School. At London Business School, he has served as the Academic Director of the Executive Education programmes, guiding the strategic development of senior executives from Fortune 500 companies worldwide. His profound impact on the global business landscape has been repeatedly recognised by the Thinkers50 rankings, cementing his status as one of the world’s most influential management thinkers.

Proprietary Frameworks and Thought Leadership

At the core of Costas Markides’ expertise is his ability to decode complex market dynamics into accessible, high-impact frameworks. He is the pioneer of the “Fast Second” strategy, a revolutionary concept challenging the assumption that first-mover advantage is essential for success. Instead, he demonstrates how organisations can scale disruptive innovations pioneered by others. Furthermore, his “Who-What-How” framework provides executive teams with a definitive methodology for redefining their business models by questioning who they target, what they offer, and how they deliver value efficiently.

His extensive research has culminated in several bestselling and critically acclaimed publications, which serve as strategic blueprints for modern enterprises:

• Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets – A definitive guide on why scaling innovation often triumphs over inventing it.
• Game-Changing Strategies: How to Create New Market Space in Established Industries by Breaking the Rules – An exploration of how established firms can innovate their business models to outmanoeuvre agile disruptors.
• All the Right Moves: A Guide to Crafting Breakthrough Strategy – A masterclass in strategic execution and the continuous adaptation of corporate strategy.
• Organizing for the New Normal: Prepare Your Company for the Journey of Continuous Disruption – His latest insights on building resilient, decentralised, and agile organisational structures tailored for the modern, unpredictable business environment.

Primary Speaking Topics

As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, Costas Markides delivers dynamic, interactive, and fiercely relevant presentations. His speaking engagements are meticulously tailored to address the specific strategic challenges of his audiences, focusing on:

• Strategic Innovation and Business Model Disruption: How to proactively disrupt your own business model before competitors do, leveraging the “Who-What-How” framework.
• The Fast Second Strategy: Understanding when to innovate internally and when to capitalise on the radical innovations of early market entrants.
• Organising for Agility in the New Normal: Structuring legacy organisations to respond swiftly to continuous macroeconomic and technological shocks.
• Mobilising the Organisation for Strategic Execution: Overcoming internal resistance, aligning culture with strategy, and ensuring flawless execution across all tiers of the business.
• Leadership in Times of Uncertainty: Developing the strategic foresight required to guide multinational corporations through complex, volatile environments.

Key Takeaways

• Rethink First-Mover Advantage: Learn how to strategically bypass radical invention and focus on scaling and dominating newly created markets.
• Embed Continuous Innovation: Discover how to cultivate an organisational culture that views disruption not as a threat, but as a continuous strategic opportunity.
• Master the “Who-What-How” Paradigm: Gain actionable insights into redefining your customer base, value proposition, and delivery mechanisms to create uncontested market space.
• Achieve Organisational Agility: Acquire practical blueprints for decentralising decision-making and breaking down corporate silos to enhance market responsiveness.
• Bridge the Strategy-Execution Gap: Understand the psychological and structural methodologies required to align every level of the organisation behind a unified strategic vision.