Business Today hosts 'BT Best B-School & HR Summit'

The BT Best B-School & HR Summit saw the best minds in the business discuss and deliberate the skillsets necessary for future business leaders and the evolving nature of management education in the VUCA world, among a host of other issues.

The summit was held at Delhi’s ITC Maurya on June 22, 2023. The highlight of the event was the unveiling of Business Today’s 24^th edition of its India’s Best B-schools issue by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State of Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, in the presence of Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group.

Incidentally, the results of the BT-MDRA India’s Best B-schools Survey 2023, which is the definitive compendium of the best business schools in the country, were broad-based this year to introduce three new categories—one-year MBA courses, executive education programmes, and the best edtech firms that offer management courses—reflecting the evolving nature of management education.  

The proceedings kicked off with businessman-turned-author Ashwin Sanghi decoding how students can master the art of doing business. Next, a discussion with Minister Chandrasekhar revolved around the roadmap needed to impart the necessary skills in the backdrop of the government’s focus on developing a semiconductor ecosystem in India. Further, in light of the recent announcements made by chip-manufacturing companies during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, the minister advised students about the scale of opportunities that will be in India. “If you’re doing an electrical engineering degree or an electronics degree or computer science degree or an MBA or any other degree, you certainly need an industry-specific, domain-specific skill. So, I would ask people that you do an MBA but to also do a certification programme that aligns your broad knowledge to a specific domain capability.”  

Shedding light on how a B-school education can become a great enabler for students looking to build a career in today’s fast-moving world, Pramath Raj Sinha, Founding Dean, Indian School of Business and Founder and Chairman, Harappa Education, said that now students constantly need technical and functional training to keep pace with the ever-evolving world.   

The event also saw sessions where Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad; Prof. Bhaskar Chakrabarti, Dean-Academics, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta; Dr Varun Nagaraj, Dean, SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR); Prof. Sangeeta S. Bhardwaj, Acting Director, MDI Gurgaon; and Fr S. George, S J, Director, XLRI Jamshedpur, discussed how B-schools are keeping up with the times in the age of AI. The discussion revolved around the need to keep reinventing B-school education so that students are better equipped to deal with emerging technologies.   

Next, Ashutosh Gupta, Country Manager–India, LinkedIn, discussed the critical necessity of making the right connections. This was followed by a discussion on the new trends in the future of work, featuring Priyanka Anand, VP and Head of HR, Market Area South East Asia, Oceana and India, Ericsson; Shailesh Singh, Director and Chief People Officer, Max Life Insurance; Prabir Jha, Founder and CEO, Prabir Jha People Advisory; and Dr NS Rajan, Former CEO, IDFC Foundation, Former Group CHRO, Tata Sons and Global Partner, EY. They agreed that the future of work will be defined by flexibility, courage, and a great company culture.  

The event also saw a discussion, featuring Dr N. Venkata Sastry, Director, SRM Institute of Science and Technology and Vinay Padroo, VP HR and Administration, Radico Khaitan, on Remodelling the Education and Skilling Ecosystem, while Aviral Bhatnagar, an alumnus of IIMA and VC Investor, Venture Highway, shed light on how a B-schools education is a boot camp for life.  

Then, a panel consisting of Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-Founder and CEO, Great Learning; Raghav Gupta, MD, Coursera; Pranjal Kumar, Chief Financial Officer, Eruditus Executive Education; and Ranjita Raman; CEO, Jaro Education deliberated on how edtech platforms are making education better.

One interesting takeaway from the discussion was that the demand for Generative AI courses has experienced an unprecedented surge in the past four-five months. The evening wrapped up with a stand-up act by comedian Anmol Garg.  

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