India poised to emerge as tech leader, says Tata Sons chief

e-graduation ceremony of Indian School of Business held

ISB Dean Madan Pillutla conferring gold medals to Tanya Sri Yerra of Hyderabad campus for topping the class.

Tata Sons Chairman N.Chandrasekaran on Friday said the present geo-political context provides an unparalleled opportunity for the country to navigate the world order and take lead in becoming the next technology leader.

Stating that he believes India to emerge as global leader in research and development (R&D), science and technology, AI, manufacturing and next generation products and services in the coming decade, Mr. Chandrasekaran said while right human capital and scale were available, the need was to make right investments.

“All we need is right leadership, shift in mindset and to make right investments,” he said, addressing the e-graduation ceremony of Indian School of Business (ISB).

Pointing to how China with its focus on a tectonic shift in manufacturing grew its economy from $1.2 trillion to $6 trillion in 10 years from 2000, he said “this is a decade of consequence for us as a nation... we can become a world leader in technology.” India has what it takes to be a technology leader and demonstrated this in IT services. “Now, we have the skills and talent to lead in hi-tech, 5G, AI, data and robotics,” he said.

COVID, he added, has been a tremendous catalyst in terms of adoption of digital technologies at an unbelievable rate.

ISB in a release said it was the 20th Graduation Day. A total of 692 students -- Hyderabad campus (481) and Mohali campus (211) graduated. Students of PGP (class of 2021), FPM (Fellow Programme in Management) and founding class of EFPM (Executive Fellow Programme in Management) took part in the e-graduation ceremony.

Dean Madan Pillutla said "after completing two decades of meaningful and eventful years of national contribution, ISB is in for more promising and exciting times ahead.”

Siddhant Gupta from the Mohali campus and Tanya Sri Yerra from the Hyderabad campus received gold medals for topping the class. ISB Parmeshwar Godrej Award, given to an exemplary woman student with a strong commitment to social causes, was presented to Ridhi Vohra from Co2021, the release said.