India's Most Exclusive Gathering of Top CXOs.
- To be Announced
- To be Announced
- To be Announced
CXO Conclave, Mumbai 2026-27
- 29th September 2026
- MCA Club, BKC, Mumbai
Highlights from the CXO Conclave Mumbai
Key Learnings from the Leadership Factories of India® Case Study:
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited
Grow Leaders Ahead of Business Growth
As Motilal Oswal Financial Services scaled rapidly, it recognised that leadership supply could become a constraint on growth. The organisation deliberately built a 60:40 ratio of internal leaders to external hires, ensuring leadership capability grew alongside business demand. Key learning: Sustainable scale requires building leaders before the business needs them.
Create One Talent Language Across Businesses
With seven diverse business lines, inconsistent talent assessment could easily become a challenge. Motilal Oswal Financial Services addressed this through one common framework — Ownership, Growth, Learning, and People — embedded across hiring, development and promotions. This created greater consistency in leadership decisions and enabled talent mobility across businesses. Key learning: One leadership framework creates consistency across a diverse organisation.
Build Talent Systems That Outlast Individuals
Succession planning was converted from a founder-led process into a structured organisational system. Through Business Talent Councils and an Apex Talent Council, the organisation invested 200+ man-hours annually in talent decisions and identified successors before vacancies arose. Key learning: Talent strategy must be owned by systems and processes, not individuals.
Make Assessment Development-Led, Not Fear-Led
Leadership development was positioned as an opportunity for growth rather than an exercise in judgment. Programs included action learning projects, teachbacks and three-way development conversations, supported by clear actions, reviews and sign-offs. Key learning: When assessment feels developmental rather than threatening, talent conversations become more meaningful.
Connect Talent Metrics to Business Decisions
Motilal Oswal Financial Services tracked a Talent Matrix of 10 key metrics, including:
- 96% new joinee success rate
- 95% role movement success
- 60:40 build-to-buy ratio of successors
- 40% of key roles filled by ready-now successors
- 90% retention of top talent
- Each metric was designed to support specific talent and business decisions.
Key learning: Talent metrics become valuable when they drive decisions, not just dashboards.
Key Learnings from the Fireside Chat
with Nitin Paranjpe and Kavindra Mishra
1. Stop Building Organisations Around Hero Leaders. Build Leadership at Every Level.
Great organisations cannot depend on a handful of exceptional leaders. The real test of leadership is whether people across the organisation have the power, context and ownership to make decisions and drive the business forward.
2. People Don’t Resist Change. They Resist Change They Don’t Believe In.
Knowing why change is necessary does not automatically change behaviour. Leaders need to create a compelling reason and cause, connect it to the organisation’s purpose, and build a culture where people believe they can collectively make the change happen.
3. The Future Belongs to Leaders Who Enable, Not Control.
As information becomes increasingly democratised, traditional top-down leadership becomes less effective. Great People Managers create space for younger talent, encourage experimentation and enable people to fly rather than block them.
4. When Ambition Is Greater Than Resources, Innovation Begins.
An entrepreneurial mindset is about doing more with less—experimenting, simplifying the business model and being willing to learn through failure. Organisations create innovation when they give people the freedom to try, learn and discover what works.
5. Leadership Doesn’t Change. The Context Around It Does.
The core essence of leadership—building trust, creating clarity and bringing people together—remains constant. What has changed is the context: information is instant, organisations are flatter, and employees expect to understand the “why” behind every action. Great leaders adapt their approach without losing sight of the fundamentals.
In essence, leadership is about responsibility, accountability, and the ability to
navigate challenges while fostering growth and innovation within both oneself
and the organization.
Speakers
Nitin Paranjpe
Non-Executive Chairman,
Hindustan Unilever
Mr. Kavindra Mishra
MD & CEO,
Shoppers’ Stop
Niren Srivastava
Group CHRO,
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited
CXO Conclave Highlights
Explore the captivating moments from our CXO Conclaves
CXO Conclave, Mumbai
- Thursday, 21st November 2024
- MCA Club, BKC, Mumbai
Key Learnings From The Case Study
Presented by Samik Basu, CHRO , Hindalco Industries Ltd (The Aditya Birla Group)
Cultural and Business Alignment
They have multiple initiatives focussed on effectively bridging the gap between strategy and culture, steering the company towards customer-centric and downstream-focused business objectives.
