Tej Kapoor '03 MBA, International Business Development Analyst, America Online

As an International Business Development Analyst at America Online (AOL), Tej Kapoor ’03 has a bird’s eye view of global internet trends. His own life experience reflects how the internet has created a world without boundaries. A native of Bangalore, India, Kapoor now works at AOL’s Virginia office, responsible for expanding the company’s presence in the Asia Pacific region. 

“The internet has accelerated the pace of work, creating a 24/7 cycle for many companies,” he says. “AOL has a team of developers in India. We send them work when we leave for the day, and that work is back on our desk when we return in the morning.” With information available in a split second to make decisions, Kapoor says it’s making the world much faster, and increasingly competitive, in markets across the globe. 

Kapoor sees any technology that makes life easier, provides information faster, provides better forms of personalization or social networking, or puts more control in the hands of consumers, continuing to find a profitable market. “Internet applications are becoming ever more user-driven,” he says. “Third generation mobile phones will play a big role in the next generation of internet use, as these phones are becoming increasingly like hand-held computers.” Kapoor predicts that within the next ten years, consumers will be accessing the internet through handheld devices to remotely operate such things as home appliances and electronics, even their sprinkler systems.  

Kapoor says we’ll also see an increasing number of sites that cater to smaller and smaller niche audiences, although, as the market grows more vertically and sites continue to fragment, the industry itself is becoming increasingly consolidated by fewer industry giants. Despite this consolidation, Kapoor says the market will continue to reward people with innovative knowledge who have a sense of entrepreneurial spirit.