Solidly researched, grounded in practice, interactive, and moderated to the point. Valuable for anyone who wants to understand the future — and help shape it.
Keynotes on Digital China — beyond old assumptions.
Doesn't digital transformation feel stuck?China shows what digital can become.
Björn Ognibeni uses Digital China as a strategic lens for Western companies — not to copy China, but to see their own digital transformation with fresh eyes.
Not keynotes about a faraway China. Keynotes about the digital reality already reshaping your market.
© Andreas Loechte Photography
Alibaba CoCreate ·DMEXCO ·OMR ·E-Commerce Berlin Expo ·Pushcon ·dfv Conference Group ·OTTO Group ·HSBA ·University of Münster ·Deloitte Digital ·Accenture Song ·Rheinmetall ·Volkswagen ·Alibaba CoCreate ·DMEXCO ·OMR ·E-Commerce Berlin Expo ·Pushcon ·dfv Conference Group ·OTTO Group ·HSBA ·University of Münster ·Deloitte Digital ·Accenture Song ·Rheinmetall ·Volkswagen ·Alibaba CoCreate ·DMEXCO ·OMR ·E-Commerce Berlin Expo ·Pushcon ·dfv Conference Group ·OTTO Group ·HSBA ·University of Münster ·Deloitte Digital ·Accenture Song ·Rheinmetall ·Volkswagen ·
01 / The Problem
China knows everything about us.
We don't even know what we don't know.
The age of learning "digital" only from Silicon Valley is over.
For years, Western companies looked mainly to Silicon Valley for digital inspiration. But many of today's most advanced digital ecosystems are no longer only emerging there.
They are visible in China: in commerce, mobility, logistics, social platforms, AI deployment, customer interaction and everyday services.
The problem is not that every company needs a China strategy. The problem is that many Western companies are still trapped in digital thinking that is too slow and too fragmented for today's world — and fail to see how Digital China could inspire a different approach.
China is not just a market, a competitor or a geopolitical risk. It is a strategic mirror — showing where Western digital transformation often remains too slow, too fragmented, too internal and too focused on tools instead of new forms of value.
The goal is not to copy China. The goal is to understand what becomes possible when digital is designed as connected infrastructure for everyday life — and to translate those lessons into strategies that work in our own markets.
Different ecosystem. Different ideas.
China is the only major digital economy built outside Silicon Valley's logic. That is why it offers ideas Western companies won't find anywhere else.
Digital China is a strategic mirror.
It reveals where Western transformation often remains too slow, too fragmented and too focused on tools.
The goal is not to copy China.
The goal is to translate useful patterns into strategies that work in Western markets.
02 / The Approach
Not another China expert.
A Practical Visionary.
Björn Ognibeni is not a conventional China expert. And that is exactly his advantage.
He brings more than 20 years of experience in Western digital transformation — and in understanding why it so often gets stuck. He knows the issues Western companies struggle with, and why they often achieve incremental progress, but rarely real breakthroughs. At the same time, he found fewer and fewer convincing answers to these problems in Silicon Valley.
In China, he found different answers: digital ecosystems where many things still debated in the West already work in everyday life — mobile payments, super apps, social commerce, AI in daily services, New Retail, platform logic, customer engagement, logistics, and new operating models.
Things we often cannot simply copy — but can learn a lot from. And should.
— 01
Digital transformation first. China as the lens.
Björn does not present China as an exotic case study. He uses Digital China to challenge Western assumptions about platforms, customer experience, AI, retail, mobility, innovation speed and operating models. The goal is not to copy China. The goal is to see what Western strategies are missing.
— 02
Strategic empathy, not China romanticism.
Understanding China does not mean admiring everything about China. It means being able to see the world through a different strategic logic. Björn helps audiences separate clichés from patterns, propaganda from practice, and fear from useful insight.
— 03
Mental models, not travel slides.
A keynote from Björn is not a collection of "look what they do in China" examples. It is a compressed strategy session. Your audience leaves with mental models for understanding China's digital ecosystems — and better questions for their own roadmap.
03 / References
The people who've
booked him already.
▶ Watch the keynote
“Accenture Song
Björn corrects our often-wrong picture of China and shows — through digital cases across industries — how China's tomorrow is already working remarkably well today.
The moment you realize how little you actually know about China is worth attending alone. Time well spent — leaves a lasting impression and genuinely makes you think.
A top-class expert and speaker on digital transformation — and a genuine China expert who isn't just well-read, but actually knows the reality on the ground.
