Joachim Layes.
ABOUT
I work across research, teaching, and strategic advisory, with a focus on how organisations navigate sustainability, uncertainty, and systemic change.
My work integrates over two decades of international experience across industry, higher education, entrepreneurship, and advisory practice. I have collaborated with corporations, founders, students, and mission-driven organisations to clarify long-term value, resilience, and the evolving role of business in society.
I began my career in industrial design before transitioning into management and leadership roles in software, tech, and sustainability. Over time, my work evolved from product, business, and market development toward broader questions of strategy, systems, and organisational adaptation. At Autodesk, I led a global, entrepreneur-focused program that supported social and environmental startups across multiple regions and collaborated with partners in business, government, and civil society.
Today, my work covers research, teaching, writing, and strategic counsel. I am particularly interested in how organisations respond to complexity, interpret uncertainty, integrate sustainability as a strategic priority, and how leaders navigate the evolving relationship among business, society, and technological change.
In addition to my advisory work, I teach courses in corporate sustainability, business strategy, and social entrepreneurship. In my academic work, I’m particularly interested in how organisations can build resilience, responsibility, and long-term relevance in a changing world.
I hold a Doctor of Business Administration from Hult International Business School, an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from ArtCenter College of Design. Additionally, I have completed executive education at MIT and Cambridge.
After living and working across Asia for about 25 years before relocating to Germany, I bring an international, cross-sector perspective to my work. I am currently based in Berlin.