04 August 2025, Bengaluru: The who's who of business, government, academia and society converged at IIMBue 2025, the much-awaited leadership conclave hosted by the IIM Bangalore Alumni Association (IIMBAA), here this weekend, to share their perspectives on 'Shifting Realities and Soaring Possibilities' for India.
Workshops, panel discussions, curated break-out sessions and keynotes covering topics ranging from healthcare to human capital to an AI-powered future in business and leadership, by the nation's policymakers and philanthropists, sportspersons and stewards of media, industry chieftains and entrepreneurs, many from IIM Bangalore's vast and vibrant alumni network, marked the two-day conclave which was attended by a record number of delegates from India, the USA, the UK, Dubai, and Singapore.
IIMBue partnered with EnaAble India to make the conclave inclusive. For the first time, the conclave also had a venture pavilion and an author's nook, showcasing the work of the IIMB alumni.
IIMBAA: The power of community
In his welcome note, Deepu Chandran, Convenor, IIMBue 2025, complimented the vast IIMB alumni volunteer network for reinventing and scaling the event. He dwelt on the work that went into putting together breakout sessions on subjects ranging from wellness and mental health to the role of GCCs in leading global innovation from India.
Harish Mittal, President, IIMBAA, shared a story from 2015, when he and 20 fellow alums "dived into a mad idea" – that of putting together a global alumni conclave "without resources". He spoke of how the "mad idea" became a magical event called IIMBue. He also paid rich tributes to the leadership of Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, under whose stewardship IIMB bested global rankings and launched many firsts – the first online UG programme – BBA-DBE (Digital Business & Entrepreneurship), and two four-year UG degree programmes, which will commence in 2026. He also encouraged alumni to play an active part in the IIMB Alumni Association, which "has not only held a record 24 'Anusmarans' or alumni meets in the last year but has always been the go-to place for alumni to share success stories, learn from one other, lean when requiring support, create impact and grow as a community".
IIMBue 2025 was formally inaugurated with the lighting of the lamp by the organizing team and Professor RT Krishnan. In his video message, Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Director In-charge, IIM Bangalore, wished the conclave every success. He also invited the alumni community to the August 6th launch of the Tony James Centre for Private Equity & Venture Capital, at IIM Bangalore. The first-of-its-kind PE & VC Centre of Excellence in the country has been set up at IIMB with the generous support of Mr Mathew Cyriac, alumnus of IIMB and Founder, Florintree Advisors.
Opening address: Dr Devi Shetty
In his opening remarks at IIMBue 2025, Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Founder of Narayana Health, and Chairperson of the Board of Governors at IIM Bangalore, called on the community to embrace tech for better health through yoga, medical regular check-ups and fitness.
Deeming yoga as "India's greatest gift to the world" and drawing from his own experience, Dr Shetty spoke of how yoga helped him recover from knee pain and credited its practice for allowing him to stand for hours at the operating table. He emphasized the need for Indians to stay in touch with nature, stay hydrated and moderate carbohydrate intake. "Keep your medical records on your mobile phone," he said, adding that young people often mistake looking fit for being fit, leading them to make sorry choices in matters of long-term health and wellbeing.
The rise and rise of quick commerce
Moderated by Krishnakumar K, Executive Editor, TV 9 Digital, the panel – comprising PGP 1988 alumnus Vipul Parekh, 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award (DAA) recipient and Co-Founder of Big Basket; Nandita Sinha, CEO, Myntra; and Aditya Anand, Co-founder, Yoga Bar, discussed the new rules of consumer choices.
Vipul called quick commerce "fascinating", noting that Indian consumers now prize turnaround time over price. "The Indian customer is not one big monolithic mass! One customer class is now conditioned for comfort," he remarked. On the dimension of trust, he cited the Tata Group's emphasis on quality and customer experience, sharing how Big Basket built trust by monitoring farms, improving product safety, and introducing a call service that answers within three rings.
On fashion e-commerce, Nandita spoke of service, selection, value and inspiration as four essential pillars for the drastically evolved digitally-driven Gen Z consumer. "Every business platform must factor this change in," she added. Aditya Anand went on to talk about the "value-conscious Indian customer" and their role in transforming legacy businesses. "E-commerce is still in its early days. And there is a general heightened health awareness," he said.
According to Nandita, minimizing errors and listening to the voice of the customer, even at scale, can enhance trust. On the use of AI in conversational commerce, she spoke of how it can identify trends that matter to the consumer.
While Vipul deliberated on the use of machine learning to forecast consumption patterns, Nandita added that the customer will continue to leapfrog, so businesses must be "agile and innovative". The Gen Z consumer, in particular, they collectively agreed, values authenticity, often shaped by immersive engagement enabled by unique media consumption habits.
