Matthew Egan
Transformation Director at Microsoft. Author of The Failure Advantage.
Business Book Awards 2026 finalist · Selected for getAbstract's international library · Endorsed by Reid Hoffman
About me
I have spent twenty-six years working on change inside large organisations. Twelve of them at PwC, then leading customer operations at Vodafone and British Gas, and now at Microsoft, where I work with C-level leaders on major digital, data and cloud transformations.
The pattern I keep meeting is that transformations rarely fail on strategy or technology. They fail on what happens the first time something goes wrong — on whether an organisation can face what is not working while there is still time to do something about it.
That is what I write about, and what I wrote a book about.
Find out more about my experience and work history on LinkedIn
What I write and speak about
Why transformation stalls
Most change programmes are not undone by the plan. They are undone by competing priorities, governance that has quietly become the work, and the reluctance to name a problem early. I write about the failure modes I keep seeing, and the small number of things that reliably make the difference.
Failure, fear and performance
The fear of getting it wrong costs organisations more than getting it wrong does. It shows up as the programme nobody will call struggling, the decision deferred for one more round of analysis, the capable person who will not put their hand up. None of it appears as failure on a report. All of it is more expensive than failure.
Judgement in the age of AI
As AI absorbs more of the producing, the value moves upstream — to setting direction, defining quality, asking better questions, and knowing when an answer is good enough. That shift is a leadership question long before it is a technology one.
My approach to Leading Change
Having watched hundreds of transformations over twenty-six years, I have come to think three things decide whether change lands. Simple at the top, deliberately, so that attention goes where it matters.
Writing
Essays on transformation and leadership, and a growing set of articles for business titles.
Speaking
Over the years I have given talks and run roundtables on customer service, transformation and personal growth — at industry events, management retreats and conferences, for large corporates and for community groups. I enjoy it, and I am always open to an invitation.
The book
The Failure Advantage: Why Setbacks Are Your Secret Weapon for Success is about the mindset that change actually demands. It was endorsed by Reid Hoffman, shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2026, and selected for getAbstract's international library.
