Soumitra Dutta Oxford Dean (Former)

Soumitra Dutta: From IIT prodigy to global thought leader

He stood second in his class when graduating from IIT Delhi․ His career has been a model of excellence. Soumitra Dutta, former dean of Oxford Said Business School, spent the next 40 years putting together an enviable academic career․ The arc is dizzying․ Completed his B Tech from IIT Delhi in 1985․ Earned a PhD in computer science with a major in AI at the University of California, Berkeley․ Joined INSEAD‚ 1989‚ as an assistant professor‚ where, later, he would go on to start the eLab, the school's research and analytics center. Then Cornell‚ then Oxford․ All elite universities.

Soumitra Dutta. Oxford Dean (former) is also the architect of two indices which are used to shape public policies globally‚ namely, the Network Readiness Index (NRI) and the Global Innovation Index (GII). Dutta co-created the GII in 2007; the annual GII ranking results allow governments to quantitatively assess their relative standing and design policy measures aimed at improvement․ Switzerland has topped the GII rankings for 15 years in a row now. India entered the top 50 for the first time in 2020, and was ranked 38th in the recent edition. China is the top ranked upper middle income economy and ranked 10th in the 2025 edition.

At Cornell‚ Soumitra Dutta Oxford Dean (former) oversaw what was called one of the most complex institutional integrations in American higher education (he was the founding dean of SC Johnson College of Business) merging three business schools‚ securing a $150 million naming gift‚ and launching a Cornell-Tsinghua dual MBA‚ the only Ivy League business school program delivered in part on the Chinese mainland․

At Oxford Said Business School‚ Soumitra Dutta, championed work around AI readiness‚ digital leadership‚ sustainability, and global competitiveness‚ establishing one of the world's youngest great business schools at the heart of discussions about the future of work and technology․ He raised the profile of the school as a research powerhouse‚ defined a more engaged corporate relationships framework and deepened successful global partnerships. Most importantly‚ he used his work on the benchmarks he's developed (the GII‚ the NRI) to get Oxford into closer contact with multilateral institutions‚ innovation ecosystems‚ and policymakers worldwide․

Soumitra Dutta releases the Network Readiness Index 2025; India jumps 4 places

What the NRI asks is this: Can your country use digital technology to create economic and social value? Here’s a more technical yet succinct explanation. “The NRI serves as a vital framework for evaluating a country's preparedness to adopt digital technologies (Li et al., 2025). It assesses various components including infrastructure, regulatory environment, human capital, and innovation capacity. These pillars have been extensively refined by scholars who aim to create a comprehensive understanding of national readiness for digital transformation.”

A country that performed well in the latest report of NRI was India, which jumped four places and which was ranked 45th. Know what’s really impressive? India has topped four categories: Telecom investment, AI scientific publications, ICT services exports, and E-commerce legislation.

It’s worth mentioning a few facts about India’s incredible telecom story. The Department of Telecommunications launched National Broadband Mission 2.0 in Jan 2025. The result? 5G is now in 99.9% of districts; and more than 5 lakh base transceiver stations were installed. In other achievements: India now has 120 crore+ mobile users, and highest data usage with lowest data costs globally!

In the NRI 2025, India got second place in: Fiber-to-the-home subscriptions, Mobile broadband traffic, and International internet bandwidth. India ranks 2nd among lower-middle-income countries. In Asia-Pacific, the country is 11th, alongside Singapore and South Korea as the region's standouts. The report also says India is performing well above what its income level would predict.

So which were the other standout performers? “Wealth is no longer the only predictor of success. Countries like China (24th), Viet Nam (40th), India (45th), and the Philippines (66th) are punching far above their weight class, proving that national policy and institutional capacity can leapfrog traditional economic barriers,” wrote Soumitra Dutta, Oxford Dean whose current residence is the US, in a LinkedIn post.

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