Felicitation of former directors of IIMB
The panel discussion was followed by a pictorial tribute to Professor Pankaj Chandra and Professor G Raghuram, former directors of IIM Bangalore, who, according to Harish Mittal, "gave IIMBAA space and voice". Professor Pankaj Chandra was honoured by alumni Rahul Rao, PhD 2023, and Mukul Sachan, PGP 2008, in Ahmedabad, and the felicitation was captured live at the event. "In times of uncertainty, academic institutions need to go beyond business education to understand the larger context in which business operates. IIM Bangalore has the DNA to do this, and so does IIMBAA," he said. Professor Pankaj Chandra is the Vice Chancellor of Ahmedabad University.
Saif Qureshi, past president of IIMBAA, felicitated Professor G Raghuram, who was present at IIMBue 2025. "The journey to strengthen our alumni network is a natural and essential one. Today, the spirit of atma nirbharta (self-reliance) can be strengthened in the service sector, especially consulting, accounting and audit, and B-schools and their alumni can contribute towards this, lessening our dependence on the Big Four."
Panel 2: Wellness as a way to life
A panel comprising Saurabh Bothra, CEO & Co-Founder, Habuild; Rishi Pardal, Founder & CEO, Biopeak Health; Shwetambari Shetty, Founder, My Third Space; and Prof. Sourav Mukherji, Dean Faculty and Dean of Alumni Relations & Development, IIM Bangalore, focused on movement and momentum for a healthier future. On the "knowing-doing gap", Prof. Sourav Mukherji, who moderated the panel, underlined the need to make health and fitness a habit.
"A gym is not the only place for fitness but when you do something as a community and with an accountability coach/ partner then you are sure to be more consistent," explained Shwetambari, pointing to data which shows individuals get intimidated when they enter a gym alone but when it is a community activity, the barriers fall away. On the subject of women's health, she spoke of the need for strength training in women.
Saurabh shared simple hacks such as carving out even 5–10 minutes for oneself and resisting the 'all or nothing' perfection trap, while Rishi emphasized the need for customization and milestone-based interventions and testing in health and fitness.
When asked if fitness is an urban bubble, Saurabh responded that, in his experience, it is a habit that is also picking up in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Panel 3: AI-powered future
Dr. Pratyush Kumar, Founder of Sarvam, Vrushali Prasade, Founder of Pixis, Dr. Manish Gupta, Sr. Director, Google DeepMind, and Harsha Angeri, PGP 2001 and VP & Head of AI Business Corp. Strategy at Subex, examined whether Generative AI is sufficient to drive meaningful transformation in business and society.
While Vrushali described GenAI as "largely assistive," Manish welcomed this notion, saying: "I would rather have AI augment human capabilities than compete with humans."
Pratyush clarified, "Think of AI as machines, and by defining and measuring, these machines/ models can be optimized. As cognitive technology is increasingly adopted, there will be a greater intersection between people building these models and those using them".
On the use of global models vs specialized models, Harsha raised concerns around privacy and asked the question, "Do we need a sovereign LLM?" Pointing out that it is not the model as an output that is important, Pratyush said, as a country, India needs infrastructure (cost of access to intelligence), innovation ecosystems and innovation playgrounds to crank up the flywheel. "We are in the early stages of investment in this field, and we need to have bigger ambitions".
Meanwhile, Manish called for bold leadership and greater R&D investment, noting India lags far behind peers like China. "We need to wake up and start investing in research," he observed. He added by saying that it is important for companies out of India to become global leaders in foundational technology, and not be limited to India".
Panel 4: India's talent advantage
Hitesh Oberoi, MD & CEO, InfoEdge; Satish Betadpur, Sr. MD, State Street Investment Management; Monica S Prigal, CEO, Bhartiya Converge; and Ankur Mittal, CTO and MD, Lowe's India, deliberated on India's journey from being the world's back office to becoming a global innovator. "Almost 35 per cent of Lowe's corporate workforce sits out of India, and almost 80 percent of our AI work is done from here," revealed Ankur, adding that the cost of doing business in India is 60 per cent cheaper and five times more stable. "The game has changed drastically as GCCs in India are moving into a very different segment – be it marketing or technology, these capabilities are all grown in India, and India is driving innovation, front and centre."
Hitesh drew attention to India's transformation over the past two decades, where entrepreneurship is now a perfectly acceptable career choice, VC funding is robust, and specialized jobs are growing across sectors like engineering, infrastructure, travel and tourism, and healthcare, apart from AI & ML. "The economy is diversifying and sectors including manufacturing, defence and space, and GCCs are creating high value jobs or innovator roles. We are seeing massive opportunities for data scientists, design engineers, clinical research scientists, and machine learning experts", he said.
Echoing Hitesh, Satish said India is being looked at as a strategic market to be invested in. "In my own vertical at Lowe India, we are no longer a cost centre but a profit centre".
