Chandran Nair is the Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank based in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur focused on advancing a deeper understanding of global issues including the shift of economic and political influence from the West to Asia, the dynamic relationship between business and society, and the reshaping of the rules of global capitalism. He is the author of Consumptionomics: Asia's Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet and The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy, and Society. He is also the creator of The Other Hundred, a non-profit global photo journalism initiative to present a counterpoint to media consensus on some of today's most important issues. His latest book Dismantling Global White Privilege: Equity for a Post-Western World was published in January 2022.

Chandran was chairman of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) in Asia Pacific until 2004, establishing the company as Asia’s leading environmental consultancy.

Chandran has served as Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. He is a Member of the Executive Committee of The Club of Rome and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.