David Burkus

Dr David Burkus is a best-selling author and management professor who transforms how leaders approach teamwork, decision-making, and project execution through research-backed insights and practical frameworks. Recognised globally as a leading business thinker since 2017, his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and CNN, whilst his award-winning books have been translated into multiple languages. He collaborates with organisations ranging from PepsiCo to NASA, delivering keynotes that equip leaders with immediately actionable strategies to build high-performing teams, navigate complex projects, and create lasting organisational impact.

During his fourteenth project kickoff meeting, Dr David Burkus discovered something that would reshape his entire approach to leadership and collaboration: he had spent years presenting plans without ever truly listening to the people who would execute them. That moment of realisation, when a stakeholder quietly revealed that three team members held completely different understandings of their project's purpose, became the catalyst for a fundamental shift in how he teaches organisations to build alignment, manage complexity, and deliver results. Today, his work on project management best practices and team effectiveness has established him as a bestselling author whose award-winning books have been translated into multiple languages, reaching leaders across continents who seek practical, research-backed frameworks for navigating the challenges of modern organisational life.

As a management professor and sought-after international speaker, David has earned consistent recognition as one of the world's leading business thinkers since 2017. His research and insights have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and CNN, whilst his award-winning podcast has built a global audience of practitioners hungry for evidence-based approaches to leadership challenges. His academic rigour, combined with his ability to distil complex research into immediately applicable tools, has made him a trusted voice for organisations seeking to move beyond theory and into measurable change. Whether exploring how work breakdown structures create accountability, how timesheet data reveals the truth behind project plans, or how leaders can balance scope, time, and cost before those constraints derail progress, David consistently demonstrates that sustainable success emerges from clarity, visibility, and disciplined execution.

David collaborates with a diverse range of organisations, from PepsiCo to NASA, delivering keynotes and workshops that equip leaders with strategies they can implement the moment they return to their teams. His approach centres on helping audiences understand that project management extends far beyond producing charts for reports: it creates the visibility that enables better decisions, the structure that builds genuine accountability, and the discipline that transforms ambitious plans into predictable outcomes. Through his work at leadership summits and within organisations navigating digital transformation, he shows leaders how to create environments where teams align around shared purpose, where complexity becomes manageable, and where effort translates into lasting impact. His commitment to practical application ensures that audiences leave with more than inspiration; they gain the frameworks, questions, and habits that drive performance long after the event concludes.