Debolina Dutta
Debolina Dutta is a Clinical Professor, senior HR leader, and an ICF‑certified ACC level coach with over 30 years of industry experience and 6 years in academia. She brings deep expertise across Human Resources, Organisation Development, and Leadership Capability Building, having worked across diverse geographies and organisational contexts, including multinational corporations, private enterprises, and start‑ups.
Globally recognized for her contributions to the HR profession, Debolina has been named among the 100 Most Influential Global HR Professionals by the World HRD Congress, a Most Influential HR Leader in India, and nominated as one of the Top 16 Women Leaders. As an executive coach, she works closely with mid‑management and senior leaders on leadership transitions, personal effectiveness, and organisational change. Her work is supported by certifications in behavioral facilitation as well as expertise in psychometric tools.She has served on the Board of IIM Indore and advises organisations on talent strategies and AI-HRM adoption.
Debolina has led large‑scale organisational development and transformation initiatives spanning change management, mergers and acquisitions, HRIS implementations, and the design of structured talent and leadership frameworks, often in complex, multicultural environments. She is an alumna of IIM Indore (FPM‑Industry), IIM Bangalore, and the College of Engineering, Pune, and a published thought leader with case studies in Harvard Business Review and research articles in leading academic journals. Through her academic, consulting, and coaching roles, she continues to shape future‑ready leaders by integrating research, practice, and coaching‑led development.
- Ph D, FPM, Indian Institute of Management, 2015
- MBA, Indian Institute of Management, 2010
- B.E, College of Engineering, 1989
Academic positions
- 2026 - Present: Clinical Assistant Professor (Teaching), Organisational Behaviour
- July 2025 - March 2026: Professor of Practice – OB& HRM, IIM Kozhikode
- July 2000 - June 2025: Professor of Practice – OB& HRM, IIM Bangalore
Professional Positions
- December 2017 - January 2020: VP - HR, CSR & Admin, SCHNEIDER-LUMINOUS
- March 2014 - December 2017: DIRECTOR, HR, VF CORPORATION
- October 2011 - February 2014: GM, HR, UNITED SPIRITS LTD
- May 2007 - October 2011: Senior Manager, WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES
- 1997-2006 - Career Graph employment
- February 1992 - December 1996: LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED
- Dutta, D., P. N. (2026). Transforming Recruitment and Selection Practices in Organizations Through Discriminative and Generative AI Adoption: A Structuration Lens. Human Resource Management, 65(1)
- Dutta, D., Althaf, A. (2026). Transforming talent acquisition for sustainable HRM: a structuration perspective. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 13(2)
- Dutta, D., Adsule, R. (2026). Machines/humans agentic impacts on recruitment and selection practices across organizational contexts. Personnel Review, 55(1)
- Dutta, D., Poyil, A. K., Vedak, C. (2025). Examining HRM practices emerging out of COVID-19 in the MSME sector: impact of employee engagement, perceived organizational support and well-being. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 47(7)
- Dutta, D., Srivastava, P., Memon, N. Z. (2025). Inclusive and sustainable economic growth for MSME firms: examining the impact of sustainable HRM practices on women’s well-being. International Journal of Manpower, 46(4)
- Dutta, D., Joseph, V., Khan, A. A. (2025). Building Dynamic Capability: The Role of Training and Development and Climate of Trust. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems
- Dutta, D., Poyil, A. K. (2025). Leveraging Artificial Intelligence: The Machine/Human Agentic Impact on Evolving Practices in L&D. Behaviour & Information Technology, 2014(1)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2025). Artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant and employee engagement: an empirical investigation. Personnel Review, 54(3)
- Dutta, D., Srinivasan, V. (2024). Inclusion for LGBTQ talent: A practice theory approach. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 43(7)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2024). “Technology is killing me!”: the moderating effect of organization home-work interface on the linkage between technostress and stress at work. Information Technology & People, 37(6)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2024). Bots for mental health: the boundaries of human and technology agencies for enabling mental well-being within organizations. Personnel Review, 53(5)
- Dutta, D., Poyil, A. K. (2024). The machine/human agentic impact on practices in learning and development: a study across MSME, NGO and MNC organizations. Personnel Review, 53(3)
- Dutta, D., Vedak, C. (2023). Determining quality of hire, the holy grail of recruitment: A structuration perspective. Human Resources Management and Services, 5(2)
- Dutta, D., Srivastava, Y., Singh, E. (2023). Metaverse in the tourism sector for talent management: a technology in practice lens. Information Technology & Tourism, 25(3)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K., Budhwar, P. (2022). Ethics in competency models: A framework towards developing ethical behaviour in organisations. IIMB Management Review, 34(3)
- Dutta, D. (2022). Augmented employee voice and employee engagement using artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots: a field study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(12)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K., Tyagi, D. (2022). Augmenting Climate for Trust and Employee Engagement using Artificial Intelligence based Chatbots: A Field Study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(12)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2021). Chatting with the CEO’s Virtual Assistant: Impact on Climate for Trust, Fairness, Employee Satisfaction, and Engagement. AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, 13(4)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2021). “Predictors of applicant attraction among Gen-X and millennials: evidence from an emerging economy. International Journal of ManPower, 42(8)
- Dutta, D., Kumar, K. K., Mishra, S. K. (2021). Unintended consequences of promotions: Importance of annual incentives for performance management systems. Human Resource Management, 60(5)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K. (2021). Are Women from Venus? A mixed-method study determining important predictors of job pursuit intention across gender groups. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal, 40(6)
- Dutta, D., Mishra, S. K., Varma, A. (2019). Predictors of job pursuit intention across career stages: a multi-phase investigation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(20)