An internationally recognized expert in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital economics, Arun Sundararajan specializes in AI regulation and governance and the economics of digital products, network effects, multisided platforms, online marketplaces, and the sharing economy. Professor Sundararajan analyzes how digital technologies affect business, government, and civil society, with a recent focus on generative AI (genAI) and platform-enabled change.
Expert testimony and regulatory presentations
Professor Sundararajan has been retained as an expert witness by clients in the technology industry and in the federal government. He has testified in depositions.
Professor Sundararajan has also testified about the digital economy to the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament. He has given presentations to government and global organizations that include the United Nations (UN); the World Bank; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta; and numerous state and city legislative bodies.
Interdisciplinary research on genAI, platforms, and network effects
In his academic work, Professor Sundararajan conducts research on a range of topics connected to digital technology, network economics, and the societal impacts of AI. He has examined how genAI affects corporate governance, intellectual property (IP) law, and human productivity, including analyses of potential algorithmic bias, fair use economics, synthetic data, and trust dynamics within large language models (LLMs).
As part of his research, he has studied market definition issues for multisided platforms, how network effects shape pricing, market power and competition, and the influence of recommendation networks and social media on consumer choice and market demand. His award-winning book, The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism (MIT Press, 2016), explains the rise of on-demand platforms, including those in the ridesharing and delivery industries, and the transition to “crowd-based capitalism,” a new way of organizing economic activity that may supplant the traditional corporate-centered model.
Professor Sundararajan also examines how digital disruption is shaping the future of work, from workforce capacity development to job transitions driven by automation and independent labor.
Award-winning publications and media citations
Professor Sundararajan has received multiple best paper awards, and his research and insights have been cited extensively across international print and broadcast media, including Bloomberg TV, CNBC, El País, the Financial Times, Le Monde, the New York Times, NPR, The Economic Times, The Guardian, The Japan Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Wired. He has published over forty op-eds for leading publications internationally.
A sought-after speaker, Professor Sundararajan presents regularly at international and professional conferences. He has given hundreds of keynote, plenary, and invited talks at industry, government, and academic forums.
International appointments and professional affiliations
Active in global policy and corporate governance, Professor Sundararajan frequently participates in high-level international meetings, including at the UN, the Aspen Institute, the Brookings Institution, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions (often referred to as Summer Davos), the World Government Summit, and the World AI Conference (WAIC).
Professor Sundararajan cochairs the WEF’s Global Future Council on Data Frontiers and is a member of the Forum’s AI Governance Alliance (AIGA). He has also served on the board of advisors to the AI and Equality Initiative (AIEI), a high-level group of global experts assembled by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
In addition, Professor Sundararajan is a board member, advisor, and consultant to multiple organizations, from early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies.
University teaching and academic leadership
At NYU Stern, Professor Sundararajan teaches courses on AI and platforms to executive M.B.A. students and on technology entrepreneurship to M.B.A. students. He has also taught microeconomics and digital economics courses to Ph.D. students. He directs the Fubon Center for Technology, Business and Innovation, which drives consequential technology research, cross-sector collaboration, and innovation at NYU.
Professor Sundararajan has served as a visiting faculty member at the Indian School of Business and at Seoul National University.