IIM Shillong's 'Green Turf' and 'Business Leadership Summit' Showcase Rise of Global South

IIM, Shillong recently wrapped up its 14th ‘Learning on the Green Turf’ alongside the 6th Business Leadership Summit, held in conjunction with the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival. The theme, ‘Evolving Horizons of the Global South: Navigating the Confluence of Technology, Talent, and Transformation in the Indian Context’, provided a platform for India's leadership role and enterprises' contributions to the new international orderA

The unique Learning on the Green Turf event, initiated 13 years ago, brought together corporate leaders, professional athletes, and IIM Shillong students. This convergence provided an opportunity for the institute’s students to hone their leadership skills by engaging firsthand with the most accomplished industry leaders, while also contributing to the region by bringing such corporate executives to experience the abundant nature and potential of Northeast India. Alllowing for strategic discussions with 30 industry leaders, diplomats, armed forces officials, the initiative fostered a unique blend of dialogues, interactive sessions, and immersion in the culture of Shillong.

The annual leadership summit, inaugurated virtually by Shri Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), emphasised India's promising market position and its role in the global landscape. He also elaborated on how India's hosting of the G20 has firmly positioned it within the landscape of revamped global progress.

Ms Sudha Natrajan, Director of Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd (Times Group), inaugurated the ‘Learning on the Green Turf’, highlighting India's pivotal role in the Global South and encouraging participants to be change agents.

The summit, guided by Professor DP Goyal, Director, IIM Shillong, aimed to engage, invent, and create influence, setting their students apart. Shri Atul Kulkarni, Member BoG, IIM Shillong, observed, "The North East is the gateway to the South East countries, and Academic institutions are the right place for "churning," experimenting, and interacting with various leaders and leading experts in their fields." He further added, “The vision of IIM Shillong - Deeply rooted in Indian ethos, with a Global vision is synonymous with the Business Leadership Theme and how the institute can act as an ideal platform to offshoot more human-centric economy with a focus on society-centric development and how to integrate the students of tomorrow into the society.”

The 14th Green Turf season featured corporate golfers on the scenic Shillong Golf Course, including Harpreet Duggal, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Vivtera; Dr Hrishikesh Damle, Managing Director & CEO of Atrimed Pharmaceuticals; Krathish Bopanna, Founder Director of SalCorp Health Technologies Limited; Manpreet Sachdev, Founder and CEO of Elite Group; Pratik Potnis, CEO & CTO of BrainCellls; Rakesh Rajora, SVP-Transformation at Intelligent Automation Wells Fargo; Sachin Khanna, Director at SHIKRILDS; Shalini Sankar, National Head at Laqshya Media Group; Sriman Narayan S, Partner-Technology Consulting at EY; and Vignesh Hebbar, Founder and CEO of iLeap.

Industry luminaries participated in panel discussions at the Leadership Summit. The Finance panel featured stalwarts like Anshul Arzare, Managing Director, Yes Bank Securities; Vinod Keni, Managing Director of Peachtree Ventures; and IIM Shillong's own Associate Professor of Economics Amit Prakash Jha, along with moderator Pankaj Doval, National Editor, Times of India. They explored the topic of ‘Advancing Financial Inclusion Through Technology’,

The Systems and Analytics Panel featured Ranjani Mani, Global Analytics Leader, Atlassian; Mr Amit Kumar Srivastava, Head, AI Unit, Fujitsu India; Shwetabh Sushil, Director, Myntra; Vignesh Kumar, Director, Cisco, and Mr Rachit Pradhan, Director, Zee5. They discussed ‘AI Renaissance: Navigating Generative Intelligence’.

The Operations Panel included industry experts such as Atul Kharate, COO, Indian Oil Adani Ventures; Lijosh Jose, Supply Chain Analytics Lead, Mars APMEA; Soumov Kundu, Operations Director - East, DHL, and Nishant Srivastava, Chief Manager-Projects, Siemens, Mobility. The panel focused on the 'Global South’s Role In the Fourth Industrial Revolution’.

The Marketing panel included industry figures such as Shweta Srivastava, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Mahima Garg, Marketing Head India at T&C Amazon Web Services, and Aradhana Mehta, former Head of Marketing at Tasva Aditya Birla Group,TarunTahiliani. The panel delved into ‘Crafting Connections: Weaving Stories in Marketing Mastery’.

The Consulting X HR Panel discussed ‘Synergy for the Future: Unleashing the Global South's Potential in the Tech-Driven Economy’, emphasising balanced and inclusive approaches in embracing the tech-driven future.The panel featured stalwarts from the industry such as Dr SL Raj, Executive VP, Global Business Strategy and HR, Newgen Software, Dr Rupesh Kumar Singh, Partner & COO, EY India, SAP Practice; Prasanth R Krishnan, Director, Avalon Global Research; Sreethala Ganapathy, Vice President, HR JP Morgan Chase, and Vishal Sharma, National Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting India Pvt.

The Business Leadership Summit, 2023, and Learning on the Green Turf concluded successfully, leaving the audience with profound perspectives and connections, poised to shape a future marked by inclusive growth and technological advancement.