India Inc’s AI Strategy Begins Here
A sneak peek at the inaugural Strategy Shift Forum, where MIT minds, Indian CXOs, and policy leaders unpack how real AI transformation happens, and what’s standing in the way
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MIT Sloan Management Review India will host the Strategy Shift Forum, a gathering of MIT professors, global AI experts, and business leaders, in New Delhi on August 19, to equip Indian leaders with critical insights into navigating the next wave of AI transformation. For more details, speaker announcements, and to request an invitation, visit here.
As Indian companies move from AI pilots to full-scale integration, the inaugural Strategy Shift Forum sets a sharp agenda: clear structure, no platitudes, and a practical view of how AI is being embedded across business, technology, and customer functions.
Powered by Salesforce, the day-long summit, being held on August 19 at The Leela in Gurugram, brings together business leaders, technologists, and researchers from MIT to explore the real-world conditions that make AI strategies work.
MIT’s Neil Thompson opens the day with a keynote on autonomous AI and the structural shifts it demands from organizations. This isn’t a cheerleading pitch; Thompson will spell out why so many AI deployments underperform and what needs to change to turn capability into value.
That will be followed by a Salesforce session on how companies are beginning to rewire internal workflows using digital agents. Mankiran Chowhan, Deepak Pargaonkar, and Gourav Ray from Salesforce will share how their clients are combining human and machine-led teams not as a vision, but as a work-in-progress.
Yugal Kishore Joshi from NITI Aayog will then outline India’s approach to regulating AI, including incentives, policy priorities, and how public and private sector responsibilities are being redefined as AI becomes more autonomous.
From mid-morning, the forum breaks into three tracks, each with a panel discussion and a masterclass.
Intelligent Experience Track
This tracks opens with a discussion on the evolving shape of customer loyalty.
Ashish Tiwari (Home Credit), Dilpreet Singh (ITC Hotels), Satyam Mehra (Tata Digital), and Chander Shekhar (Salesforce) will explore how split-second decisions, emotional intelligence, and generative AI are changing the way brands connect with users.
Patrick Fagan, a behavioral scientist formerly with Cambridge Analytica, follows with a workshop on how brands can design adaptive customer journeys by combining psychographic cues and machine intelligence.
Commercial Growth Track
This track will focus on sales strategy in a high-velocity market.
Prasun Kumar (Magicbricks), Shamik Banerjee (Apollo 24|7), Varun Das (Airtel Digital), and Pargaonkar from Salesforce will discuss discuss deal cycles, forecasting, and smarter pipeline execution.
Capt. Raghu Raman then leads a session on leadership under pressure, drawing on his experience across the armed forces, NATGRID, and corporate India.
AI Innovation Track
This session takes on the back-end challenge of real-time intelligence.
Harvansh Singh Sagar (Axis Max Life), Neeraj Gera (upGrad), Saurabh Tiwari (Policybazaar), and Romil Agarwal (Salesforce) take up the problem of syncing data and triggering smarter action across large tech stacks.
Neil Thompson returns for a second, more technical session on evaluating autonomous AI models and separating real performance from hype.
Additional sessions and speakers are expected to be announced closer to the date.
Whether you’re just getting started or already deep in the weeds with AI, the Strategy Shift Forum is a space to compare notes, ask better questions, and learn from others who are in it too.
Whether you’re getting started or deep into implementation, the Strategy Shift Forum is a space to sharpen your questions, compare notes, and learn from peers tackling similar challenges. Join us in Gurugram on August 19.