AlibabaBechtleBoschByteDanceDeloitte DigitalDMEXCOHSBAOTTO GroupPushconUC DavisUni MünsterVolkswagen
04 / Keynote Topics
Six perspectives.
One reality check for digital change.
Choose the perspective your audience needs to understand what Digital China can reveal about their own transformation.
All keynotes are available in English and German · live or remote · 30 to 90 minutes · tailored formats on request.
05 / What Your Audience Walks Away With
From China clichés to
better digital strategy.
01
A clearer lens on Digital China.
Your audience stops treating China as either a threat, a mystery or a collection of strange examples. They leave with a structured understanding of how China's digital ecosystems, companies, consumers and state priorities fit together — and why that matters even for businesses with no direct China strategy.
02
A new way to see Western digital transformation.
The keynote uses Digital China as a strategic mirror. Your audience understands where Western digital transformation often remains too slow, too fragmented, too internal and too focused on tools — and what a more connected, customer-facing digital logic could look like.
03
Concrete lessons for digital change.
Not "copy China" advice. Specific, translated insights about platforms, speed, AI deployment, retail ecosystems, customer relationships, innovation logic and operating models — grounded in what is already happening and adapted to Western markets.
04
Questions that change the strategic agenda.
The talk ends with uncomfortable but useful questions: What are we missing? Which assumptions are outdated? Where are we still thinking in channels, tools and projects instead of ecosystems, infrastructure and customer value? And what would we do differently if we used Digital China as a real source of strategic inspiration?
06 / The Speaker
Björn Ognibeni 欧博洋
PRACTICAL VISIONARY
For more than 20 years, Björn Ognibeni has helped companies turn digital trends into real business value — from mobile, e-commerce and social platforms to AI, digital strategy and Digital China.
He did not come to China as a traditional China expert. He came to it as a digital strategist looking for better answers to a familiar problem: why digital transformation so often feels stuck in the West — and why many things still discussed as future visions here have already become everyday reality in China.
Since 2018, he has studied China's digital ecosystems in depth: platforms, retail, AI, mobility, consumer culture, infrastructure, operating models and the strategic logic behind them.
Björn combines this perspective with his experience as strategist, consultant, keynote speaker and university lecturer — including teaching assignments and research collaborations on digital strategy, marketing and immersive technologies with institutions such as the University of Münster and HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration.
Today, his keynotes use Digital China as a strategic lens: not to copy China, but to help leadership teams see their own digital transformation with fresh eyes.
No China clichés. Just a clearer view of what digital can become.
07 / Latest Insights
Fresh thinking on Digital China.
Selected articles and perspectives from Björn's blog — for audiences who want to go deeper before or after the keynote.
08 / Book Björn
Looking for a keynote that changes how
your audience sees digital transformation?
Tell Björn about your event — he’ll suggest the right Digital China angle.
Direct Contact
Every inquiry reaches Björn personally. Usually answered within 24 hours.
Global booking
Live & remote events worldwide, in English or German.
Tailored, not templated
Every talk is tailored to your audience — industry, level and stakes. No generic China deck.
Prefer email?
speaking@ognibeni.de →09 / Deep Dive
Want to turn Digital China insights into action?
A keynote creates clarity. A deep dive turns that clarity into questions, priorities and next steps for your own team. Choose the format that fits your context.
Option 1
In-house Workshop & Advisory Session
For companies, leadership teams and business units that want to apply Digital China insights to their own market, strategy, customer experience, AI roadmap or innovation agenda. Björn works directly with your team to translate the keynote perspective into concrete implications: What are we missing? Which Chinese models matter for us? Where are our digital assumptions outdated? And what can we adapt to our own business context?
Best for
Ideal for leadership offsites, strategy teams, innovation units, marketing, retail, e-commerce, mobility, AI and transformation teams.
Tailored format · live or remote · half-day, full-day or custom advisory session
Option 2
Open Remote Workshop
Björn also runs a public half-day online workshop with Tomorrow Academy — for leaders, teams, agencies and innovators who want to understand what Digital China can reveal about digital transformation, customer experience, AI, commerce and new business models in the West. The workshop shows which digital innovations are already part of everyday life in China — and what Western companies can learn from them without trying to copy China.
Half-day online workshop · German language · 9:00–13:30 · 490 € plus VAT · certificate included
View dates & book at Tomorrow Academy →
Hosted and booked via Tomorrow Academy.