AI adoption, reskilling key to future growth: Industry leaders
Industry leaders on Monday said businesses should adapt quickly to changing market conditions and invest in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to build resilience and agile for long-term growth.
Businesses are now operating in an era of uncertainty driven by geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, and rapid regulatory changes, they said while speaking during a panel discussion titled “Leading Through the Next Disruption: Growth, Resilience and Reinvention” organised by the All India Management Association (AIMA).
Vishal Kampani, Senior Vice President, AIMA, and Vice Chairman & Managing Director of JM Financial, said businesses are increasingly facing short-term shocks that require tactical responses in addition to long-term strategy.
“One thing for certain today is that we are going to consistently face uncertainty in every form. Tact in business is becoming as important as strategy,” Kampani said.
On AI funding, Kampani said a large share of global AI investment was going into compute and energy capacity, an area where India would find it difficult to compete with the US and China. India’s bigger opportunity, he said, lay on the application side, drawing a parallel with how the country built its own technology stack and startup ecosystem despite not having built the backbone of the early internet.
Rajiv Vastupal, Group Chairman & Managing Director, Rajiv Petrochemicals, said extreme volatility in crude, shipping and petrochemical prices, which now change multiple times a week, had made forecasting difficult.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic had pushed even older executives to adopt digital communication tools, which in turn accelerated the adoption of AI-linked systems such as ERP software for real-time business data.
Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia Group, said businesses need to continuously reinvent themselves to remain relevant amid changing consumer preferences and technological shifts.
“Growth is for today, resilience is for tomorrow, and reinvention is for the day after tomorrow,” Neotia said, underscoring the need for organisations to prepare for future disruptions rather than merely responding to current challenges.
On artificial intelligence, the panellists broadly agreed that AI needed to be positioned as an enabler rather than a replacement for the workforce.
Shrinivas V Dempo, Chairman, Dempo Group of Companies, whose conglomerate is marking its 80th year, said the biggest change for his generation of leadership was having to act on incomplete information rather than hard data, with trends shifting constantly.
On technology, he said CEOs need not be AI engineers but must be “AI literate” enough to guide their organisations, calling for collaboration with startups, universities and long-standing business partners rather than competition to build AI capability.
Dempo said businesses are facing multiple moving goalposts, ranging from geopolitical developments and supply chain issues to sustainability and regulatory requirements.
However, he said certain fundamentals remain non-negotiable, including maintaining a strong balance sheet, governance standards, credibility and employee trust.
Rajiv Vastupal, Group Chairman and Managing Director of Rajiv Petrochemicals, said volatility in commodity markets has increased significantly due to changing global dynamics.
“Prices are very volatile in petrochemicals, shipping is very volatile, oil supply is very volatile. Every country’s equations are changing every day, making it difficult to judge the market,” Vastupal said.
He noted that businesses across sectors are being forced to adapt to rapidly changing pricing environments and geopolitical uncertainties.
Vinita Bajoria, Chairperson of Nicco Cables, said companies often focus on daily operational challenges, but long-term competitiveness depends on investments in research and development, quality improvement, new products and market expansion.
On AI, Bajoria said the technology has the potential to free employees from repetitive tasks and improve productivity across functions such as quality control, planning and research.
“Only when artificial intelligence is combined with human wisdom and judgement does it give the results that organisations hope for,” she added.
N Satish Reddy, Pro-Chancellor of Aditya University, highlighted the growing challenge of aligning educational outcomes with industry requirements.
