John Rossman is a keynote speaker who is widely accepted as one of the best in the business. Defined by his ability to transform his experience as a seasoned operator, strategist, and advisor, he delivers talks that demonstrate a vivid understanding of how the world of leadership and management works. An early Amazon Leader – responsible for the launch of Amazon Marketplace – Founder of Rossman Partners, and a 4x bestselling author of “Big Bet Leadership”, “The Amazon Way”, “The Amazon Way IoT”, and “Think Like Amazon”, John’s a man who confidently walks among the business sector’s most notable names and faces.
However, John had to traverse quite the uneven landscape to reach the position he finds himself in today. Having spent his youth being pinned as a future truck driver, he was determined to prove that there was more to him than meets the eye. So, he invested himself in the study of Industrial Engineering, earning him a position as a young partner at Arthur Andersen. Eventually, this would set him on a champion’s pathway. After being onboarded by Amazon as the lead of Amazon Marketplace’s launch, he’d go from strength to strength – from managing challenging turnarounds at Alvarez & Marsal to founding Rossman Partners, which has since advised high-profile clients such as the Gates Foundation and T-Mobile.
Now, as a culmination of all he’s learned over the years, John has become a highly sought-after keynote speaker who’s empowered small and large businesses alike. Having been featured in New York Times, CNBC, and more, his insights are as engaging as they are informative. When hiring John as a speaker, you’ll be able to gain invaluable knowledge, all while enjoying a charismatic presentation filled with energy and passion. Whether he’s delivering his “The Amazon Way: Leadership, Operational Excellence & Systematic Innovation”, “Big Bet Leadership: How to Win in the AI Era”, or “The Playbook of Champions: How Bold Leaders Reclaim Their Edge” keynote speeches, John injects his extensive experience to ensure audiences walk away ready to tackle business management from a new angle.
If your event is in need of a witty strategist who combines experience and proven success stories to inspire your guests, look no further than John Rossman. Approachable, professional, and committed to empowering the next generation of leaders, he’s a highly-regarded keynote speaker who excels in reimagining business as we know it. His love for sharing his insights pairs spectacularly with his organised presentations, allowing him to reshape how audiences interpret the world of business. To discover what true speaking talent looks like, hire John Rossman via Champions Speakers today!
In September 2023 we sat down virtually with John Rossman and discussed the key principals businesses need to adopt to become successful in the digital age. Watch our Exclusive Interview with John Rossman here.
Social Media
Books
The Amazon Way on IoT
Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader
The Amazon Way: Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles
Big Bet Leadership Your Transformation Playbook for Winning in the Hyper-Digital Era
The Pig, the Lipstick and the Playbook of Champions
John's official speaking topics are listed below:
The Amazon Way: Leadership, Operational Excellence & Systematic Innovation
How do the world’s most innovative companies scale leadership and culture to drive relentless innovation? In this keynote, John shares the leadership principles and mechanisms that fueled Amazon’s meteoric growth—and how you can apply them to your own organization.
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.
Big Bet Leadership: How to Win in the AI Era
AI is rewriting the rules of competition. To stay ahead, transformation must become a core capability—not a one-time initiative. Blending bold stories, this keynote presents a practical playbook for leading high-stakes transformations, de-risking execution, and unlocking your organization’s full potential. Learn the key habits of leaders who make big bets—and win.
Master the art of creating clarity, sustaining momentum, and making strategic decisions that balance ambition and risk. This playbook provides a structured approach to solving complex problems and making the right moves in the AI era.
The Playbook of Champions: How Bold Leaders Reclaim Their Edge
Discover how to break free from mediocrity and reclaim a powerful competitive edge in The Playbook of Champions. Drawing on real-world lessons from both once great companies and the disruptors, John Rossman shows bold leaders how to shape a culture of relentless excellence, spark innovation at every level, and master the art of calculated risk.
Attendees will walk away with an actionable framework to drive transformative growth, align teams around ambitious goals, and stay ahead of today’s relentless disruptions. Through a blend of high-impact strategies and candid insights, this keynote reveals how to challenge complacency, nurture accountability, and unleash momentum for success.
