Asad Lalljee

Asad Lalljee is curator of the Royal Opera House Mumbai, senior vice president of Essar Group, and CEO of Avid Learning—a public programming initiative and creative platform under the Essar Group. An early adopter of technological trends, he specializes in new media, curating programs around AI and the cyberfuture. Asad also serves on the Executive Committee of the Kala Ghoda Association and the advisory board of the Mumbai Urban Art Festival. Since the restoration of the Royal Opera House, his curatorial programming has re-established its reputation as the city’s cultural crown jewel. He has transformed Avid Learning into India’s leading cultural hub through international collaborations and partnerships with the country’s biggest art platforms. Amid the pandemic (April 2020), Asad pivoted from Avid Learning to Avid Online, presenting 240 programs in a year. Asad has been a member of the prestigious Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's Art and Culture Committee since 2018 (now FICCI's Tourism and Culture Committee), co-convening national conferences on the creative economy across Kochi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and New Delhi. Before relocating to India, he spent 14 years as one of the ‘Mad Men’ advertising executives on New York's Madison Avenue. Asad holds a B.A. in economics from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and an M.A. in global marketing communications from Emerson College, in Boston, US.