• https://player.vimeo.com/video/1073546703

Suneel Gupta

Connecting Personal Energy & Performance, Bestselling Author, Healthcare Entrepreneur

Speaks About

  • Improve Engagement & Performance
  • Leadership
  • Collaboration
  • Elevate Energy/Reduce Burnout
  • Resilience
  • Increase ‘Emotional Runway’
  • Aligning Purpose with Work
  • Innovation
  • Finding Joy in What You Do
  • Well-Being
  • Belonging

Suneel in Brief

Mastering the link between energy, well-being, and performance. 

Empowering organizations to cultivate community and growth with transformative insights on managing energy.  

Inspiring audiences to take action by playing The Game of Now™. 

Bestselling Author of Backable  &  Everyday Dharma.  

Healthcare Entrepreneur as founder of RISE, innovating in wellness and workplace health. 

Harvard Visiting Scholar researching the work habits of top leaders/entrepreneurs. 

Award-Winning Host of Business Class series on Amazon Prime showcases entrepreneurial resilience and innovation. 

Read More

As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel Gupta helped thousands of people build better habits for life and work. Now, as a bestselling author and Harvard Medical School visiting scholar, Suneel has taken his mission one step further – helping people reset, reignite, and find meaning in their work by bolstering emotional resilience and engagement. Suneel asks, “How can an organization excel on the outside if its people are exhausted on the inside?” He helps leaders and teams build the capacity to meet today’s relentless demands without sacrificing their well-being. He equips them with science-based tools to prevent burnout, sustain energy, sharpen focus, and improve both professional and personal performance. Suneel offers a better way to work; one that results in sustainable innovation, productivity, and fulfillment.  

Suneel is a resilient entrepreneur and the international bestselling author of Backable and Everyday Dharma – two books that have been translated into nine languages and have reached readers worldwide. Backable is rooted on his inner journey from twice-failed entrepreneur to becoming a leader behind two IPOs and being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. It reveals the mindset shifts and hidden habits of people who are extraordinary at pushing new ideas forward.

His transformative book Everyday Dharma codifies Suneel’s mission to help people reset, reignite, and re-engage through a timeless practice called Dharma. Simply put, Dharma brings “who you are” and “what you do” into alignment. When we’re aligned, we’re able to produce our best work and lead ourselves and others effectively, experiencing true joy along the way.  

As visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School, Suneel researches and teaches the interconnection between inner well-being and outer leadership. He is also emissary for Gross National Happiness between the United States and the Kingdom of Bhutan.  

As CEO of RISE Suneel helped thousands of people establish a way to personalize their physical and mental health journey while connecting with certified nutritionists and trainers at an affordable price. The company was named “App of the Year” and partnered with then-First Lady Michelle Obama before being acquired by the NASDAQ-listed company One Medical Group (now part of Amazon), expanding its reach in digital health and well-being.  

Suneel was also the host of Business Class, a 2023 Webby Award-winning Series streaming on Amazon Prime. The show spotlights the struggles, resilience, and work/life habits of entrepreneurs and business visionaries like Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (Ben & Jerry’s), Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, and Martha Stewart. 

Suneel has also personally backed ventures including Impossible Foods, Airbnb, 23andMe, and SpaceX. He was one of the very first investors in CALM, which is now one of the world’s leading mental wellness platforms helping millions of people achieve a greater sense of work/life balance. He also serves as an advisor to Wisdom Ventures, a mission-driven fund investing in companies at the intersection of technology, wellbeing, and human potential.

When a reporter once asked Suneel about his purpose, his response was to “find good people and inspire them to do what inspires them.” 

Books and Media

Leaders and teams that fizzle out don’t run out of time or talent. They run out of energy.

Suneel Gupta

Speech Descriptions

Sustaining Momentum: The Energy to Keep Going

We can’t create more time, but we can elevate our energy. Understanding that changes how individuals and organizations perform. Across industries, leaders are seeing the same pattern: capable, committed people are working hard, yet progress slows, decisions take longer, and morale softens. These are energy problems masquerading as strategy problems.

