Soumitra Dutta

Soumitra Dutta integrates unique perspectives on business and technology strategy in a global world. With a PhD in artificial intelligence and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley, Dutta brings a deep grounding in data sciences and advanced technologies. Having spent more than three decades of his career in leading business schools across the Atlantic (University of Oxford, INSEAD and Cornell University) he has conducted extensive research in and consulted with leading global firms on building effective technology and innovation strategies.

As the co-founder and founder respectively of two major global technology/innovation indices, the Network Readiness Index (published for 16 years by the World Economic Forum) and the Global Innovation Index (published for 12 years by the World Intellectual Property Organization), Dutta has worked with global corporations and governments on formulating their technology and innovation policies. Having served on the boards of major international corporations including Sodexo, Dassault Systemes and ZS Associates, he is at home dealing with strategic business issues at the highest levels. He also enjoys working with smaller startups (many started by his students) and he has co-founded (as majority share-holder) two technology startups – Fisheye Analytics (an AI-driven social media analytics firm that was sold to the WPP Communications Group in 2013) and Igesia (an Edutech firm started in 2019).

He is deeply involved with non-profits and is on the boards of several global business schools including Centrum Catholica (Peru), HEC Montreal (Canada), University of Los Andes (Colombia) and ESADE (Spain). He has chaired the leading global business school accrediting agency, AACSB and is currently the chair of GBSN (the Global Business School Network). He has been involved for more than a decade with the activities of the World Economic Forum and has served as the co-Chair of the Forum’s Global Future Council on Innovation Ecosystems. He is a powerful public speaker and brings a refreshing global perspective from his deep personal knowledge of Asia, Europe and the Americas. In 2017, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. In 2023 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Amity University, India’s largest and leading private university.

Soumitra Dutta is currently the Peter Mores Dean of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. Previously, he was a Professor of Management and the former Founding Dean of the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University. He is also the founder and President of Portulans Institute, a Washington DC based non-partisan non-profit institute focused on research and outreach on technology, talent and innovation. Prior to July 2012, he was the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Business and Technology at INSEAD and the founding director of eLab@INSEAD, a center of excellence in the digital economy. Professor Dutta obtained his Ph.D. in computer science (specialization in Artificial Intelligence) and his M.Sc. in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a graduate of the BTech in Computer Science program of the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.