Annabelle Gawer is a visiting professor at IMD and Chaired Professor in Digital Economy at the University of Surrey Business School in the UK, where she also serves as the Director of the Centre of Digital Economy (CoDE). 

She is a pioneering researcher who works closely with businesses and governments on the business of digital platforms and ecosystems. Her seminal research explains how firms can win in the age of digital competition. She has published four books and more than 40 articles in top international academic journals and managerial and for policy audiences. She is a digital expert for the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) and has advised the European Commission and Parliament, the UK House of Lords, the OECD, and the World Bank. 

Gawer has been featured in The Financial Times, The Economist, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among others and is regularly invited to teach digital strategy and innovation to executives at Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and London Business School.

Her book, The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power, shows that digital platform firms are double-edged swords, explains how to build digital platform businesses, and clarifies the sources of power of digital platforms.