David S. Duncan

David S. Duncan, Ph.D., is a senior partner at Innosight, a global strategy and innovation consulting firm. Duncan advises leaders at major organizations on navigating disruptive change, driving sustainable growth, and transforming their businesses to remain competitive. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies across financial services, including banking, insurance, capital markets, and transaction banking, as well as with organizations in the healthcare sector, such as payers, providers, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies.

At Innosight, Duncan leads the firm's Financial Services practice and its Organizational Capabilities for Innovation and Growth practice. He has developed approaches to transformative growth in large organizations, drawing on extensive experience helping companies address complex innovation and growth challenges. Central to his work is the concept of dual transformation, a process that enables companies to compete in current markets while planning for long-term growth.

Duncan is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller "Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice," written with Clayton Christensen. He also co-authored the e-book "Building a Growth Factory" for Harvard Business Press and several Harvard Business Review articles, including "Knowing When to Reinvent" and "Build Your Innovation Engine in 90 Days." His book, "The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior," explores market investigations and the Jobs To Be Done framework.

Duncan is recognized for his expertise in the theory and application of jobs to be done, which posits that customers hire products to achieve specific goals. In his presentations, Duncan uses case studies to demonstrate how defining business through the lens of customer jobs can reveal new growth opportunities, clarify competition, and identify relevant trends. He regularly speaks to audiences across industries, translating strategic frameworks into practical insights for innovation and growth.

Before joining Innosight, Duncan was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a doctorate in physics from Harvard University and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University.