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ABP Group, one of India's largest and oldest media conglomerates, invited Matthew to give the opening keynote at its Infocom Summit in Kolkata. The theme was ‘sustainable disruption’, not sustainable as in green, but sustainable as in continuous and long lasting.
As the world changes at an incredibly rapid pace, companies everywhere are being disrupted and anxiously looking over their shoulders. Fortune 100 companies alone have lost more than $50 trillion in economic value over the past decade as agile startups and established incumbents from adjacent industries move into their markets and take share.
"Most disruption today, while enabled by technology, is the result of bold decisive leadership strategies that anyone can learn and rigorous execution."Matthew Griffin, Kolkata, February 2025
Matthew's point was that most disruption today, while enabled by technology, comes from bold, decisive leadership strategies that anyone can learn, plus rigorous execution. His first example was a masterclass in disruption from Sam Altman's OpenAI, though not the one most people would expect.
He went on to Temu, the Chinese e-commerce giant that has passed $50 billion in revenue after only a few years in operation; On's meteoric rise and Nike's corresponding decline; Jio's give-everything-away strategy, which took it to number one in India's carrier market, and its next target; and a seemingly simple SpaceX rocket launch that disrupts not one but five industries.
These were just for starters. Together, Matthew and the audience explored the many ways that companies few people thought of as especially innovative became global leaders seemingly overnight.
311 Intelligence
What this means for your leadership team
Watch the edges of your industry.
Matthew showed that much of the threat comes from incumbents in adjacent industries moving into new markets, not only from startups.
Treat disruption as a strategy you can learn.
Most disruption comes from bold, decisive leadership strategies. Leadership teams can study and use them too.
Execute as hard as you plan.
Rigorous execution was the second half of every case Matthew covered. A strategy without it disrupts nothing.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which company from an adjacent industry could take our customers next?
Which disruption strategy could we use on our own market?
Where does our execution fall short of our strategy?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
In this keynote it meant disruption that is continuous and long lasting, not green, as markets keep changing at a rapid pace.
How is e-commerce still changing?
The 311 Starburst tracks e-commerce entering its next phase, shaped by AI agents that shop for people, and rates the trend Act now.
Why do Chinese AI models matter to disruption?
The 311 Starburst tracks cheap, open Chinese AI models gaining fast across much of the developing world, which lowers the cost of entering new markets.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
Through a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector, in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
Could whole industries soon be disrupted in a day?
The Future of Exponential Disruption looks at the forces accelerating global disruption, and how close we are to disrupting whole industries in a day, the same pressure behind the losses incumbents are already seeing.
