Mark Esposito is a globally recognized scholar, educator, and practitioner at the forefront of technology, economics, and public policy. He specializes in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence, with expertise that spans academia, international organizations, and the private sector.

At Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Dr. Esposito brings significant interdisciplinary insight, shaped by appointments at leading institutions. In addition to his role at Northeastern, he holds research appointments at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge. At Harvard, his affiliations include the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School; the Center for International Development at Harvard Kennedy School and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. He is also a faculty fellow at the Center for Emerging Markets.

Mark Esposito is closely connected to policy and innovation initiatives worldwide: he is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global AI Alliance and Fostering Converging Technologies group, and has been a Fellow at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai since 2017. He has advised government agencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council and Eurasia, and for over a decade, co-led the Institutes Council on Microeconomics of Competitiveness at Harvard Business School under Professor Michael Porter. He was also the founding director of the Circular Economy Research Center at Cambridge Judge Business School, where he remains a Senior Associate.

An accomplished entrepreneur, he co-founded Nexus FrontierTech, an influential machine learning research firm, as well as The Chart ThinkTank and the AI Native Foundation. He currently serves as Chief Economist of micro1, a Silicon Valley AI lab. Recognized by Thinkers50 Radar in 2016 as one of the world's top 30 business thinkers, he is a widely published author with over 150 publications, both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed, and 13 books. Notably, Understanding How the Future Unfolds (2017) and The AI Republic (2019) are Amazon bestsellers. His most recent books include The Emerging Economies under the Dome of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2022), The Great Remobilization: Strategies and Designs for a Global Smarter World (MIT University Press, 2023), and Digitizing the Emerging Economies (Cambridge University Press, 2024). His forthcoming books include Becoming AI Native: Charting the Next AI Frontier (Routledge, 2026), Tectonic Shifts: How Technology is Remaking Global Power Dynamics (Penguin Random House, 2026), Global Visions (Bloomsbury, 2026), and Who Rules the Internet? Polycentric Governance and the Political Economy of the Digital Commons (Routledge, 2027). He holds a doctoral degree from École des Ponts ParisTech in France, the world's oldest civil engineering school.

Education

  • PhD Business, Technology, Economics, Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech, Paris
  • MA Social Sciences, University of Turin, Italy
  • BA Social Sciences, University of Turin, Italy

Awards & Recognition

2023                  Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Strategy Award for the work on The Great Remobilization

2023                  Edification of the “Mark Esposito Chair of Industrial Transitions” at Woxsen University, India

2021 – 23         World's Top 50 Influencers in the Field of Global Sustainability, Thinkers 360 (three consecutive years)

2019                   Global 100 Influencers, MIT Technology Review

2018                   Chartered Management Institute's own magazine Professional Manager in the UK to name me as

one of the 18 new voices in 2018 that reshape management and leadership.

2017                    CK Prahalad Breakthrough Idea Award by Thinkers50, London, UK

Teaching Excellence Award, Harvard University, Fall 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

2016                    Thinkers50, Radar. Recognized among the 30 most influential business thinkers in the world, on

the rise, London, UK

2015                    Tomorrow's Thought Leader Recognition, Thinkers50, London, UK

Publications

Esposito, M.; Tse, T.; Goh, D.; Harkilakis, T.;  An Examination of the Environmental and Climatic Consequences Stemming from the Integration of the Metaverse into Converging Digital Ecosystems,  International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment (forthcoming)

Sharma, S.; Layes, J.;  Esposito, M. Akbar, Y. ., Integrating Effectuation, AI, and Strategic Calibration: A Conceptual Framework Proceedings at wISE Scholarship in ASEAN + Oceania Fostering the Innovation, Strategy & Entrepreneurship Community ( AoM)  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5129431

Sharma, S.; Layes, J.;  Esposito, M. Akbar, Y : Strategic Calibration AI Framework: Adaptive Imbalance in Dynamic Environments (January 02, 2025) http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5130456

Sharma, S.; Layes, J.;  Akbar, Y.; Esposito, M.: , Turning Systemic Vulnerabilities into Strategic Opportunities: A Research Proposal for Societal Grand Challenges SMS Palermo Conference, 21-23 May 2025, University of Rome, LUMSA Palermo Campushttp://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5129751

Sharma, S.; Esposito, M. Akbar, Y., Harnessing Uncertainty with Effectuation and AI: A Dynamic Strategic Calibration Framework http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5146519

Esposito, M.; Arnoult. B.;   The drivers of effective communication elements: Key pivotal role in the successful implementation of change initiatives during turbulent Journal for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development 16(4), 516–541. https://doi.org/10.1504/JIBED.2024.144644

Eva, M.; Esposito, M.; ” COVID-19 disruptions driving sustainable tourism: a case of the Hawaiian tourism industry”, International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp 325-347

Esposito, M.; Sarbazvatan, S.; Tse, T.; Silva-Atencio, G. The use of artificial intelligence for automatic analysis and reporting of software defects, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7:1443956. doi: 10.3389/frai.2024.1443956

Esposito, M.;  Tse T.; Mitigating the Risks of Generative AI in Government through Algorithmic Governance. In Proceedings of the 25th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 60, https://doi.org/10.1145/3657054.3657124

Tse, T.; Esposito, M.; Goh, D. Lee, Paul ; Why adopting GenAI is so difficult, Harvard Business Review (April 2024)