# Azeem Azhar

> Azeem Azhar is the founder of Exponential View, a weekly newsletter and podcast read by 150,000+ subscribers that maps the collision of technology and society. A former Guardian and Economist journalist who helped launch BBC Online in the 1990s, he went on to build and sell PeerIndex (acquired by Brandwatch in 2014), write the Financial Times Best Book of the Year 'The Exponential Age' (2021), and host a Bloomberg Originals series. He is an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, a Visiting Fellow at Oxford's Martin School, and a Digital Fellow at Stanford's Digital Economy Lab - spending his time translating the logic of exponential technologies for executives, policymakers, and curious minds worldwide.

- **Role:** Founder at Exponential View
- **Organizations:** Exponential View, Harvard Business School (Executive Fellow), Oxford Martin School (Visiting Fellow), Stanford Digital Economy Lab (Digital Fellow), World Economic Forum (Global Future Council Co-Chair), Bloomberg Originals
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** MA, Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), Merton College, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Founded Exponential View, now 152,000+ subscribers and #7 in Technology on Substack globally, Published 'The Exponential Age' (2021) - named FT Best Book of the Year, Founded and sold PeerIndex to Brandwatch (2014)

## Career timeline

- **1990** — Matriculated at Merton College, Oxford; won Gladstone Memorial Essay Prize
- **1993-1998** — Technology and business correspondent at The Guardian and The Economist; became The Economist's first-ever internet correspondent
- **1997-1999** — Strategy manager at BBC; helped design and launch BBC Online (Go2 platform)
- **2000** — Founded eSouk.com, an early e-commerce venture
- **2002** — Leadership role at Albert Inc., a data analytics and marketing firm
- **2004** — Appointed to Ofcom Communications Consumer Panel; founded OxMedia Ltd consultancy
- **2005** — Head of Innovation at Reuters
- **2009** — Founded PeerIndex - applied machine learning to social media graphs to measure influence
- **2011** — PeerIndex won Europas Grand Prix award
- **2014** — PeerIndex acquired by Brandwatch
- **2015** — Founded Exponential View newsletter (before Substack existed)
- **2019** — Exponential View podcast distributed by Harvard Business Review
- **2021** — Published 'The Exponential Age'; named FT Best Book of the Year
- **2022** — Named to Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2022
- **2023** — Launched 'Exponentially with Azeem Azhar' on Bloomberg Originals; named to Vox Future Perfect 50
- **2024-2025** — Keynote speaker at ProMat 2025; expanded Exponential View to 152,000+ subscribers; Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School

## Achievements

- Founded Exponential View, now 152,000+ subscribers and #7 in Technology on Substack globally
- Published 'The Exponential Age' (2021) - named FT Best Book of the Year
- Founded and sold PeerIndex to Brandwatch (2014)
- Invested in 50+ tech startups with exits to Amazon and Microsoft
- Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School
- Visiting Fellow at Oxford Martin School
- Digital Fellow at Stanford Digital Economy Lab
- Co-Chair, Global Future Council on Complex Risks at World Economic Forum
- Hosted Bloomberg Originals series 'Exponentially' interviewing Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Vinod Khosla
- Named #1 person to follow in UK tech by Business Insider (2015)
- Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2022
- Vox Future Perfect 50 (2023)
- Won Gladstone Memorial Essay Prize at Oxford
- Designed and helped launch BBC Online in the 1990s
- Was The Economist's first-ever internet correspondent

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Keynote at ProMat 2025 in Chicago on AI opportunities for supply chains
- **2025-02** — Bloomberg commentary: 'AI Will Upend a Basic Assumption About How Companies Are Organized'
- **2025-01** — Co-authored 'AI in 2025 - The Great Normalisation' with Nathan Benaich
- **2024-12** — Published 'The Next 24 Months in AI' - noted generative AI hit ~$60B annual revenue
- **2024-01** — Published 'My Outlook for 2024' on Exponential View; featured on HBR podcast for 2024 trends

## Links

- Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/azeem
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExponentialView
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azeem/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/azeem-azhar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-29