Zak Dychtwald

Zak Dychtwald is a world-traveler, writer, consultant, and public speaker. A lifelong fan of interesting people, big ideas, great food, science fiction, and religious meaning, he has traveled extensively throughout five continents to explore what makes people and cultures tick.

After graduating from Columbia University in 2012, he moved to China to explore the country and get to know its young people on their own turf. Over the next four years, through living in tenements, hostels, and high-rises, on long train rides through both the Eastern megacities as well as China’s developing interior, interviewing locals from Guangzhou to Chengdu to Shangri-La, Dychtwald realized that the China discussed in the West is far different than the new China he saw emerging. His deep understanding of China's 400 million millennials is showcased in his book "Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World," which has been published in the USA, China, Vietnam, and Germany.

Through his writing, speaking, and consulting, Dychtwald’s overarching goal is to change the way the world understands China: to expand the narrative away from headline politics towards identity and cross-cultural understanding. He has recently relocated to New York City where he is the founding CEO of Young China Group, a market insights firm based in Beijing. A fluent Mandarin speaker, he spends a third of the year in China, providing market insights focused on identity questions impacting China’s most impactful and misunderstood generation. His insights have been featured in major publications such as The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, ABC News, Foreign Policy, and NPR. Dychtwald has spoken at prestigious events including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit, Google Talks, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and TEDx. He is recognized for making complex topics, like the future of China, approachable and understandable, often mixing humor and information effectively during his presentations.