Nagarajan Sethuraman

Nagarajan (Naga) Sethuraman is an Associate Professor in the Management Area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) – Dubai Campus, and a secondary member of the Operations and Decision Sciences Area at the Ahmedabad campus. Before joining IIMA, he was a faculty member in the Analytics, Information, and Operations Area at the University of Kansas School of Business (USA). He combines academic rigour with practitioner credibility earned over seven years as a senior researcher at General Motors R&D, where his work generated a patent, multiple trade secrets, and eight innovation awards, and was deployed in GM's business processes with projected benefits of US$10 million. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.Tech. in Manufacturing Science from IIT Kanpur.

Research interests. Prof. Sethuraman studies how organizations turn emerging technologies such as advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, and AI into operational and strategic advantage through business model innovation, and how to design R&D processes for business impact and societal benefit. His current research examines how the composition of R&D teams drives drug development success and patient safety, how autonomous vehicles are transforming the insurance industry, and how retail 3D printing and customized manufacturing are reshaping supply chain structure and dynamics. Methodologically, his research combines econometrics and causal inference with machine learning, applied AI methods, and game theory, and he publishes in premier international management journals.

Teaching and consulting interests. His teaching spans operations strategy, supply chain management, business analytics, management of technology, and business model innovation. His consulting and executive education interests are in AI adoption and digital transformation in operations and supply chains, innovation and R&D process design, and data-driven operational excellence. Through prior and current engagements spanning research, professional experience, and executive education, he has worked with a variety of industries, including automotive, pharmaceuticals, metals and mining, insurance, and retail.