Think Like Amazon: How to Reinvent Your Industry & Win the Future
What if you could harness the principles, thinking and business model innovation that fueled Amazon’s meteoric success and apply them to your own organization or industry? What if you could answer the question “How would Bezos and Amazon think about this? In this dynamic keynote, John Rossman reveals how Amazon’s bold, customer-obsessed and unique techniques can empower you to reinvent your industry and seize tomorrow’s opportunities.
Drawing on his experience launching and scaling the third-party marketplace, Rossman offers a rare insider’s perspective on the cultural and operational strategies that have made Amazon a global innovation powerhouse. He breaks down the core tenets of “thinking like Amazon,” including relentless focus on the customer, data-driven experimentation, and a commitment to long-term impact over short-term gains.
The Amazon Playbook for Reinventing Healthcare & Insurance
Healthcare and insurance are on the brink of a radical transformation, and the winners will be those organizations bold enough to think differently and adopt strategies that cut through the complexity of legacy policies, models, systems and thinking.
In this eye-opening keynote, John delivers a powerful blueprint for reimagining healthcare and insurance using the very principles that have fueled Amazon’s explosive growth.
Drawing from his pivotal role leading the launch and scaling of Amazon’s third-party marketplace, Rossman reveals how data-driven decision-making, customer obsession, and streamlined operations can revolutionize care delivery, risk management, and patient experience. He explores how leaders can apply Amazon's culture of innovation to solve big challenges—improving patient outcomes, optimizing claims processes, and reinventing the customer journey in healthcare and insurance.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Online Events
Official Feedback from In-Person Events:
"John’s insights about scaling innovation and culture are terrific. He shares his own experience and highlights best practices that work for growing organizations." - Tim, President & Chief Operating Officer, Chick-fil-A, Inc.
"Having John advise my organization is like having Jeff Bezos advise me. This is the best strategy, leadership, and tactics keynote I have seen. John has had a profound impact on the company I founded, Modjoul. John’s a master at practical advice and approaches to deliver innovative solutions." - Eric, CEO & Founder, Modjoul
"John Rossman helped our technology organization in many ways including giving a keynote about what being digital meant, and several tools and strategies to develop this throughout our organization. The speech resonated with the team and discussion continued far after. If you’re thinking about building your digital strategy and capabilities, John will give you unique and actionable insights." - Nordstorm CIO
"Incredibly insightful and effective. I found myself referencing a lot of it while working with the teams. The overall structure— the juxtaposition of principles and how they are put into practice is great. The depth of practical knowledge was greater than in most other speakers’ talks (comparing propositional knowledge—“knowing that” v practical knowledge “knowing how”). As a speaker, you’re high energy and wholly credible." - Deliotte
"The Amazon story is so relevant to what every company is trying to accomplish, and CCOs are seeking new ways to work effectively across the CSuite in this time of corporate transformation. A good story well told." - Page Society
"The team loved John’s keynote, were busy taking notes and discussed through the rest of our leadership retreat. They all really got to think at a higher level!" - Patty, Co-CEO, First American Funding
- 2024 - Published "Big Bet Leadership: Your Transformation Playbook for Winning in the Hyper-Digital Era"
- 2021 - Published "The Amazon Way: Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles"
- 2019 - Published "Think Like Amazon: 50 1/2 Ideas to Become a Digital Leader"
- 2019 – Appointed as Advisor to the CEO at Vxtra Health
- 2019 – Joined the Board of Advisors at Modjoul
- 2019 – Joined the Board of Advisors at TERBINE
- 2018 – Appointed Managing Partner at Rossman Partners
- 2018 – Named to the Board of Advisors at Supply Clinic
- 2018 – Took on the role of Innovation Advisor at T-Mobile
- 2016 - Published "The Amazon Way on IoT: 10 Principles for Every Leader from the World's Leading Internet of Things Strategies"
- 2005 – Appointed Director of Enterprise Services at Amazon
- 2002 – Launched Amazon’s Merchants @ programme as Director of Merchant Integration
- 1995 – Promoted to Partner in Business Consulting at Arthur Andersen LLP
How to hire John Rossman
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring John Rossman for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
