The 11th edition of “Isha Insight: The DNA of Success” by Isha Leadership Academy got off to a scintillating start when Thampy Koshy, CEO, Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) declared unequivocally, “E-Commerce, as we know it today, is going to be irrelevant,” elaborating on the ONDC mission, he said. “My ultimate dream for the transformation of commerce is that every type of seller should be able to make their products visible to an Open Network using a common protocol.”
Setting the tone for Isha Insight 2022, hosted at Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore, Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation encouraged the participants to build the ability to bring a distance in the way they view things.
“If you want to run your business. You must be in a state of Mukti - that nothing touches you but you're absolutely involved, never entangled,” he explained. “If one does not bring the distance from everything that we are doing - above all, the times in which we exist - we will never see reality as it is. We will be a consequence of the wisdom of time and many times the tyranny of times.”
The session by Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon'ble Union Jal Shakti Minister, provided a deep insight on how the Central government was prioritising and pacing Jal Jeevan Mission which aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households in rural India by 2024.
“India’s estimated investment in the water sector from 2019 to 2024 at $210 billion is the highest in the world,” he projected, further sharing that 16% of Indian Households in 2019 had access to tap water connection which has now grown to 54%. To ensure water quality in the rural parts, the ministry is engaging the rural community and leveraging technology to craft innovative solutions. It embarked on creating water and sanitation committees in each and every village. “We started training the ladies in the villages and gave them hand-held devices to test the quality on all basic 12 parameters. They can test the water in their village frequently…. Online real-time report of the quality of the water which is being distributed comes to my office. Everything, whatever I'm talking about, the entire mission is in the public domain,” explained Shri Shekhawat.
One of the most awaited speakers of Isha Insight 2022 Sonam Wangchuk, Director, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL) renowned for his innovations and interventions in the field of education simplified the meaning of true entrepreneurship.
"Entrepreneurs, to me, are not those who just make money and more money. Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. If you are not problem solvers, you are not entrepreneurs. Secondly, if you're making money, and even problem-solving, you're not a good entrepreneur. You have to be helping others come up with you. Then you are true entrepreneurs."
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CEO and MD, Bandhan Bank, mesmerised the participants with his grassroot, conventional wisdom acquired during building a Bank from the scratch.
“Because India is a big country, if you do not play to scale, there is no impact on the country,” he said matter-of-factly. “So if I want to scale, the first thing I have to do is simplify the process, the system and the product; which is easily understood by my customers the majority of which are not literate.”
In contrast, the 34-year-old Gautam Saraogi, Founder and CEO, GoColours, outlined how he took GoColours to an the IPO route, in the midst of Covid pandemic, and without diversifying the product line.
"One of the reasons why we have not gone in and opened a separate format is because we see enough growth in this category... in which we have a market share of less than 8%. We feel - DO ONE THING, BUT DO IT BIG," he said unequivocally, building on the nitty-gritty of creating a Rs 6,000 crore business in less than a decade.
Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder, AceVector Group (Snapdeal, Unicommerce and Stellaro) was almost ascetic in his deliberations, urging the entrepreneurs to look at the people’s aspirations and align to the country’s vision, while addressing a pain point.
“In the next 20 years, most of the software products being bought around the world will be #MadeInIndia,” he forecasted. “And that will be a moment of great pride for all of us! ….No country in the world is as digitised as ours. UPI or ONDC, Aadhaar, or Account aggregator India stack, India health stack - these are unheard of to folks across the world outside India... and this is just the start for us. We are feeling invigorated and excited about the future. What a time to be alive in India right now!”
Given the national - and to a great extent international - thrust to see the Manufacturing space grow exponentially, Arvind Melligeri, Chairman and CEO, Aequs, held the participants spellbound with the story of a aviation manufacturing hub in Belgaum, Karnataka.
“Every aircraft somebody flying around the world - business jet or commercial jet - has a part going from Belgaum. We deliver directly to the final assembly line of Airbus in Toulouse. Every 48 hours. We make main landing gear for France facility. And we make a lot of actuators...almost all the actuators - when you land, the flaps that move up and forth - come out of Belgaum. So if we shut down they cannot deliver. This is the whole global ecosystem.”
Isha Insight 2022, a four-day business leadership intensive program, conducted by Isha Leadership Academy, encompassed an illustrious set of speakers who shared their deep insights with close to 200 business leaders who are participating in this year’s Isha Insight. Over 20 Resource Leaders - business veterans and entrepreneurs from varied industries, brought in key insights from their respective industries.
Over the past decade, “Isha Insight: The DNA of Success” has become one of the most sought-after business leadership programs in the world. Previously, program participants have been mentored by veterans like Ratan Tata, NR Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, GM Rao, KV Kamath, Ajay Piramal, Harsh Mariwala, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Bhavish Aggarwal, Pawan Goenka among several others.
