The world today is in a state of flux - geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, trade wars and environmental crises are converging into an unrelenting storm. In such a landscape, running an enterprise is no longer about operational excellence alone, it’s about human resilience. The role of a leader has fundamentally changed. From being a figurehead or coordinator, the modern leader is now omnipresent, emotionally available, environmentally aware and prepared to manage failure at multiple levels. Drawing on his rich experience, at a recent IMA India CHRO Forum in Delhi NCR, Suresh Narayan, Chairman and MD, Nestle reflected on how leadership must evolve to meet the moment. His message was clear: crises will come, but how an organisation and its leaders respond can define legacies.

Sustainability and ethics are no longer optional 'nice to haves’ but an essential element of long-term business success. Today’s organisations must go beyond minimising their environmental impact and actively integrate ethical practices and sustainability into their core operations. Avery Dennison, a global leader in materials science and digital identification solutions, is at the forefront of this transformation. By optimising labour and supply chain efficiency, reducing waste and driving sustainability, circularity and transparency, Avery Dennison is redefining how brands connect with consumers while making a lasting positive impact on the planet. At a recent ISF session, Saurabh Agarwal, Vice President and General Manager, Materials Group, South Asia, Avery Dennison provided valuable insights into building a responsible, future-ready organisation by embedding sustainability into operations, fostering ethical business practices and creating sustainable products.

The pressure of delivering strong results quarter after quarter can tempt even the best companies to be myopic on ethics and fair business practices. Sometimes, this gives rise to the sort of scandals that can destroy the very foundations of a business. While some may view 'fair practices' as resource-draining and growth-impeding, companies that adopt a values-based approach to ethics and compliance gain a long-term competitive edge in the marketplace. At recent combined sessions of the India CEO, CFO and CHRO Forums across India, Sabina Sudan, a corporate lawyer and active speaker on ethical and legal issues, discussed effective strategies for melding profitable growth with ethical practices, and how organisations can embed ethics into the corporate culture, including in their code of conduct, CSR initiatives and whistle-blower policies.

Despite years of digital transformation, most enterprises remain stuck in what might be termed a ‘digital slum’: a maze of dashboards, siloed systems and disconnected analytics. They are data-rich but insight-poor, paralysed by complexity and unclear on how to translate their massive data reservoirs into real business value. At a recent India CEO Forum session in Mumbai, Dr Shailesh Kumar, Chief Data Scientist at Reliance Jio, laid out a comprehensive blueprint for becoming an AI-first enterprise, one that goes far beyond use cases and shiny GenAI tools. Such a plan would call for a systemic reimagination of workflows, a deep integration of domain and digital knowledge and a cultural pivot from IT mindsets to AI-centric thinking. Dr Kumar argued that the core issue in AI adoption isn’t technology, but insecurity, rigidity and fragmented systems. True transformation begins with people and culture, and the end goal is clear: interoperability.

In an era of increasing organisational complexity and rapid market shifts, the partnership between CFOs and CHROs is more critical than ever. Strategic synergy between Finance and HR fosters resilience, driving sustainable growth and cost efficiency. A well-integrated Finance-HR collaboration enables companies to navigate economic uncertainties while strengthening workforce engagement. At a recent India CHRO Forum session in Bangalore, Abhishek Gupta, Myntra’s CFO, and Govinda Raj MK, its CHRO, shared insights on how their partnership enhances agility and innovation, ensuring businesses remain future-ready. This podcast summarises these discussions.

As AI reshapes the business landscape, CHROs are being called upon to cut through the noise and lead with clarity. This episode brings together two compelling conversations from IMA India’s recent HR sessions. In the first, Naveen Narayanan, Global Head of HR at Biocon Biologics, outlines the CHRO’s evolving role in embedding GenAI into workforce strategy—bridging capability gaps, reframing talent models and redefining value creation.

The second session delves into the growing shift from role-based to skills-based hiring. As organisations respond to automation, digital disruption and AI-led transformation, HR leaders are rethinking what constitutes core capability and how best to develop it—whether in cybersecurity, machine learning, industrial automation or beyond.

This podcast summarises these discussions.

Global investment in smart manufacturing is accelerating, with India emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic markets. As industrial ecosystems evolve, the focus for businesses is shifting from whether to adopt smart technologies to how to scale them effectively. At a recent IMA India CEO Forum session run in collaboration with the EDAG Group, Rainer Wittich, CEO, EDAG Production Solutions, Arnab Roy, CFO, Maruti Suzuki and Rajat Verma, Founder and CEO of LOHUM, explored the advancements driving the next era of industrial innovation and examined how smart solutions are reshaping production, competitiveness and sustainability across high-impact sectors. This podcast summarises these discussions.