Building a Future-Ready Organization
The company focused on robust succession management and internal talent development. With over 1,000 unique successors identified for critical roles, internal mobility rates of 10-15%, and tailored career paths, Hindalco Industries Ltd (The Aditya Birla Group) prioritized a strong internal talent pipeline and capability enhancements.
Sustaining Transformation
Hindalco Industries Ltd (The Aditya Birla Group) overcame challenges such as reaching the "last mile" by creating internal change agents and ensuring positive reinforcement through rituals and cascading mechanisms. Transformation was treated as a multi-year, resource-intensive exercise requiring leadership sponsorship and patience for long-term success.
Key learnings from the fireside chat
With Rajesh Jejurikar, ED & CEO of Mahindra Group, and Dr. Anil Khandelwal,
former CMD of Bank of Baroda, in conversation with Prasenjit Bhattacharya,
Co-founder and CEO of Great Manager Institute®.
1. The advantage of not knowing
Effective leaders are not afraid to ask questions and admit when they don’t know something. Rajesh figured out early that whether it is an SUV or a tractor, it is not being made for an automobile engineer, it is being made for the consumer. Meeting the consumer and dealers was the starting point. This enabled him to master the one essential skill of a leader - asking the right questions.
2. Tempered radical
Anil used the thirteen long years in the Staff College of BoB to not just do a PhD, but to perfect an entire framework for change. This was applied by him later to transform the bank when he became the chairman of Bank of Baroda. In his words, he never gave up his radical thinking while being in a staff function. He calls himself a tempered radical.
3. Earn the right to win
It is a myth that CEOs have a free hand to do what they want. The Scorpio brand of Mahindras was not an overnight hit. Sceptics doubted if Mahindras can understand the urban consumer. The unions in BoB went right up to the finance ministry to complain against Anil. In both cases the leaders stuck to their guns. So a niche product like the Thar became a market leader and Bank of Baroda came back to be in the top 3 banks.
4. Courage of conviction
Leaders have to go through the tunnel of pain and humiliation to generate energy required to sustain their journey of conviction. Anil summed up his learning about leadership by saying that "Leadership is not about power and privilege; it is about taking responsibility and accountability"
5. Develop your leadership muscle by deliberate practice
In his book "The gym of Leadership" Anil gives a practical recipe for practicing leadership behaviors in four areas - managing self, emotional regulation, managing relationships and communication and conversation.
In essence, leadership is about responsibility, accountability, and the ability to
navigate challenges while fostering growth and innovation within both oneself
and the organization.
Past Speakers
Rajesh Jejurikar
ED and CEO (Auto and Farm Sector),
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Samik Basu
Chief Human Resources Officer,
Hindalco Industries Limited (The Aditya Birla Group)
Dr. Anil K. Khandelwal
Former CMD,
Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank
Past Speakers
K.V. Kamath
Chairman, National Bank for Financing
Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID)
Rishad Premji
Executive Chairman,
Wipro Ltd.
Guru Bhat
Senior Director of Engineering,
Google
Pieter Elbers
CEO
Indigo
Anuj Tyagi
Joint M.D.,
HDFC Ergo
Tarun Chugh
MD & CEO
Bajaj Alliance Life Insurance
Dr. Alka Mittal
Former CMD & HR Director
ONGC Group
Priyanka Anand
VP & Head of People Southeast Asia... Ericsson
J. P. Chalasani
CEO
Suzlon Energy
Somraj Roy
Senior VP Human Resource
CEAT Limited
Swaminathan Subramanian
Chief Operating Officer,
SMFG India Credit Co. Ltd.
Vibhash Naik
CHRO,
HDFC Life.
