Type Faces: Meet Neeraj Gulati.

Welcome to our Type Faces series, where we’ll be sharing the stories of some of the fabulous people behind the type here at Monotype. From all around the globe and across the organization, our Monotype colleagues truly prove that, like Charles Nix, Senior Executive Creative Director at Monotype, always says, “We are ALL creative.”

Introducing Neeraj Gulati: a compassionate futurist, Neeraj is a curious free thinker, a passionate advocate for universal education, and a nature enthusiast. His lifelong disdain for the status quo and his “dream big” mindset have guided him through a diverse range of professional paths, including the one that brought him to Monotype as Senior Vice President, Chief AI Officer, and India Managing Director. Read on to learn more about Neeraj.

Portrait of Neeraj Gulati.

We’re all inspired by different things in life. Who or what inspires you? 
In 1947, India split into two nations, leading to widespread upheaval. One fateful night, my father and his parents lost everything and became refugees, an event that profoundly altered the course of our family’s history and their approach to life.

Neeraj’s older brother and his parents.

As they were falling through the abyss, a few guardian angels came to their rescue. A small group of teachers worked very hard to help my dad catch up on the few years of education he had lost, rekindled his dreams, and transformed him into a curious and joyful lifelong learner. This gift brought our family back on its feet and they never looked back.  

Neeraj (right) and his elder brother (left) as young children.

To this day, my dad talks about how we as a family owe a huge debt to the world for the good lives we’ve lived. Those super committed, selfless teachers of his, who unlocked his potential and whom I have never met, have been a huge inspiration for me.

Education has had such a positive impact on your life and that of your family — how have you made efforts to “pay it forward” for others?
My father’s life journey has shaped my mindset and my leadership style. I have always been in awe of the power and potential of the human spirit.  

Since my time on this planet is limited, I only do things that have the potential for massive scale. I have tried to repay that debt my father used to speak of by seeing what I could do for the education system in India where millions of kids are falling through the abyss, just like my father was at the refugee camp. I thought maybe I’d start a non-profit, but that would never be able to help each of the more than a million such kids in India. So, I pursued making the change from within the government to have a bigger impact.

My first foray into unleashing the human spirit in schools at scale was called Tod Fod Jod, Hindi words which in English mean to tear down and to make. Its goal and tagline was: “to build a nation of creators, not just consumers.”

65% of India is less than 35 years old. This demographic dividend could easily turn into a nightmare if employment opportunities don’t keep up. The Tod Fod Jod mission and tagline transformed in my mind due to this. It was now build a nation of job creators, not just job seekers.

I proposed an experiential entrepreneurship curriculum to the education minister of the state of Delhi. We quickly created a core team; five months later, we had a new Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) pilot at 20 schools, then refined it and kept expanding. In the next school year 600,000 kids from 1,010 Delhi Government schools were taking the EMC class daily. 

The Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) debuted at Modern School in 2013.

You prioritize learning new ideas. One way we connect with new ideas, especially as adults, is through reading. Any books you would recommend?
Like with Tod Fod Jod and the EMC, I am constantly seeking new ideas on helping people unleash their potential. Daniel Pink’s “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” is a goldmine. It revolves around the idea that traditional rewards and punishments, or extrinsic motivators, are not as effective in driving performance and creativity as we once thought. Pink argues that the key to motivation lies in three intrinsic factors:

1. Autonomy: The desire to direct our own lives. 
2. Mastery: The urge to get better at something that matters. 
3. Purpose: The need to contribute to something larger than ourselves. 

Pink suggests that by focusing on these intrinsic motivators, businesses and individuals can achieve greater creativity, engagement, and fulfilment, particularly in today’s rapidly changing world.

You have such a strong focus on giving back to India. What do you love about where you live?
I’m a trees, lakes, and mountains kind of person. I spent many summers in the Himalayas, enjoying the smell of pine and walking through the dew — the mountains is where I find my bliss. 

Enjoying nature on a trip to the mountains around Seattle, WA.

For a while I lived in Ottawa, Canada, where we were surrounded by thousands of acres of pristine nature. While living in the San Francisco Bay area, we were also surrounded by amazing nature and hikes. Today, I live in Delhi, seven hours away from the mountains, a city of 20 million people. 

When I moved here in 2005, I bought an apartment in a distant suburban community that has lungs. It’s our 1,000-acre oasis. It does get monotonous to walk the same tracks every day, but it gives me at least some sense of pristineness and nature. We’ve had many encounters with peacocks and snakes!

