Former Amazon Exec & author of ‘The Internet of Things’ on Retail Digital Business
North America
John Rossman, Former Amazon executive that played a leadership role in launching and scaling the Amazon Marketplace business and ran the enterprise services business at Amazon.
John is now a keynote speaker, author, and Managing Director at Alvarez and Marsal (A&M), Seattle, specializing in technology strategy, multi-channel operations scaling, and platform enablement and considered an expert in his field. John helps with crafting and assisting clients to implement innovative business goals and capabilities. These include the Internet of Things, marketplaces, and API driven platform business models.
At Amazon.com John responsibilities included enterprise service businesses, where he catered to the needs of Toys R Us, NBA.com, Target.com, and other large brands. His experienced garnered during his time with Amazon has made him a sought-after commentator regarding all things Amazon-related, as seen from interviews with The New York Times, CNBS, Bloomberg, and a host of others.
Amongst John’s many accomplishments, he counts his authorship of The Amazon Way on IoT: 10 Principles for Every Leader from the World’s Leading Internet of Things Strategies. His book is considered a must-read for business people who wish to understand how different connected devices could make an impact on their business and industry and who need to build a culture and strategy for IoT.
John is also considered a leading advisor when it comes to helping clients achieve operational excellence and innovation.
“I typically work across cross-functional teams, and often across multiple enterprises to execute complex programs. I do both coaching assignments and larger consulting assignments.” – John Rossman
A sought after speaker on creating a culture of operational excellence and innovation, John has worked with a multitude of clients spanning a number of industries. Amongst these, he counts insurance, forest products, retail, transportation, and industry.
John’s common theme is on how to move faster, create customer obsession, technology effectiveness, improving decision making, and having a leaner approach to innovation. His goal is to leave audiences with tools and techniques that are immediately implementable, helping drive innovation in a customer-obsessed culture.
Author of three books:
– The Amazon Way: Amazon’s 14 Leadership Principles
– Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader (2019, McGraw Hill)
– The Amazon Way on IoT: 10 Principles for Every Leader from the World’s Leading Internet of Things Strategies.
Sought after analyst on Amazon.com featured by New York Times, CNBC and others.
"John Rossman is man on a mission to help companies across industry sectors surmount the on-coming tsumani of digital disruption that is fundamentally changing or threatening business models in today’s world. One conversation with John is all it takes to have a “light bulp” moment and be inspired to take action. His book lays out clearly the key lessons he learned from his time at Amazon in succinctly stated leadership principles that have become is signature and foundation for in advising world class clients."
“In planning our 2015 product organization kickoff, we looked for a speaker who could both inspire and offer practical insights on execution. We were lucky to have John Rossman present to the team. John introduced us to the key leadership principles he observed during his time at Amazon, which are also described in his excellent (and accessible) book, The Amazon Way. John worked with us to take the principles from his book and make them relevant to our company. His presentation included first-hand accounts on everything from obsessive customer focus to how to organize and measure our teams. His presentation left me re-committed to building a high-performance culture and left my team with valuable tools to get us there. I highly recommend John for speaking opportunities at your company!”
“It was a privilege to have John Rossman speak at our March 25th, 2015, Georgia Technology Summit. Our Summit is one of the largest tech events in the SE, with over 1,300 attendees participating. This year’s Summit theme was “Disruptive Innovation – The Power to Inspire”. John’s remarks were right on target. Combining key points in his Book, the Amazon Way, with his broader knowledge base, made for a quality presentation. One participant sent me an unsolicited note comparing John’s presentation to a high-level Ted Talk. I would recommend John for speaking opportunities for an event of any size when the topic revolves around innovation and/or disruption. He was also a pleasure to work with, which is a sometimes overlooked aspect when it comes to speaker selection, yet of critical importance.”