Gupta was born in 1953 in Nadiad, Gujarat, India. He received Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1974 from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. his undergraduate project on the design and implementation of an Electronic Taximeter was one of the two finalists for the best project of that year. In 1980, Gupta received Master of Science in Management from MIT School of Management. His thesis was awarded in Brooks Prize Honorable Mention. In the same year, he received Doctorate of Philosophy in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for his PhD research performed at MIT.