Digital platforms have transformed how we work, create and consume. Professor Tobias Kretschmer, Professor of Strategy, Technology and Organisation at Imperial Business School, sheds light on the shifting balance of power between platforms and creators and what AI and regulation could mean for the digital economy. Please register to attend in person. A live stream link for online attendance will be available here shortly. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 2 December! Imperial Inaugurals are term-time lectures that celebrate our newest Professors, recognising their academic journey and showcasing their research. Abstract Digital platforms — from app stores and music streaming to freelance marketplaces — have become the defining economic infrastructure of our time, shaping what we watch, what we pay, and who gets to participate in the digital economy. Conventional thinking tends to focus on the power of platform owners, treating the developers, artists, and creators who populate these ecosystems as small and passive participants who simply accept the rules they are given. However, this view overlooks the growing strategic power of complementors and the increasingly contested nature of value in digital ecosystems. In this inaugural lecture, Professor Tobias Kretschmer examines who truly creates value in the digital economy — and who captures it. Drawing on a decade of empirical research, he explores how the relationship between platforms and complementors is shifting from passive participation to active negotiation, and what the rise of artificial intelligence, data ownership, and regulation means for the future of digital competition. Biography Tobias Kretschmer is a Professor of Strategy, Technology and Organisation at Imperial College London and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Prior to joining Imperial College, Tobias was a Professor of Management at LMU Munich and previously held full-time positions at LSE and INSEAD, a

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