IMA Insights

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.

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.

Sustainability is now a critical imperative for businesses and societies alike, and understanding the prime forces driving this agenda is more important than ever before. From global trends and technological innovations to corporate leadership and evolving policy frameworks, the sustainability landscape is rapidly transforming.  This podcast explains the tangible benefits of embedding sustainability into business practices and discussed how businesses can navigate the complex terrain and driving meaningful change for a sustainable future. 

Compensation is a critical lever for attracting, retaining and motivating talent. In a shifting economic climate, getting it right has never been more important. At a recent IMA India CHRO Forum session in Mumbai, Amit Otwani, Associate Partner and Kavitha Venkatachalam, Director at Aon Human Capital Solutions (HCS), shared insights from Aon’s latest Salary Increase and Turnover Survey. Drawing on global and Indian macroeconomic trends, the discussion explored FY25 increments, pay-for-performance strategies and evolving talent and reward patterns. It also offered a sector-wise view of attrition dynamics and emerging business imperatives shaping workforce strategies. This podcast summarises these discussions.

The Supreme Court of India recently ordered the liquidation of Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), marking a significant development with wide-ranging implications for Corporate India. The case highlights critical issues around procedural rigour, finality in insolvency proceedings and the scope of judicial intervention. At a recent IMA India CFO Forum session, Tine Abraham, Partner, Disputes Practice and Mohammed Shameer, Partner, Disputes Practice at Trilegal, examined the judgment and discussed its potential impact on the corporate and investor community. 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.

At our recent Q1, FY26 CHRO Dialogue session in Mumbai, we explored two important subjects: the role of culture in business transformation; and skill-based hiring in today’s rapidly-evolving landscape. Leading discussions during the first session, and moderating the conversation in thesecond, open-house-style session was Sanjay Menon, Managing Director of Publicis Sapient India and Global Head of Service Lines for SapientRazorfish.

The attached podcast summarises these discussions, but in brief:

• Culture remains the invisible force behind all business transformation – whether successful or otherwise. 
• Purpose anchors change; without it, transformation drifts and loses focus. 
• Rituals, peer stories and visible leadership behaviours drive change. 
• CHROs hold the key to turning culture into an engine of growth.  
• Honest, confrontational and uncomfortable choices protect cultural integrity. 
• Micro cultures, when shaped well, can strengthen innovation without weakening the organisation’s core values.
• Cultural contradictions show up first in how leaders behave, not in what they say. Closing this gap is vital.
• Together, generative AI, regulatory complexity and commoditised markets have made skills-based hiring essential for businesses.
• Data fluency, AI integration, curiosity, agility and an ownership mindset are today non-negotiable enterprise-wide competencies required at all levels to 'do more with less' and buffer against shocks. 
• Human-AI hybridity is essential. Client-facing roles demand human judgement; pragmatic AI adoption is constrained by regulation.
• Progressive CHROs advocate flexible structures, parallel tech leadership tracks, 'culture co-creation' and an HR/CEO partnership for strategic risk-taking.

In an age where volatility is not the exception but the norm, CFOs are being called upon to lead with strategic clarity and operational resilience. At a recent India CFO Forum session in Delhi, two seasoned leaders – Dev Tripathy, CFO of Philips (Indian Subcontinent) and Amit Agarwal, Executive Director and Group CFO of DCM Shriram – unpacked the practical imperatives of risk readiness. Their message was unequivocal: the CFO’s role must expand beyond compliance and control to one of co-piloting the business through systemic uncertainty, technological upheaval and regulatory flux. With the right frameworks, mindset and agility, today’s Finance leaders can not only mitigate risks but turn them into levers of sustainable growth.

The attached podcast summarises these discussions, but in brief:

• In a world marked by systemic volatility, deglobalisation and shifting consumer dynamics, the CFO’s role is evolving rapidly 
• A risk-ready CFO is no longer just a financial gatekeeper but a co-pilot tasked withsafeguarding value, enabling agility and building stakeholder confidence.
• Leading CFOs are deploying structured yet flexible mechanisms to absorb shocks and enable sustained growth.
• As financial and non-financial risks converge, CFOs must reorient toward business-first risk framing, particularly in innovation, reputational exposure and global supply chains.
• AI and digital tools are enhancing visibility and foresight, but CFOs must balance technological optimism with operational realism.
• In an era where the speed of change outpaces strategy, the modern CFO’s mandate is to respond with structured responsiveness and resilient design.

In a landscape where complexity defines the norm, B2B marketers are under increasing pressure to deliver growth through precision, adaptability and measurable impact. At a recent India CMO session, run as an open house moderated by Manish Sinha, CEO of Zamun Services, senior marketing leaders explored the evolving architecture of lead generation, a domain where content strategy, sales alignment and intelligent targeting converge. 

The discussion underscored a clear shift: from chasing leads to designing opportunity. As buying cycles grow longer and stakeholder groups become more fragmented, the imperative is not scale alone, but sophistication. With the right orchestration models and sharper attribution frameworks, marketing can move from a support function to a strategic growth engine.

The attached conclusions paper summarises these discussions, but in brief:

• B2B lead generation is being redefined by the growing complexity of buyer journeys, widening stakeholder groups and rising demand for content-driven trust.
• In the small-and-medium-enterprise segment, challenges around infrastructure readiness, pricing perception and decision latency require nuanced targeting.
• Organisations are shifting from chasing leads to shaping opportunity pipelines, with greater marketing-sales integration and data-enriched pre-sales engagement.
• Today’s sophisticated models blend automation, CRM stitching and agentic AI to assess lead quality and accelerate conversion.
• Measurement is evolving beyond MQL and SQL towards contribution to order book and gross profit, aligning KPIs to real business value.