Vijay Vaitheeswaran is an award-winning writer on global energy, climate and business innovation. He is the Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor for The Economist, based in New York, and is the author of several bestselling books on innovation.

He is an outstanding thinker, writer and speaker on innovation and stands at the very forefront of thinking and debate about the technological innovations that will enable us to tackle the world's 21st century challenges. 

Vijay was previously the US Business Editor and was until 2017 the China Business & Finance Editor. Over the years, his editorial responsibilities have ranged from business to finance, to science, technology and innovation. He has previously covered global health and biotechnology, innovation, automotive, energy and the environment. 

Vijay's last book, "Need, Speed, and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World's Most Wicked Problems", was launched in March 2012 and is a guide to the new world of innovation. Drawing on the best academic and field work in this emerging area, it inspires and empowers readers to improve their lives, their work, and perhaps even the world. Vijay's previous book, ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future", co-authored Iain Carson, was named Book of the Year by the Financial Times. He is also the author of Power to the People, described by Harvard professor and Nobel-winner John Holdren, as being "by far the most helpful, entertaining, up-to-date and accessible treatment of the energy-economy-environment problematique available." 

Vijay has been a keynote speaker and panel chairman at events organised by PopTech, Digital Life Design (DLD), the Clinton Global Initiative, Google, BP, the World Wildlife Fund and many other groups. He has delivered lectures at distinguished universities including Yale, Oxford and Stanford. He has chaired a number of Economist Conferences roundtables and participated in a number of topical debates hosted by The Economist and economist.com.

Speaking topics:

• The Energy Economy and Climate Innovation: Seismic changes will affect practically every industry, so what can businesses, distributors, consumers, government regulators, automakers and Big Oil expect? And how can they prepare for the future?
• Innovation and the Ideas Economy: As we strive to stimulate economic growth, we need to understand the role of governments, corporations and individuals as drivers of innovation.
• Need, Speed and Greed: The interconnected innovation mega-trends that are reshaping the world economy. Why innovation is the only competitive advantage in the 21st Century and why it is the only engine driving commerce.
• China's Innovation Economy: how China's vibrant private sector provides China, and the World, with a bright future.