Oguz A. Acar Keynote Speaker

Professor of Marketing & Innovation, King’s College London | World Economic Forum Expert
Named one of the World’s Top 40 Business School Professors Under 40
Author of over 15 Harvard Business Review articles on AI and innovation

Oguz A. Acar's Biography

Oguz A. Acar is one of the most widely read academic voices on AI and business. A Professor of Marketing & Innovation and Chair in Marketing at King’s Business School at King’s College London, he has written over 15 articles for Harvard Business Review and his work has been featured in over 300 outlets across 40+ countries, including The Economist, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Scientific American, and The Times.

Oguz delivers keynotes and executive education programmes on AI at major international conferences and for leading organisations, including NATO and Mastercard. He also advises companies ranging from AI startups to global corporations on AI strategy.

His research has gained wide attention for challenging conventional thinking about AI in management. His work on the “competence penalty” of AI use — showing that employees who use AI can be seen as less competent, with women affected more strongly — became one of the most-read articles on the HBR platform. His article “AI Prompt Engineering Isn’t the Future” was also among HBR’s most-read and was later included in their book Generative AI: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review.

Oguz is currently writing Triple Agent, a book on what happens when AI becomes your partner, rival, and customer simultaneously. Previously, he held positions at Harvard University, MIT, and NYU. An engineer by training, he serves on the steering board of the King’s Institute for AI and pioneered the school’s generative AI integration as its founding Head of Generative AI.

When AI Becomes Your Partner, Rival, and Customer

AI is no longer just a tool. It is increasingly shaping decisions, influencing competition, and acting with greater autonomy across work and commerce. This keynote explores how strategy changes when AI starts to behave not only as a partner, but also as a rival and even a customer.

Audience takeaway: How to rethink strategy when AI is reshaping the competitive environment, not just supporting the business.

Leading Through AI Uncertainty

Most organisations know they need to engage with AI, but far fewer are clear on where to focus, how fast to move, or how to separate real opportunity from hype. This talk helps leaders approach AI with a more disciplined strategic lens, combining opportunity assessment, risk management, and practical experimentation.

Audience takeaway: A clearer framework for deciding where AI can create value, where caution is needed, and how to move forward intelligently.

Preparing Your Brand for AI Agents

As AI agents become more involved in search, recommendation, and purchasing, brands will increasingly need to win not only with people, but through machines. This keynote examines how AI is changing visibility, customer journeys, and brand strategy when algorithms start acting as gatekeepers.

Audience takeaway: How brand strategy needs to evolve for a world of AI-mediated discovery, recommendation, and purchase.

Creativity and Innovation in the Age of AI

AI can make people more creative individually, while making organisations less original collectively. As more teams rely on the same tools, prompts, and patterns, creative output can become faster but also more homogeneous. This talk explores how leaders can use AI to expand innovation without sacrificing diversity of thought.

Audience takeaway: How to capture AI’s creative upside without falling into sameness.

He is one of the most widely read academic voices on AI and business, with influential research featured in Harvard Business Review and leading global media.
He advises and trains organisations from startups to global institutions including NATO and Mastercard on AI strategy, bridging cutting-edge research with real-world application.
He translates complex developments in AI into clear, practical insight that helps leaders navigate adoption, risk and organisational impact.
He brings a distinctive perspective on AI in the workplace, challenging assumptions on topics such as trust, competence and human-machine collaboration.
His insights help leaders integrate AI effectively, future-proof strategy and make informed decisions in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.