Goutam Challagalla
Goutam Challagalla is the dentsu Group Professor of Strategy and Marketing at IMD. His expertise lies at the intersection of strategy design, strategy execution, and commercial strategy, with a dedicated focus over the last decade on how AI, sustainability, and digital transformation shape competitive advantage.
Challagalla is the Director of IMD’s Advanced Management Program (AMP) and the Strategy Governance for Boards program. He co-directs the Integrating Sustainability into Strategy program. He has spearheaded custom learning initiatives for a diverse array of firms including Beiersdorf, Cargill, Caterpillar, Endress+Hauser, GEA, Grundfos, Ipsen, Kone, Nestle, Novo Nordisk, Miele, Pfizer, Raiffeisen Bank International, Reckitt, Sonova, DNB Bank, TBC Group, and Zurich Insurance Group.
His book ‘Clean Winners: Sustainability Strategy that puts Customers first’ (with Frédéric Dalsace) was published by Harvard Business School Publishing in 2026. He is a prominent contributor to the Harvard Business Review (HBR); his article “Stop Running So Many AI Pilots” is featured in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on AI (2026). Furthermore, his best-selling HBR articles “Moving the Needle on Sustainability” (2022) and “How to Market Sustainable Products” have achieved widespread acclaim, with the latter included in HBR’s 10 Must Reads for 2025.
His academic research has been published in top strategy (e.g., Strategic Management Journal), marketing, management journals. He received the prestigious Maynard Award (2015) for the Overall Best Paper in the Journal of Marketing
He has also written numerous award-winning case studies. Nespresso: Strategy Reset for Growth (with Kamran Kashani) won The Case Centre’s Overall Best Case of the Year Award in 2025 and is a bestseller. Has Nike Lost Its Stride? (with Ivy Buch) won The Case Centre’s Outstanding Case Writer Award in 2026.
Before joining IMD in 2015, Goutam spent 20 years in the US as a professor at Georgia Tech and as a Principal at The Monitor Group, a strategy and marketing consulting firm. He holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and serves on the Board of Multitude Bank.
