Thought leader is business jargon for an entity that is recognized for having innovative ideas.
The term was coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the Booz Allen Hamilton magazine, Strategy & Business. "Thought leader" was used to designate interview subjects for that magazine who had business ideas that merited attention.[1] Among the first designated "thought leaders" were British management thinker Charles Handy, who advanced the idea of a "portfolio worker" and the "Shamrock Organization"; Stanford economist Paul Romer; and Mitsubishi president Minoru Makihara.