On how talent is made AI-ready, the panellists drew examples from their own organizations. "We are starting at the very top. Top leadership at Lowe's is attending AI workshops at MIT so that they understand what an associate is saying," smiled Ankur. However, Satish pointed out certain barriers to adoption. For instance, AI in financial services has to be approved by federal agencies. "While we do not use cloud data or put our data on the cloud, we do use it for performance attribution and market conversations," he added.
The Art of Giving
"People are generous because they want to belong to a society in which they would love to live. Who wants to live in an unequal society?" asked Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, as she delivered the keynote address on 'Giving and Creating Impact' at IIMBue 2025.
She traced her association with IIMB back to 1995, when she and Nandan Nilekani moved to the City. Her journey of giving, which began with one scholarship, has grown to a global initiative across the world through the EkStep Foundation. "I began by giving one scholarship to one girl in my neighbourhood and it has taken 35 years to get to a point where we, as EkStep Foundation, have just set up scholarship funds across five countries."
"It is never too late to set up the family value of your own – one of giving," she said, revealing that her own two children are on the board of the foundation with their own priority areas of philanthropy.
In some way, she reflected, Nandan and she, in 2014, set up EkStep Foundation and Diksha, by starting small, innovating at scale and distributing the ability to solve challenges. "The idea is to restore agency, enhance dignity and enable choice." Urging everyone in the room to take a pledge to heal our home – planet earth, by giving, she promised that their journey would be joyful.
'Success is the freedom to choose'
During a candid discussion on 'Redefining Success: Balance, Wellbeing & the Evolving Sense of Self', panellists Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies; Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder of Snapdeal; and Renuka Vaidyanathan, Director, Being Sattvaa, revisited conventional definitions of success.
Renuka confessed that her idea of doing well in life has evolved to include relationships, community and transformation, not just the corner C-suite or that coveted club membership. Meanwhile, success, Rohini suggested, is best defined by the opportunities you help create for others. "Great leaders are remembered for their legacy – of setting up hospitals, schools and universities, and creating opportunities for others."
Rohit went on to say that success, to him, is freedom of choice. "It is that freedom to choose to spend a lot of money and go back to the village that I once left for a better opportunity!" he quipped. He pushed back on the myth of deferred happiness: "Thankfully, I figured out this game very soon and decided that I would always enjoy my present. I would study, but I would also watch a movie and hang out with friends because I did not want to carry the regret that I postponed my happiness."
On the need to review one's decisions and pivot when required, Rohit talked of how Snapdeal pivoted from a coupon business to e-commerce. "We read the writing on the wall and we reimagined our success."
Music for social impact: Ricky Kej
Grammy award-winning composer and UN Goodwill Ambassador Dr Ricky Kej followed with a session revisiting his journey from a small town in North Carolina to the global stage. The musician spoke of being mesmerised by his doctor-father's collection of world music on cassettes, LPs and even cartridges. "12th grade, I decided to become a professional musician. My father liked my music, but he was horrified by my decision", Kej quipped.
Initially creating music commercially, he later pivoted to composing for causes like climate action and sustainability. "I was an angry activist at the time. Travel and exposure to different cultures made me wiser. I decided to craft my own narrative to communicate through music and I realised that the Global South has stories of survival to headline. I decided to tell these immediate and urgent stories through my music."
He concluded his talk with a song in Sanskrit, called 'Kudrat', on the human-elephant conflict in India.
Mentorship, the Gopichand way, comes deep from the heart
In the final session on Day One of IIMBue 2025, P. Gopichand, Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team, discussed how mentorship, a silent catalyst, can fuel breakthroughs, in a conversation with Madhusudhan Sai, humanitarian, and Krishnakumar K, journalist.
Winning the All-England Championship in 2001 made him realise many others had similar potential. Coaching, he said, was not a conscious choice but a calling he embraced. "After my time as a player, I got the opportunity to be a commentator, but I took up coaching as a challenge after a conversation with the then-head coach, Puri sir. (Parupalli) Kashyap was my oldest student at 16 years of age, (P.V.) Sindhu was nine! I looked at them and I saw greatness", he recounted.
In the process of mentorship, Gopichand described the function as one of feeling and fostering a strong sense of belonging. "You, as a coach, need to believe in them more than they believe in themselves. It happens deep from the heart, not from the mind", he noted. To this, Madhusudhan Sai added, "When the disciple is ready, the guru appears, and when the disciple is really ready, the guru disappears!"
When asked about coaching his own children, two of India's top 10 badminton players, Gopichand simply called it "supreme grace." He concluded, "The joy of pursuing the path to perfection is very important. It is important to push people to their boundaries and to also bring them back to sanity. At the end, you should be able to put your hand on your heart and say, 'I did my best'. To me, that pursuit is important."
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