Per Lagerstrom

About Per Lagerstrom

Per Lagerstrom is a Swedish-born, Cape Town-based venture builder, AI strategy adviser and former McKinsey partner with more than 30 years of experience across financial services, technology, FMCG and business transformation. He spent 15 years at McKinsey & Company, where he became a Partner and led the Financial Services practice in Africa. Today he is founder of GAIN, an AI-first senior advisory model for established organisations, and co-founder of sens, an AI and behavioural-science consumer intelligence platform, and YellowSpot, a BehaviorTech venture studio. Per has served at board level in major South African financial-services investment groups and advises boards, CEOs and executive teams internationally. His work explores how AI, behavioural science, technology and senior human judgement can combine to redesign businesses, improve decisions and accelerate new growth.

Key message

AI advantage comes from redesigning operating and business models, not adding tools to yesterday’s architecture. Human judgement, pattern recognition and empathy remain critical while AI provides enormous leverage. Incumbents must protect their core while building new AI-enabled growth. Behaviour and emotion can become measurable strategic inputs rather than “soft” variables. AI is fundamentally changing the economics of consulting, marketing and consumer insight.

Speaking topics and expertise

• AI-First Strategy for Incumbents
• Re-Architecting Business Models for the AI Age
• Human + Agent Advisory and the New Economics of Consulting
• BehaviorTech: Where Human Science
• AI and Technology Meet
• The Reinvention of Marketing: From Attention to Intention
• Consumer Intelligence Beyond Traditional Research
• Leadership and Decision-Making in Complexity