Energy is not just a personal resource; it is a strategic asset. It fuels resilience, and resilience without the ability to renew energy eventually breaks down. As founding CEO of RISE (now part of Amazon), Suneel Gupta helped thousands improve physical and mental health, while studying why some teams stay effective under pressure when others burn out despite equal talent and effort. Grounded in his teaching at Harvard Medical School and more than a decade studying high-performing leaders, Suneel shares practical, research-backed ways to restore focus, strengthen collaboration, and sustain performance without adding pressure.

Audiences leave with clear language and immediately usable practices to stay effective under pressure. Leaders leave with practical ways to elevate their own energy and the energy of the people they lead.

Key Takeaways:
• Why high-performing organizations quietly lose momentum even with strong talent and clear goals
• How energy influences resilience, decision quality, connection, and collaboration
• Four practical practices that restore focus and prevent burnout under sustained pressure
• How restoring energy improves initiative, ownership, and follow-through across teams
• Practical ways to reduce overwhelm and remain effective during constant change

 

The Game of Now: Leading, Deciding, and Taking Action in an Uncertain World

For years, planning helped us navigate uncertainty. But the pace of change has outgrown our ability to plan. In a world moving this quickly, we need a more effective way forward. Suneel Gupta offers a timely reset for how progress actually happens when certainty is unavailable.

The core idea is simple and transformative: instead of waiting for certainty to give you the courage to act, you take action and let courage catch up along the way. At a time when people feel numb and cautious, The Game of Now restores confidence and momentum, even when the path is still forming.

This talk reframes uncertainty not as something to eliminate, but as something to engage with. It replaces hesitation with movement and helps people reconnect with the energy, courage, and agency needed to move forward when the world no longer waits until we feel ready.

Audiences leave feeling steadier, more capable, and equipped with practical ways to take the next meaningful step, even without perfect information.

Key takeaways:
• The real science behind why action leads to courage and how it creates clarity
• Uncertainty is a permanent condition – and how to lead effectively within it
• Why plans break down as change accelerates, and what to rely on instead
• A simple framework for rebuilding momentum in fast-moving environments
• Practical ways to manage energy and attention amid constant change

 

Post-Keynote & Extended Learning Options

For groups looking to go deeper, Suneel offers highly engaging, interactive sessions that extend the keynote’s momentum and turn insights into action. These can be delivered as a post-keynote workshop (ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours) or as a longer-term leadership development series offered virtually and/or in-person. Content is customized based on the group’s objectives, with a core focus on helping foster personal and organizational growth.

Personal Energy & Resilience (Workshop – 45 minutes to 2 hours)
In this hands-on session, Suneel equips participants with practical tools for sustaining energy, managing through uncertainty, and amplifying the performance of their teams. They will explore actionable strategies to regulate personal energy, strengthen resilience under pressure, and elevate the energy of those around them—especially during moments of change and challenge. Expect high interaction, real-world scenarios, and leadership behaviors that can be implemented immediately.

Elevate Leadership Series (Multi-Session Option)
For organizations seeking long-term leadership development, Suneel’s Elevate Series offers a five-part cohort experience that integrates well-being with exceptional leadership. Each session builds on core pillars such as personal energy management, navigating difficult conversations, ownership culture, belonging in action, and purpose-driven impact. Between sessions, participants apply lessons in real-time, engage in guided assignments, and deepen learning through peer accountability.

Suneel's Videos

https://player.vimeo.com/video/1073546703
Suneel Gupta Speaker Reel 2025
https://player.vimeo.com/video/946224163
Energy Management – What You Bring Matters
https://player.vimeo.com/video/914904062
The Science Behind Tiny Breaks
https://player.vimeo.com/video/1155179296
The Paradox of Recovery
https://player.vimeo.com/video/1008105131
Turning Purpose Into Action
https://player.vimeo.com/video/916709273
What Great Leaders Do Differently
https://player.vimeo.com/video/745366701
Play the Game of Now
https://player.vimeo.com/video/831244607
Powerful Exercise Builds Connection and Support
https://player.vimeo.com/video/786604854
Business Class: Suneel Gupta on Redefining Success

Quotes

On Momentum

Leaders and teams that fizzle out don’t run out of time or talent. What they run out of is energy.