Hiking with the family.

The best part about living in India is the sheer number and scale of challenging unsolved problems here and the immense untapped potential of its people. It’s like being at the right place at the right time. Bringing Generative AI into the mix and seeing the possibilities to solve some of these problems at scale becomes a clear and present possibility! 

What brought you back to India?
I have a sibling who lives with his family in the US. My wife is an only child, and we both wanted to spend more time with our parents, all of whom are based in India. My son got to see them every day from the age of five until he was 18 years old. That was a wonderful thing.

The Gulati family.

Do you have a favorite family recipe?
Yes! It’s the simplest of desserts — just three ingredients: ghee, wheat flour, and sugar — called halwa. Very simple, a timeless recipe of people from Punjab, perfected by my grandmother.

Is there anything you like to collect?
I tend to collect musical instruments. I get really into an instrument. I get good, get obsessed, even, and then I lose interest. But singing has stuck with me! I’m a compulsive singer to the extent that it creates trouble in the family. I sometimes get going late at night. Until Covid hit, I was part of a singing club as well. The joy of discovering together, the deep meaning of songs, its connection to our pasts is blissful.

As a creative person, how do you bring creativity to your role at Monotype?
I’m responsible for Monotype’s business and investment in India, as well as our work in artificial intelligence (AI). 

A brainstorming session at the Monotype office in India.

As one of the leaders of this organization, I have had the opportunity to leverage my creativity to establish a nurturing culture and fertile environment for both the top talent we have and those we aim to attract — by harnessing the intrinsic motivations of top talent to do their best work. We are also in the process of setting up an internal incubator at Monotype to help folks spread their wings freely, usher in new ideas, and build a lasting culture of “intrapreneurship.” 

Neeraj and his colleagues.

When it comes to AI, we are in an unprecedented time in human history. Generative AI and one of my nieces were born about the same time. While my niece is still learning the alphabets, Generative AI has cleared the bar exam, is multilingual, and is doing very well in software development, reasoning, and more. The potential of this generation of AI is hitherto unimagined. 

Because this a subject of great interest to Monotype, in our recently launched trends report, Re:Vision, Future Typography, we explore AI, typography, and the future of creative workflows in our “Human Types” theme. We’ll also be talking more about this in April as part of our “Human Types” activation launch, so look for some exciting announcements around that time.

The Monotype team sharing a meal.

What do you love about your job? 
There are many things. One is getting the freedom to imagine and the freedom to make mistakes. I have a hard time living in the present because I’ve never been on friendly terms with the status quo. I find it much more joyful to live in the tomorrow.

Another thing I love is the opportunity to go far and wide on a global playing field, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Japan, Singapore, and Spain. We’re serving amazing clients across the world.

And yet, this is not a huge company. I can’t see myself working at a large organization where I’d just be a cog. But here, I have a 360-degree view of the business, which means that I can experiment and innovate to impact it, transform it, and see that impact relatively quickly. And, of course, I get to do that with some incredible people. 

The Gulati family on vacation in Malaysia in 2009.

What do you find interesting about typography? 
I have always been smitten by design and, over the last decade, also with type and how it impacts the human experience. I think type is one of the most fundamental elements of the human visual experience in the post-modern world. Type surrounds us and steers our feelings. Think of a stop sign — everything about it really makes you stop in your tracks. When it comes to branding, in many cases, typography really shapes the core of the brand. And there’s so much more to be done in the world of type, e.g., personalization based on the individual needs and preferences of the individual consuming it. 

What’s a font you love and why? 
Zapfino has a thoughtful, casual, and delightful disregard for the creative norms that are the typical foundation for every typeface. Different characters sit slightly higher or lower than the baseline; characters seem to flow freely like the wind, exactly how I like to think, act, and live.

Zapfino is multi-dextrous — for example, it has four formations of the character “g” alone. As an ambidextrous person, I really identify with this. I dream of “super Zapfino” typefaces that re-shape themselves according to the reader’s mood, ambient conditions, and vitals.

I also love graffiti. To me, graffiti is a manifestation of the human creative expression, mixed with the amazing taste of “forbidden fruit.” Like art and architecture, it’s a legacy of creativity and commentary on the human condition by (mostly) the youth of society. 

Graffiti Neeraj spotted recently in Barcelona, Spain.

I find myself taking pictures of graffiti during my travels with the same excitement I have when taking pictures of nature or monuments. I believe every home should have a few walls with full access to the family to scribble, sketch, and color to give form to their imagination. Set minds and imagination free!