John
Rossman

Early Amazon Executive
Proven Operator & Innovator
4x Best Selling Author

John is renowned as an early Amazon executive who led the launch and scaling of the Amazon Marketplace. He has served as a Senior Technology Advisor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a Senior Innovation Advisor at T-Mobile. He has a unique and powerful range of expertise in leadership for innovation, strategy for Artificial Intelligence and disruptive technologies, high-performance teams, and culture.

Speaking Topics

Leadership

Innovator

Author

disruption

AI

supply chain & Logistics

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John Rossman is the author of four books on leadership and business innovation including the best seller The Amazon Way. He is an early Amazon executive who played a key role in launching the Amazon marketplace business in 2002. He has served as the senior technology advisor at the Gates Foundation and senior innovation advisor at T-Mobile. Today he is a leading keynote speaker on leadership for innovation and transformation. John is an operator and builder whose love is diving into business problems and customer needs designing innovative solutions and business models and creating durable enterprise value.

John doesn't theorize about transformation, high-performing teams, and building competitive advantages — he built them at Amazon, the Gates Foundation, Alvarez & Marsal, and T-Mobile. John works with you to tailor a keynote perfect for your audience, blending in stories and insights from your industry.

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Testimonials

  • “Having John advise my organization is like having Jeff Bezos advise me.

    The best strategy, leadership, and tactics keynote I’ve seen. John had a profound impact on the company I  founded. He’s a master at practical advice and approaches to deliver innovative solutions.”

    — Eric Martinez, CEO & Founder of Modjoul; Former EVP at AIG

  • “Wow! Our team loved John’s Big Bet Leadership presentation.

    The message was spot on for our digital journey. We are ordering more books now.”

    — Keith Nelson, Chief of Staff, Global Manufacturing, Alcon

  • “The audience LOVED your leadership keynote and they took away many key learnings that they hope can be applied moving forward.”

    — Novartis

  • “I learned more from an hour with John than I did from my NYU MBA.”

    — Private Equity Attendee, Carnegie Center

  • “The keynote was incredibly insightful and effective.

    I found myself referencing it while working with my teams.”

    — TransUnion

KEYNOTE TOPICS

  • Why category leaders fail—and how to build the next chapter of growth

    The most dangerous position in business isn't falling behind—it's assuming past success guarantees futurerelevance. This high-energy keynote exposes the hidden forces of loss aversion, short-term thinking, andcorporate inertia that quietly erode competitive advantage. John delivers a battle-tested playbook for turning ambitious AI and transformation goals into systematic reinvention that drives board-level growth.

    Packed with real-world lessons and practical frameworks, this keynote will empower leaders to build a culture of ownership, drive continuous improvement, and create customer-obsessed teams that deliver results.

  • The difference between inspiring your team and transforming your company Customer-centric companies talk about the customer. Customer-obsessed companies build every system, decision, and incentive around them. Drawing from his bestseller The Amazon Way, John reveals how to implement Amazon's leadership principles as a true operating system—where consistent innovation and relentless execution become inevitable, not aspirational.

  • Stop treating billion-dollar bets like routine budget line items

    Most transformations fail not because the strategy was wrong—but because the decision-making process was built for routine choices, not transformational ones. Based on his book Big Bet Leadership and frameworks proven at T-Mobile and the Gates Foundation, John delivers a systematic playbook for making the decisions that win customers, rally employees, and reward investors.

  • Patient outcomes and operational excellence are not a trade-off

    Healthcare leaders face a unique paradox: reduce cost, improve outcomes, and navigate decades of entrenched regulation ——simultaneously. John brings Amazon's principles of customer obsession and systematic decision-making directly to healthcare's hardest problems, giving leaders a proven lens for solving challenges that traditional healthcare strategies simply cannot address.

  • Strategy dies in execution. Here's how to make sure yours doesn't.

    Brilliant strategies fail every day—not in the boardroom, but in the handoff to reality. This keynote reveals the specific mechanisms top-tier companies use to bridge the gap between strategic intent and operational results. Learn how to build accountability, velocity, and discipline without adding bureaucracy or burning out your best people.

  • Build teams that thrive in complexity, deliver under pressure, and keep top talent

    AI workflows, permanent hybrid structures, and the relentless demand for speed have permanently changed what it means to lead a high-performing team. John delivers concrete, immediately implementable mechanisms for building teams that thrive in complexity, deliver under intense pressure, and retain exceptional talent—without requiring a massive enterprise overhaul.

  • See the reinvention coming before your competitors do

    Every industry is being reinvented. The only question is whether you'll lead that reinvention or react to it.

    Based on his bestseller Think Like Amazon, John teaches leaders how to adopt Amazon's strategic lens— spotting where industry value will shift next, identifying what customers will want before they know it themselves, and turning disruption into durable competitive advantage.

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Fee Range: $20,000+

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