Rohit Bhargava

Rohit Bhargava is on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world. He is the three-time Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of ten books and is widely considered one of the most entertaining and original speakers on trends, innovation and marketing in the world.

Bhargava has been invited to deliver sold-out keynotes and workshops in 32 countries around the world to change the way teams and leaders think at the World Bank, NASA, Intel, Novartis, Coldwell Banker, MetLife, American Express, Pizza Hut, Schwab, Disney and hundreds of other well-known organizations. He has been a featured speaker at five previous SXSW events and also did a keynote at SXSW Sydney in 2023.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur and founding two companies, he spent 15 years leading brand strategy at Ogilvy and Leo Burnett (Australia) where he advised global brands on human behavior, marketing and storytelling.

Outside his speaking and consulting, Bhargava has taught persuasive speaking and global marketing as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, is frequently quoted in the global media, writes a monthly column for Inc. magazine about Non-Obvious books, hosts a podcast, and has been writing an award-winning email newsletter for the past six years. At the end of every year, he also leads a program called the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Awards, where he selects the most fascinating books of the year for business people.

He is a lifelong fan of anything having to do with the Olympics (he’s been to five so far) and actively hates cauliflower (yuck!). Outside of work, Bhargava believes that the most entertaining and impactful job he will ever have is being a great dad and teaching his two boys to be kind when no one expects it, curious about the things others take for granted, and confident enough to change the world.