James Root is a Senior Partner of Bain & Company and Chair of Bain Futures. He is the author of The Archetype Effect, offering readers a new way to understand what motivates them at work every day and why they feel how they feel about their job.
During his more than 30 years at Bain, living and working across Europe, North America and Asia, James has served as Managing Partner of our New York office; as the leader of our Asia-Pacific Organization practice; and as Chairman of our Global Nominating Committee.
He’s a member of our Consumer Products and Organization practices, and his work focuses on full-potential corporate transformations involving strategy, cost management, operational improvement and organizational effectiveness.
James has been published extensively in the business press, from Harvard Business Review to the Wall Street Journal, on international expansion, China, growth strategy, the firm of the future and the future of work. He has also been featured on international media platforms, including CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg.
He is a recipient of our firm’s Bright-Dix Award, which annually recognizes an individual’s outstanding contribution to the professional development of others.
During a leave of absence from our firm, James was the co-founder, board director and president of a business process outsourcing firm based in Malaysia, serving multinationals across APAC, where he was responsible for the company’s business operations.
He is a Fellow of Hughes Hall College, Cambridge; an Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; and a Guest Lecturer at the Institute of Business and Finance at Waseda University in Tokyo.
A graduate of Cambridge University and London Business School, James lives in Hong Kong.
