The Economic Times hosted its annual CEO Conclave on 24th June 2021. A virtual event was held since Covid guidelines do not permit large crowds. This event honors leaders who have created growth opportunities not only for themselves or their ecosystem but for the entire nation.
Due to the sudden lockdowns, businesses faced many challenges. In crisis situations like these, the role of a leader becomes significant, since he can guide workers and create a sustainable working environment.
The Economic Times acknowledged such leaders and included them in their “The Economic Times Inspiring CEOs Coffee Table Book 2021”. Several leaders from different sectors, who helped the country cope with the difficult economic conditions and the sudden increase in demand for various tech services participated in the conclave.
In the fireside chat, Dr. Anand Agarwal, CEO, STL, who was awarded the “Inspiring CEO Award” said, “We are seeing multiple interactions with two-way video interactions, Zoom calls going through the roof, but the less obvious thing is the shift of all applications, which has happened to the cloud, whether it is enterprise applications or even basic applications like Office 360. We are connected across locations, across devices.”
Ashish Sukhadeve, Founder and CEO of Analytics Insight was named among the ‘Inspiring CEOs of 2021’. Ashish is a member of the Forbes Business Council and HBR Advisory Council, and an alumnus of the National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. Talking about his company, Ashish said, Analytics Insight helps organizations with data-driven insights to predict emerging trends, build comprehensive strategies, improve existing products, and plan market expansion,”
The MD and CEO of METRO Cash & Carry, the Indian arm of German wholesaler Metro AG, Arvind Mediratta also received the award at ET Now CEO Conclave for his spontaneous response to the trend change induced by Covid-19. He said that online purchasing is on the rise, but its share in the overall FMCG sales remains low. According to the wholesaler, “Kirana shops” were successful during the lockdown, so it planned to create small-format stores geared primarily towards the traders.
Arvind Goel, who was appointed as the CEO and MD of the Tata AutoComp in September 2019 was also awarded for his contributions to mobility solutions. TATA AutoComp provides products and services to the Indian and Global automotive OEMs as well as Tier 1 suppliers. According to the ETAuto website, Goel, who joined the company in the year 2008, has played a key role in the three new Joint Ventures that Tata AutoComp formed and the acquisition of TitanX in December 2016.
There was an increase in the demand for employees with new generation skills like AI and Data Sciences during the pandemic. 52000 freshers were hired by Tech Mahindra in the year 2021. CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra’s MD and CEO, was also presented with the award. “The biggest focus for 2021-22 will be on building talent and we are looking to get people in focused areas such as artificial intelligence, internet of things and also space technology, where it is keen to building a leadership,” he said.