Suneel Gupta

The energy you arrive with directly impacts the energy that others leave with.

Suneel Gupta

Rest is not a reward. It is a resource.

Suneel Gupta

On The Game of Now™

Play the Game of Now™. Take action first and let courage catch up along the way.

Suneel Gupta

You don’t need to know how it ends before you begin. Just start.

Suneel Gupta

We’re waiting to feel certain in a world that no longer offers certainty.

Suneel Gupta

  • I didn’t know what to expect and I’m still in awe. This wasn’t just a keynote – it was a unique experience. I’d strongly recommend that every emerging leader go through this experience; it’s inspirational and transformative.

    President of Human Resources, HARMAN International
  • Suneel Gupta is one of the highest-rated speakers we’ve ever had. But, beyond all of the practical lessons, the lasting impression our audience had was that Suneel is a genuine, caring person who understands leadership challenges. His stories were filled with humility, empathy, and emotion, traits we rarely encounter from our keynote presenters. If you’re looking for an excellent talk delivered with a strong sense of humanity, I recommend Suneel Gupta.

    President, Association for Advancing Automation
  • Suneel is a true master of storytelling and his message was delivered to our audience at just the right time. Suneel’s keynote on beating burnout to drive innovation was timely and his ability to draw in the audience resulted in the highest engagement numbers of all the sessions for our event. Suneel provided the perfect mix of actionable insights with passion for the topic. Attendees left refreshed, energized and appreciative of the experience.

    Freddie Mac
  • Suneel left our team at Walgreens smarter and ready to innovate.

    former Chief Marketing Officer, Walgreens
  • Thought-provoking and inspiring. He resonated deeply with our audience.

    Global Head of Wealth, Dow Jones
  • Suneel was the absolute highlight of the summit! Everyone felt very connected with his messaging and most importantly, it impacted the way we view each other, our roles, and ourselves. ‘The game of now’ was brought up a lot in subsequent sessions during the offsite, and people are still talking about how powerful his storytelling was.

    Executive Business Partner, Google
  • Suneel’s session with the Snacks Extended Leadership team was VERY positive and timely. Leaders commented that it was extremely impactful, helpful tools and the note card activity proved to be emotional and meaningful – realizing you’re not alone. Myself and my HR team are talking through ways to pull through the tools Suneel shared and how as leaders we can find the time to renew our energy and help our teams to do the same. Loved how Suneel through his storytelling gift makes learning memorable!

    Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Campbell’s
  • WOW! Suneel closed out our annual Women’s Leadership Conference with a keynote on building momentum, and it was AMAZING! His content was relevant. His pacing, flow and delivery were flawless. And his authenticity and storytelling had attendees on the edge of their seats. Suneel’s session now ranks as one of the most popular in our 20-conference history, and we are still hearing from attendees about its impact — ‘This was the most amazing and inspiring talk I have ever seen. I was so completely blown away. Wow.’, ‘Absolutely fantastic and so powerful. Loved how personal it was!’ and ‘Absolutely amazing and inspiring!

    Executive Director & Chief Acceleration Officer, Integrating Women Leaders Foundation
  • I’ve been getting such remarkable feedback for the session. It touched me to my soul!

    President & CEO, GHX
  • I received wonderful feedback from people who were in the audience on the impact of your session. They took away a lot of great pearls, like I knew they would. You are an inspiration, and I am so grateful to you for adapting your talk to [focus on] leadership skills. I thought you did that beautifully.

    SVP, U.S. Oncology, Merck

Resources

Social Media