Vishwanath Joshi
Senior Vice President,
Great Manager Institute®
CXO Conclave 2023-24
Explore the captivating moments from our past CXO Conclaves
Mumbai
Delhi
Pune
Bangalore
CXO Conclave, Delhi
- 15th February 2024
- Le Méridien Gurgaon,
Delhi NCR
Key Learnings
Top minds in the industry came together to talk about building
strong leaders and creating great company cultures.
If you are an industry leader
Remember we are the 3rd largest economy in the world. Set your sights on being a global leader. Indigo is already the 7th largest airlines in the world.
Always seek out challenges
Pieter started from the airport ramp and worked his way through multiple functions, becoming one of the youngest country heads in a country with a very different culture from the parent company.
Discover a higher purpose
Discover a higher purpose- both ONGC and Indigo are a key part of building India. Once you have a higher purpose challenges become learning opportunities.
Speakers
Pieter Elbers
CEO
Indigo
Dr. Alka Mittal
Former CMD & HR Director
ONGC Group
Priyanka Anand
VP & Head of People Southeast Asia... Ericsson
CXO Conclave, Pune
- 1st February 2024
- Blue Diamond
Pune
Key Learnings
Top minds in the industry came together to talk about building
strong leaders and creating great company cultures.
Leadership starts with leading oneself
Without resilience (how did you bounce back from significant setbacks in life) and self-awareness ( what behavior is your derailer) it isn’t easy to be a leader.
The discipline of following a process
The Long Range Planning process of Bajaj Finserv combines a four-year strategy with a dynamic quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily action process which is sacrosanct.
A turnaround in a business
Is not achieved if you have only delivered shareholder returns and topline and bottom line. It is achieved when you create a leadership pipeline to sustain the journey.
Speakers
Tarun Chugh
MD & CEO
Bajaj Alliance Life Insurance
J. P. Chalasani
CEO
Suzlon Energy
Somraj Roy
Senior VP Human Resource
CEAT Limited
CXO Conclave, Bangalore
- 14th September 2023
- Vivanta
Bengaluru
Key Learnings
Top minds in the industry came together to talk about building
strong leaders and creating great company cultures.
The People Practices at SMFG India
Mr. Swaminathan Subramanian, the COO of SMFG India Credit Limited presented a very insightful and intriguing case study of how his organisation builds great people leaders.
L&D initiatives for managers
His presentation highlighted how company growth has led to the growth of people in the organisation and also focused on different L&D initiatives for managers at different levels in the organisation.
Fireside Chat – Lessons in Leadership Development
- A manager can be respectful and ruthlessly demanding at the same time.
- When integrity is non-negotiable, tough choices are made quickly.
- You cannot please the world. You need to give your best shot and live your own dreams.
- It is essential to be thrown in the deep end. It is so important to have a manager who is willing to do that for you.
- Values and culture are often used interchangeably in organisations. However, there is a stark difference between the two. Values are non-negotiable and will stand the test of time.
Speakers
Rishad Premji
Executive Chairman, Wipro Ltd.
Guru Bhat
Senior Director of Engineering,
Google
Swaminathan Subramanian
Chief Operating Officer,
SMFG India Credit Co. Ltd.
CXO Conclave, Mumbai
- 2nd June 2023
- MCA, BKC
Key Learnings
Top minds in the industry came together to talk about building
strong leaders and creating great company cultures.
If you are an industry leader
Remember we are the 3rd largest economy in the world. Set your sights on being a global leader. Indigo is already the 7th largest airlines in the world.
Always seek out challenges
Pieter started from the airport ramp and worked his way through multiple functions, becoming one of the youngest country heads in a country with a very different culture from the parent company.
Discover a higher purpose
Discover a higher purpose- both ONGC and Indigo are a key part of building India. Once you have a higher purpose challenges become learning opportunities.
Speakers
K.V. Kamath
Chairman, National Bank for Financing
Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID)
Anuj Tyagi
Joint M.D.,
HDFC Ergo
Vibhash Naik
CHRO,
HDFC Life.
Vishwanath Joshi
Senior Vice President,
Great Manager Institute®