
Andy Bass
Dr. Andy Bass is a leadership advisor specializing in organizational learning and innovation. He has helped leaders across 30 industries drive growth by aligning technical and commercial teams. His books, including “Start With What Works” and “The Suits & Geeks Trap”, guide companies in uncovering hidden assets and fostering collaboration. In addition to his consulting and advisory work, Andy has also taught at Oxford, Warwick, and Aston Business Schools. Praised for his engaging speaking style, he tailors presentations to connect with corporate and association audiences on strategic growth and culture.
Andy Bass's videos
What Andy Bass's clients say
"Exactly who every CEO needs Andy Bass is exactly the guy that every president or CEO needs. The fact is, senior leaders can get pretty isolated. We can’t share every thought with our employees, and most of them will be guarded about challenging or bringing tough messages, in case it affects their jobs. With Andy, though, you can discuss any business matter, and you know you’ll get a smart, knowledgeable view. Plus, he’ll call you on gaps in your thinking and when required, steer you towards something better."
"Our team is inspired If people only 'half understand', they can only 'half commit'. Andy teaches you to translate your leadership message from terms that make you want to act into terms that make them want to act. Thank you Andy for sharing your amazing knowledge. Our team is inspired by you and often refers to your ideas when making important decisions."
"Focused on results Andrew displays this rare mix of confidence, humanity, subject knowledge and wonderful dexterity in his coaching. His insightful approach and focus on achieving results are impressive. Highly recommendable consultant if you are looking for a true professional."
"Turning strategy into action IAC people benefitted hugely from Andy’s expert guidance in aligning our people with our objectives and turning strategy into action"
"A clear roadmap The world needs more inspiring business leaders. Andy offers a clear roadmap for how leaders can inspire commitment in today's challenging environment."
"Launch your leadership into a higher orbit As the pool of talented people becomes ever more diverse, leaders need new ways to engage their commitment. Launch your leadership into a higher orbit with Andy Bass's C.E.O. roadmap"
"Real value added I have known Andy for many years and as a consultant, coach and mentor he has the rare ability to mix the theory, intellectual rigour and practicality into a real value added offering to the businesses and individuals he works with."
"A genuinely new approach Andy’s contribution was essential to the success of the project. He was challenging, engaging and full of innovative ideas. Crucially he focused on what he called the “execution gap”. Andy doesn’t repackage old ideas, he adds a genuinely new approach and engages with his clients with real empathy. Seriously impressive!"
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Andy Bass's 2025 biography
About Andy Bass
Andy started his career at BT Research Labs in the Human Factors Division. He gained a PhD in computer science at Aston University before becoming a lecturer at Aston Business School, teaching systems thinking, organizational learning and early AI. He co-founded BassClusker Consulting in 2004, growing the practice while continuing to deliver executive education programmes on behalf of Aston, as well as for Strathclyde and Oxford Saïd Business Schools.
Andy has advised leaders on three continents and thirty industries. He has worked across a wide range of industries and sectors including professional services, technology, media, health, financial services, packaging, automotive and education. The organizations he has worked with include Aon Risk Solutions, Collins Aerospace, KPMG, DLA Piper, Deutsche Bank, AAH Pharmaceuticals, Rieke Packaging and The Advanced Propulsion Centre. While based in the UK, Andy has worked on projects in the US, France, Germany, Finland, Mexico, India and China.
Andy has written five books on his approaches, including “Start With What Works: a faster way to grow your business”, and “Committed Action: the three-step method to inspire your people to take ownership and get results” and his most recent, “The Suits & Geeks Trap: get your commercial and technical people to work with you rather than against each other”.
Andy has spoken for dozens of corporate and association audiences including L’Oreal, Barclays, Al Ghurair and Bupa International. He has also acted as a TEDx MC. As a speaker, Andy always matches his presentation to audience seniority and preferred levels of interaction. As well as delivering traditional keynotes in person and virtually, he draws on his rich background in facilitation and executive education, and as a leader of CEO Peer Groups.
