Decisions That Made Me: Jesper Brodin (IKEA)
The Bottom Line
BBC
4.6 • 615 Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Jesper Brodin landed a job as IKEA’s purchase manager in Pakistan, he was only 26. And had no idea he was the only applicant. He’s now spent 30 years with the iconic Swedish brand - since 2017, as CEO of Ingka Group, which runs most IKEA stores. During that time, he’s led two major transformations - taking the company digital and making it more eco-friendly. Now, as he steps down from his role, he tells Evan Davis about the lessons he learned from IKEA’s legendary founder, Ingvar Kamprad. And why he’s planning to buy himself a new guitar.
(Image: Jesper Brodin. Credit: JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it. |
| 0:13.3 | But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go? |
| 0:19.2 | I remember having this very sharp thought that what you do right now, this is it. |
| 0:24.3 | This defines your life. |
| 0:26.0 | I'm ready to talk and ready to listen. |
| 0:28.3 | I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this. |
| 0:33.9 | Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast. |
| 0:37.0 | Listen on BBC Sounds. How far would you go for the |
| 0:40.7 | chance to launch a stellar corporate career? Would you start off in Europe or relocate to the US, |
| 0:46.9 | maybe Singapore, or would you be bold enough to go somewhere far more off the beaten track? I'm Evan Davis |
| 0:53.1 | and in this episode of the decisions that made me, |
| 0:56.2 | the series of business interviews brought to you by the team behind the bottom line, |
| 1:00.5 | we'll be hearing how the CEO of one of the world's most successful retailers began his climb |
| 1:06.0 | to the top in an unexpected place, South Asia. Jesper Brodin has had the top job at IKEA, |
| 1:13.8 | the Swedish retail giant whose stores welcome millions of customers across 40 countries, |
| 1:19.3 | and whose online business and digital expansion has grown under his leadership. |
| 1:24.0 | He's stepping aside now, but during his 30 years with the firm, |
| 1:28.3 | he's worked closely with IKEA's legendary founder, Ingvar Kamprad, whose influence shaped Jasper's approach to management and company culture. |
| 1:36.3 | And Jesper has been telling me how it all began. |
| 1:39.3 | That was a very special moment in life, I have to tell you, Evan. |
| 1:43.3 | I think I was 26. |
... |
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