All thanks to IMI Kolkata that hosted a thought leadership meet -- the 19th ISDSI Global Conference -- which witnessed a gathering of India’s top B-school directors, global scholars, accreditation bodies, policymakers, CEOs, investors, and startup founders.
Over four intensive days, the conference reframed innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability as urgent, actionable priorities, firmly positioning IMI Kolkata at the centre of national and global conversations on technology-enabled sustainability, the future of management education, and India’s roadmap to Viksit Bharat 2047.
With participation from 26 countries, the conference received 1,218 research papers and 220 business and startup ideas, spanning all 21 IIMs, leading IITs, universities, business schools, and incubators. The sheer scale and diversity of engagement reinforced ISDSI’s stature as one of the world’s most significant management research platforms hosted in India.
The conference featured high-impact panels and plenary sessions with heads and senior leaders from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Tiruchirappalli, IIM Ranchi, IIM Sambalpur, SPJIMR, FORE School of Management, IMT Ghaziabad, IMT Hyderabad, IIT Kharagpur (VG-SOM), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, and IILM.
Global academic leadership was represented by eminent scholars including Prof Angappa Gunasekaran (Penn State Harrisburg, USA), Prof Mahesh Gupta (University of Louisville, USA), Prof Ramachandran Natarajan (Tennessee Tech University, USA), and Prof Arun Elias (Victoria University, New Zealand), alongside Indian academic leaders. International accreditation bodies added further gravitas, with participation from EFMD, AACSB, and AMBA-BGA.
Industry and policy perspectives were strongly embedded through the participation of senior leaders from Damodar Valley Corporation, MP Birla Group, Ori-Plast, and other organisations, underscoring the conference’s deep integration of academia, industry, and public policy.
The inaugural session set the tone with an address by Prof Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIM Ahmedabad, on “Tech for Net Zero: Digital Solutions for a Sustainable Planet.” He observed, “In the last few decades, waves of technology have transformed the way business is done globally. India must now harness technology for the greater good of society and the nation, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat.”
The session also featured Prof Bhimaraya Metri, President, ISDSI-Global & Director, IIM Nagpur, and Prof Mohua Banerjee, Chief Patron, ISDSI-Global 2025 & Director, IMI Kolkata, with conference milestones outlined by Rohit Singh, Conference Chair, and Prof Ravi Jain, Secretary General, ISDSI-Global.
Two Directors’ Panels emerged as intellectual anchors of the conference. The first, focused on Technology, Digitalization, and the Future of Indian MBA Education, brought together leaders from IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Sambalpur, IILM, IMT Ghaziabad, and LM Thapar SOM, moderated by Amit Agnihotri, Founder, MBAUniverse.com.
The discussion underscored that while AI will redefine productivity and decision-making, management education must emphasise learning agility, judgement, and long-term career resilience.
The second Directors’ Panel, on B-Schools as Engines of India’s Net-Zero Transition, was moderated by Prof. Mohua Banerjee and featured leaders from IIM Ranchi, SPJIMR, FORE, IIT Kharagpur (VG-SOM), IMT Hyderabad, and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.
Panelists reached a clear consensus on embedding sustainability across curriculum, campus operations, research, faculty development, and industry engagement, signalling a decisive shift from intent to execution.
A dedicated panel on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS): Management Through Wisdom brought together Prof B Mahadevan, Prof Vidyanand Jha, Prof Manish Singhal, and Prof Ajay Jain, moderated by Prof Pawan Kumar Singh. The discussion positioned IKS as a powerful, context-driven framework for modern leadership, highlighting how ancient wisdom can address contemporary organisational challenges and enhance individual well-being.
In a major first, IMI Kolkata launched a Global Investment Summit under its incubator, IKN Innovation Foundation. Over two months, startups were mentored on product-market fit, fundraising strategy, founder readiness, and the strategic use of AI.
At the summit, 57 startups pitched to investors, resulting in nine startups securing Rs. 5.1 crore in investment commitments, translating academic engagement into tangible entrepreneurial outcomes.
Another landmark outcome was the launch of Grameen NEEV, a sustainability accelerator jointly established by IKN Innovation Foundation and Grameen Foundation for Social Impact. The initiative aims to empower underserved communities through structured learning, mentoring, and capacity-building, reinforcing the conference’s commitment to inclusive, impact-driven sustainability.
A keynote address by Rajendran Dandapani, founding team member at Zoho Corporation, highlighted the need for organisations to become net-positive contributors to society, drawing from Zoho’s long-standing philosophy of responsible growth. An ESG Masterclass, led by Rajendra Shende and Saket Sah, showcased practical pathways toward net-zero campuses and experiential sustainability learning.
The conference also hosted a Doctoral Colloquium and research workshops, offering structured mentoring to early-career researchers from India and abroad, further strengthening ISDSI-Global’s mission to build global research capacity.
Concluding the conference, Prof Mohua Banerjee, Director, IMI Kolkata, stated, “Hosting the 19th ISDSI-Global Conference allowed us to strengthen our collaborative ties with a multidisciplinary global community of scholars, practitioners and industry leaders. IMI Kolkata is proud to provide a platform where rigorous research, impactful dialogue and future-oriented solutions converge.”
Offering the final word, Prof Bhimaraya Metri, President, ISDSI-Global, remarked, “The ISDSI community has consistently fostered research culture worldwide. The 2025 conference at IMI Kolkata marks a landmark success, and we thank the Director and IMI team for delivering a conference of global standing.”
