Episode 6: Paul Donaldson, Global VP Strategy, Anheuser-Busch InBev

It was Steve Jobs who said, “You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Paul Donaldson’s clean and simple approach to strategy at the world’s largest consumer goods company has served him well. Having built the foundations of his career in sales, marketing, innovation and operations, Paul went on to establish new Strategy divisions at two of the world’s best-known brewers: first at CUB; then at its much larger parent, Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Paul’s forthright approach to business provides a refreshing take on the much-maligned world of corporate strategy, distilling a lifetime of experience in consumer goods into a remarkable ability to identify key opportunities for growth at scale.

An avid surfer and devoted family man, Paul’s story’s also one of personal growth, having moved his family from the world-famous surf coast of Victoria to New York City where he’s been based since 2018.

A marketeer at heart who’s expanded his ability to influence over-time, Paul provides a plain-speaking account of why marketing’s not the centre of the universe, along with the sacrifices that are necessary to deliver the sort of change that can revolutionise businesses and brands. Or, as Farragut once said, “Damn the torpedos, full steam ahead!’