About
Fran Cherny
Fran Cherny is Culture Lead at Booking Holdings and a Partner at Axialent, a pioneering consultancy in conscious business transformation. He is also the author of Be The Change and an international speaker specializing in leadership and cultural transformation.
Born in Buenos Aires and based in Barcelona, Fran supports multinational organizations across sectors in their transformation journeys — aligning culture with strategy. He works closely with CEOs and executive teams, and shares his insights at global business and HR events such as HRD, as well as within companies like Procter & Gamble, Galp, and Booking.com.
Fran is recognized for his ability to facilitate change processes that endure and deliver real business results. His approach integrates strategy, culture, and execution, creating what he calls the virtuous spiral of effectiveness — making transformations not only possible, but sustainable over time.
EXPERIENCE
With more than 20 years of experience leading cultural transformation and leadership development in global organizations, Fran Cherny has worked in over 20 countries with leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Booking.com, AXA, and Galp, among others. His work combines high-performance team facilitation, executive education, and the inspiration of thousands of people through keynotes and workshops.
He currently serves as Culture Lead at Booking Holdings, a role he combines with his activity as an international speaker and author of Be The Change. His approach centers on creating what he calls the virtuous spiral of effectiveness — Strategy, Culture, and Execution — to ensure that change is not only possible, but also sustainable over time.
Previously, Fran was Culture & Executive Development Lead at Booking.com, where he led the company’s culture and leadership initiative “Putting the Customer at the Center.”
In parallel, Fran is a Partner at Axialent, a pioneering consultancy in conscious business transformation, where he has held roles including CEO, Head of European Expansion, and Leader of Market Development in Asia and the Americas. He also led the recruitment and development of consultants worldwide, helping to shape new generations of change facilitators.
His professional journey began at the age of 21, when he served as Executive Director of Fundación Iniciativa in Argentina — a pioneering non-profit focused on youth leadership and social innovation — for which he was recognized by Argentina’s Veintitrés Magazine as a “Model for Society.”
More info: LinkedIn
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
From an early age, Fran learned to see change as a natural part of his path. In his teenage years, he trained for three years as a youth football player in different teams across Buenos Aires. Today, he continues to enjoy sports — playing in amateur tournaments, practicing tennis, or running marathons — finding in them a space where discipline and passion meet.
His curiosity also leads him to explore literature — with a special interest in crime novels and historical biographies — and to dive into personal growth practices, which he first experiments with himself and later shares with clients, colleagues, and friends.
Fran studied Business Administration with a specialization in Nonprofit Organizations at the University of San Martín in Buenos Aires. He is bilingual in Spanish and English, and has lived and worked in multiple countries, broadening his perspective on cultures and leadership styles.
Beyond titles and experience, his true education has been the ongoing practice of learning to change. He sees change not as an isolated effort, but as a way of life — being present, learning from every experience, practicing gratitude, and always, always finding new ways to grow.
