Anil Gupta

Anil Gupta Speaker Biography

World-Leading Expert on Strategy, Globalization and Entrepreneurship, Thinkers50 Hall of Fame Management Thinker, and The Economist “Superstar”

Dr. Anil K. Gupta is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship. For decades, he has helped executives understand how shifting economic power, emerging markets, technology, innovation and geopolitical change are transforming global competition. Gupta has been ranked by Thinkers50 among the world’s “most influential living management thinkers” and, in 2024, was inducted with longtime collaborator Haiyan Wang into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame. The honor recognized their three decades at the forefront of analyzing globalization trends. The Economist has also identified Gupta as one of the world’s “rising superstars” for his research on emerging markets.

Keynote Speaker Anil K. Gupta at a Glance

• Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship.
• Ranked by Thinkers50 among the world’s “most influential living management thinkers” and inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2024.
• Named by The Economist as one of the world’s “superstars” for his research on emerging markets and innovation.
• Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy, Globalization and Entrepreneurship and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
• Author, co-author or co-editor of influential books including Getting China and India Right, The Quest for Global Dominance, The Silk Road Rediscovered, and Smart Globalization.
• Harvard Business School doctorate with extensive experience advising and speaking to senior executives and organizations around the world.

Thinkers50 Hall of Fame Management Thinker

Gupta has appeared repeatedly in the prestigious Thinkers50 global ranking, which identifies management thinkers whose ideas have significant influence on how organizations are led and managed. In the 2019 global ranking, Gupta and Wang placed No. 25, and they were again selected for the Thinkers50 list in 2021. Their 2024 induction into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame places them among an elite group recognized for lasting influence on management thinking. His expertise encompasses global strategy and organization, emerging markets—particularly China and India—corporate innovation, entrepreneurship and frugal innovation. These areas have become increasingly important as business leaders navigate geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption, changing supply chains and a rapidly evolving global economy.

University of Maryland Professor and Global Strategy Scholar

Gupta is the Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. His distinguished academic career has also included appointments at leading institutions around the world. He has served as a chaired professor at INSEAD and as a visiting professor at Stanford University and Dartmouth College, as well as holding visiting academic positions in China and India. He earned his doctorate from Harvard Business School, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Gupta has been elected a Lifetime Fellow of the Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society and Academy of International Business—an exceptional combination of honors reflecting his influence across the field of global management.

Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and the Future of Work

Gupta’s work has continued to evolve with the forces reshaping business today. He is currently an AI Faculty member at the University of Maryland and has helped lead the UMD-LinkUp AI Maps initiative, created to track the development and geographic distribution of jobs requiring artificial intelligence skills. Research released in 2026 by Gupta and his University of Maryland colleagues found a significant increase in demand for workers with AI expertise following the introduction of ChatGPT, while finding little evidence thus far that AI adoption has reduced overall labor demand. This research gives Gupta an especially timely perspective on artificial intelligence, talent, innovation and the changing future of work.

Globalization, China, India and Emerging Markets

Long before China and India became central to corporate strategy, Gupta was studying how the rise of emerging economies would transform global competition. His work examines not only where economic growth is occurring, but how multinational organizations should respond to changing markets, new competitors, innovation ecosystems and shifts in global economic power. Together with Haiyan Wang, Gupta co-founded the China India Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research and consulting organization. Their work has explored the rise of China and India, the evolution of globalization and what these changes mean for companies seeking sustainable competitive advantage. Thinkers50 specifically cited their decades of research, consulting and analysis of globalization trends when inducting them into its Hall of Fame.

Award-Winning Author

Gupta is the author, co-author or co-editor of several influential books on globalization, strategy and emerging markets, including The Silk Road Rediscovered, Getting China and India Right, Global Strategies for Emerging Asia, The Quest for Global Dominance, Smart Globalization, and Global Strategy and Organization. Getting China and India Right received the Axiom Book Awards Silver Prize and was shortlisted for the Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Book Award. Gupta has also authored or co-authored more than 70 papers in leading academic journals.

Awards and Global Recognition

In addition to his Thinkers50 recognition and Hall of Fame induction, Gupta’s honors include the Academy of Management’s Outstanding Educator Award, CMO Asia’s Best Professor in Strategic Management award, BusinessWeek recognition as an Outstanding Faculty member, induction into the Academy of Management Journals’ Hall of Fame, and recognition by Management International Review as a “North American Superstar” for his research in strategy and organization. These distinctions reflect a career that bridges rigorous academic research with the practical strategic issues facing CEOs, senior executives and global organizations.

Author, Commentator and Global Business Voice

Gupta’s ideas and commentary have appeared in major business and financial media, including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Chief Executive, The Economist, and other international publications. He has also been interviewed or featured by organizations including BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Reuters TV. His ability to connect academic research with real-world business strategy makes him a valuable resource for leaders trying to understand not simply what is changing, but what those changes mean for their organizations.

Anil Gupta Keynote Speaker

As a global keynote speaker, Dr. Anil K. Gupta brings an unusual combination of academic authority, global business experience and practical strategic insight to the stage. He has addressed major conferences and corporate forums throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa, including World Economic Forum events, The Economist conferences, Chief Executive magazine’s CEO2CEO Summits and the Yale CEO Summit. Gupta has also worked as a consultant, keynote speaker or executive education faculty member with major global organizations including GE, Walmart, IBM, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, HP, SAP, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Accenture, Marriott, ABB, Lockheed Martin, Indian Oil, Huawei and others. For corporate executives, associations and organizations confronting AI disruption, globalization, emerging markets, geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly changing competitive landscapes, Gupta provides a sophisticated but accessible framework for understanding what is changing and how leaders should respond. Dr. Anil K. Gupta can be booked for keynote speaking engagements, executive programs and corporate events through Speakers.com.