Bernard Marr is a world-renowned futurist, influencer and thought leader in the fields of business and
technology, with a passion for using technology for the good of humanity. He is a best-selling author of 20 books, writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and coaches many of the world’s best-known organizations. He has over 2 million social media followers, 1 million newsletter subscribers and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world and the No 1 influencer in the UK.
Bernard Marr was born and raised near Hamburg in Germany. However, Bernard experienced a life-changing incident when he was merely a kid. Recalling the devastating incident that changed his perception of life forever, he says, “My father died in a car accident when he was just 48 years old. That taught me that life is precious and that you have to seize any opportunity to do the things you want to do and be happy.”
After the crushing incident, his mother raised Bernard and his brother as a single parent. She taught him several values that he still holds dear, including that it is vital to have a strong family bond with love and trust and the importance of hard work and the value of money as she worked hard in multiple jobs to give Bernard and his brother a beautiful life. He says, “We never had luxuries but grew up in a family that was full of love and happiness.”
In addition, she taught him to always believe in others the way she believed in him. He also had excellent teachers and professors that believed in him – this taught Bernard how important it is to believe in others and give them an opportunity to learn and grow.
He adds, “I have also had some not so good teachers that almost derailed my education. But the good ones prevailed and even presented me with an opportunity to get qualifications and go to Cambridge University – something I could never have dreamt of when I grew up in relatively poor conditions in Germany.” This is also why he creates content today and writes his books – to share his knowledge with others so they can learn and grow.
After completing his studies at Cambridge, the business school offered Bernard a position as a research fellow. He says, “I loved the freedom you get working in academia and the environment where you can continue to learn and research.”
He also had a brilliant mentor in his professor, who paved his way with opportunities to co-author content and work with notable companies. That laid the foundation for Bernard’s career as a consultant and writer.
However, after ten years in academia, Bernard wanted to focus more on mainstream writing than academic work and venture out independently. In 2006, Bernard left the business school world to focus on his own company, Bernard Marr & Co, with services ranging from Keynote Speaker to Consultant. Today, with his years of work experience advising and consulting, he is one of the world’s most highly respected experts regarding future trends, strategy, business performance, digital transformation and the intelligent use of data and AI in business.
Bernard has the vision to use technology for the good of humanity and create a measurable impact. In that capacity, he has worked with and advised many of the world’s best-known organizations, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, AstraZeneca, The Bank of England, BP, NVIDIA, Cisco, DHL, IBM, HPE, Ericsson, Jaguar Land Rover, Mars, The Ministry of Defense, NATO, The Home Office, NHS, Oracle, T-Mobile, Toyota, The Royal Air Force, Shell, The United Nations, Walgreens Alliance Boots, Walmart, among many others. He says, “I feel humbled to be working with many of the world’s best-known companies and government organizations. In particular, some of my work with government organizations such as the Nation Health Service and Police Forces have made a real difference, helping organizations to improve performance and deliver a better service to citizens. It’s wonderful to see a measurable difference.”
In addition, he is also the author of 20 books and hundreds of high profile reports and articles, including the international best-sellers ‘Business Trends in Practice’,’ Tech Trends in Practice’, ‘The Intelligence Revolution’, ‘Artificial Intelligence in Practice’, ‘Data Strategy’, ‘Extended Reality in Practice ‘, ‘Big Data in Practice’, ‘Big Data ‘, ‘Key Business Analytics ‘, ‘Key Performance Indicators’, ‘The Intelligent Company’, ‘Managing and Delivering Performance’ and ‘Strategic Performance Management. His books have been translated into over 20 languages. They have earned numerous Amazon No 1 bestselling positions, the CMI Management Book of the Year award, the Axiom book award and the WHSmith best business book award.
Two of his books were recently nominated for the Business Book of the Year 2022 award. The books ‘Business Trends in Practice’ and ‘Extended Reality in Practice’ both won in their categories, and Business Trends in Practice then won the overall prize and was crowned Business book of the year, and continues to collect more feathers to add to his hat.
In his quest to share his knowledge and give others the advantage he had, he began sharing his insights on social media and today, he is a major social media influencer with over 2 million social media followers, 1 million newsletter subscribers, his popular content website, podcast, and regular Forbes column. Beyond that, his expert comments also regularly feature on TV and radio (e.g., BBC News, Sky News, and BBC World) and in high-profile publications such as The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, the CFO Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. He is generally seen as one of the world’s top business and technology influencers.
Bernard also teaches for Oxford University, Warwick Business School, the Irish Management Institute, and ICAEW. He serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of businesses and sits on the dean’s council for Lancaster University Management School.
Apart from his professional life, Bernard’s priority, as instilled by his mother, is also being a good husband to his wife Claire and father to his three children, Sophia, James, and Oliver. Together with them and their dog Millie, he lives in Milton Keynes, just north of London, England.
In conclusion, his advice for all leaders is, “Be humble and have a growth mindset – always realize that there is so much more to learn. Always try to bring the best out of others, give them opportunities, empower them and let them shine.”
