Feng Zhu
Feng Zhu is the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he leads the Platform Lab within the Harvard Business School AI Institute and co-chairs the Harvard Business Analytics Program. He is an expert on platform strategy, digital innovation and transformation, competitive strategy, and business model innovation.
Professor Zhu’s research examines how digital platforms and technology-driven firms compete, evolve, and respond to regulation, with a particular focus on the strategic behavior of large technology companies and the broader economic and competitive implications of digital markets.
A sought-after advisor and speaker, Professor Zhu has consulted for technology firms on issues related to competition and regulation. He has also advised traditional firms worldwide on digital and AI strategies. Regulators and policy institutions across multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the OECD, and Mexico, have drawn on his research in addressing competition and regulation in digital markets.
He has written more than 80 articles, cases, and research notes published in leading practitioner and academic outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the American Economic Review, and Management Science. His work is widely cited and has been featured in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The Washington Post.
Professor Zhu has synthesized his research for broader audiences in two books: Smart Rivals: How Innovative Companies Play Games That Tech Giants Can’t Win and Web3: Blockchain and the New Economy. He also co-edited the Research Handbook on Digital Strategy, The Handbook of Business, Economics, and Law of Digital Platforms, and Beyond AI: ChatGPT, Web3, and the Business Landscape of Tomorrow.
His research and teaching have received numerous international awards, including the inaugural Practical Impacts Award from the INFORMS Information Systems Society, recognizing his sustained influence on business practice and industry.
Professor Zhu earned his PhD in Science, Technology, and Management and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Harvard University, and completed his undergraduate studies in computer science, economics, and mathematics at Williams College.