In this episode, we are joined by keynote speaker Andrew Grill. Andrew is a commercially focused digital leader who has delivered over a hundred million dollars of new business across multiple global industries. He is also a recognised multi-time TEDx speaker and podcaster.
Acclaimed actionable futurist, Andrew offers a unique insight into the challenges faced by businesses and the impact of Covid-19.
Finding a purpose
“I think my purpose is to educate”
Andrew’s background is fascinating, having worked in a variety of sectors. Now, as a keynote speaker, he is able to define his purpose. “I think my purpose is to educate. What I try and do is deeply understand new technologies, different ways of doing things in the market. And then I explain that to a fairly senior audience who are sometimes blindsided by all this technology.”
Andrew is a self-defined actionable futurist. But what does this term actually mean with regards to his career? “I give near term advice. So, what can I tell people that’s practical, they can go and put in place today, tomorrow, next week that will actually set them up for the future?”
Planning for the future
“I look at the three Ps: people, place and purpose”
Covid-19 has impacted nearly every sector, transforming the world of business with home working becoming the norm. Andrew continues to look forward. “I look at the three Ps: people, place and purpose. In a creative business that people will never go away. You cannot generate an award-winning campaign with robots.”
Andrew discusses the idea of a ‘third place’ becoming commonly accepted in business. “I think what’ll happen is that we may not all go back to the office anytime soon. It might be that libraries start augmenting themselves as that third place.”
Embracing the digital age
“We’ve pushed the fast forward button on digital innovation”
Andrew notes that the pandemic should come as a learning curve for businesses. “We need to learn from this very, very sharp inflexion point about not going back to the old way of doing it. We’ve pushed the fast forward button on digital innovation and digital maturity for every consumer almost overnight. So, let’s take advantage of that.”
What about those companies who weren’t prepared when the pandemic hit? “Those that have spent the last four or five months seeing that they were deficient in a digital strategy, hopefully, have been using the time to up their game and look at how they can deliver their product and service their clients digitally.”
Andrew’s knowledge from a varied career in marketing and insight as an actionable futurist is what makes him such an excellent keynote speaker. Listen to Andrew’s full podcast episode on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or on the ClientSide website.