Ignacio Gafo

Ignacio Gafo

• Online innovator and expert in the field of online education
• Associate Dean at IE Business School for Global and Executive programs
• Ranked one of the 100 top business professors in the world by The Economist
• Fields of interest include online innovation, customer management, and change management

Professor Ignacio Gafo is an executive with more than twenty years of international experience. He has designed and executed marketing and business development strategies around the world for multinationals. He currently works at Global Alumni as Chief Academic Innovation Officer & as Professor of Marketing and SalesProfessor of Marketing and Sales
Esade. Previously was the Associate Dean at IE Business School for Global and Executive Programs, overseeing all the institution’s online blended programmes. His role sees him involved with program design, content definition, applied pedagogies, and student experience and satisfaction.

Ranked one of the top 100 business professors in the World by the Economist, Ignacio Gafo has over ten years of experience in teaching in online and blended programs. He is considered an expert in his field and a major innovator in online education.

Before joining the academic world, Ignacio Gafo held management positions in such multinationals as Vodafone, Mars, and Canon. His main teaching asset is his experience in both national and international environments in the fields of marketing strategy and change management. The course of his career has seen him design and apply different strategies, policies, and marketing plans across several industries and segments. His main areas of interest include innovation, customer management, and change management.

Ignacio Gafo enjoys writing. As such, his articles are often published in Entrepreneur. He is also the founder and CEO of Yanaka Consulting Group, a visiting Professor of Marketing at Singapore Management University, and a visiting Professor of Management at Brown University.

Ignacio Gafo – Speaker

His role as a speaker has seen Ignacio Gafo address corporate customers, international institutions, and universities across the globe. He lives in Madrid,  Spain and presents in both Spanish and English.

Speaking Topics

• Evolve or Die: What are the main trends shaping the current business scenario? What are the main challenges that executives encounter today? How do successful companies look like? What sort of abilities and knowledge are required to cope with them? What sort of leadership and mindset do successful executives need? And most importantly, where do you stand? The business scenario has changed dramatically. A deep transformation is taking place in the social, political, economic and technological arenas. Traditional business approaches are no longer valid. Companies require a strong deal of innovation and above all, a new breed of manager able to cope with change. During the lecture, Professor Gafo will deepen into these topics, explain how successful companies are dealing with it and the sort of mindset new leaders have. Challenging times for executives. Evolve or die!
• Is Marketing Dead? Are the Chief Marketing Officers delivering what their CEOs expect from them? What are the main market trends reshaping Marketing? What sort of marketing responses are successful companies providing? What sort of executives does a business require nowadays? In his presentation, Professor Gafo will discuss where Marketing stands today. He will start by sharing some research that states how dissatisfied CEOs are with their Marketing Department and will follow up unfolding some of the reasons that explain the gap from a customer, social, marketing and business model perspectives. Once the gaps are covered, he will share some of the best practices that successful companies are implementing and will reflect on the sort of executives required for the current business scenario. The lecture will end up with some key takeaways.
• Are you managing your customers in a smart way? / Smart customer Management: What does it take to manage your customers efficiently today? Is it really possible to have loyal customers today? Is loyalty profitable? Is satisfaction really that important? What are the main trends regarding customer management? How are new technologies shaping customer management? Professor will address all these topics in his “Smart Customer Management” lecture and provide you with some guidelines for managing your customers in an efficient and profitable way.