Andy served on the ‘Big Thinkers’ panel of experts for #oglivychange, the innovative behavioural change practice of Ogilvy. He has served as an advisory board member for companies in the Silverstone Technology Cluster and as a Board Director of the business lobbying and networking group Birmingham Forward. He is former advisor to the Birmingham Future Mentoring Scheme and a director of Upcycle, a charity that reconditions furniture and prevents it ending up in landfill.
Andy is a Visiting Professor in Consulting Practice at Birmingham City University where he is currently helping in the establishment of a Venture Capital fund for students.
Outside of work, Andy has dabbled in the dangerous world of stand-up comedy (with decidedly mixed results!), and played lead guitar in a tribute band dedicated to the music of Canadian progressive rock band Rush.
Andy Bass's 2025 talks & topics
How To Grow Your Business Faster: Start With What Works
Senior leaders are understandably concerned about how to manage growth, especially against today’s backdrop of uncertainty, shaky morale and rapid changes to workplaces. The good news is that most organizations are more resourceful than they think.
In his new book, “Start With What Works: a faster way to grow your business”, Andy Bass argues that businesses are full of underappreciated potential, human and otherwise, and that the fastest growth opportunities may come from identifying and capitalising on this ‘hidden gold’.
To benefit, we need to look beyond our habitual ideas about our people, our products and indeed our whole businesses.
Key takeaways
- Why it makes more sense to start with what works, and what stops us.
- How we miss hidden resources
- How to find and tap into hidden resources in your organization
- Tools you can take back to your next team meeting
- How the same ideas can apply to your own career.
While it’s easy to focus on problems – on what’s not working – a powerful alternative is offered by starting with what works.
Decommoditize Your Business
What do you do when prospective customers can’t (or won’t) acknowledge the difference between you and your competitor, and all they’re interested in is getting a deal?
Is this happening with your business…
- The conversation is all about price
- You have to get more and more efficient just to hold your margins
- Customers don’t respond to your supposed points of differentiation
- Salespeople are too quick to offer discounts
- You’re doing a lot of stuff for free in an attempt to separate yourself from the competition – customers are even starting to expect it
It is really easy to be commoditized. Everyone has access to the same ‘best practices’. Everyone has access to the same business school theories. Everyone has access to the same tools. Everyone seems the same.
You need to be different.
(This is not about being wild and crazy – it’s about identifying your unique resources and putting them together in ways that make you different – BETTER – than the competition.)
Key takeaways
- Why value is in the mind of the customer
- How best practices, benchmarking and other popular management methods fight against your differentiation advantage
- Finding the differences that make a difference (warning: engineers often will hate this)
- How starting with what works is the royal road to true differentiation
- Ways to get started.
Stand out in your career by ‘decommoditizing yourself’
Fed up of being processed by the job market? Recruiters, recruitment platforms, HR departments, formal qualifications and even the standard appearance of your LinkedIn profile all conspire to make you look as much as possible like every other candidate. That’s so employers can make “apples-to-apples” comparisons.
So how do you stand out? You could try and manage your image, your ‘impression’ and your ‘personal brand’, and those things can help. But only if there’s really something substantially different behind the image.
People often look outside for answers, but they can achieve more than they think by discovering hidden value in resources and talents they have already. My experience coaching leaders has taught me that seeking this hidden value can bring big leaps forward. In this session, we’ll look at how you can tap into what you already have, to give you a strong, differentiated growth direction for your future success.
Decommoditize your business function
In most organizations, one finance function looks pretty much like any other. Same for HR, IT and various kinds of administration. These functions easily become commoditized. It makes them vulnerable to outsourcing, or even AI.
What if you could rethink the way you serve your internal customers so that you become differentiated in comparison to these threatening competitors?
The functions haven’t traditionally had to compete. But now they need to approach the problems strategically. Andy will draw on lessons from his book, “Start With What Works” to show you how to do just that.
Key takeaways
- Why the modern functional department needs a competitive strategy
- How best practices, benchmarking and standards work conspire to turn you into a commodity.
- Finding your unique sources of competitive advantage
- Engaging your stakeholders in new ways.
- Safe ways to get started