News & Highlights

  • April 2026
  • Event

Beyond Individual Happiness: Promoting the Wellbeing of All

In April 2026, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center director, Professor K. “Vish” Viswanath, led a session titled ‘Beyond Individual Happiness: Promoting the Wellbeing of All,’ exploring how individual wellbeing is deeply influenced by social relationships and the communities we belong to. Lara Balsara Vajifdar (SELP 15, 2024), Executive Director, Madison World, moderated the session. The event was jointly organized by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center, the HBS India Research Center, and the HBS Club of India, and brought together 53 alumni and business leaders in the social impact space.
  • March 2026
  • Alumni Event

Alumni Gathering with Prof. Christina Wallace

In March 2026, as part of Senior Lecturer Christina Wallace’s visit to India, the HBS community in Delhi convened for an intimate dinner hosted by Meghna Modi (MBA 2003) at her residence. Drawing from her work across business, technology, and the arts, Professor Wallace offered perspectives on crafting multifaceted careers and adapting to evolving professional journeys. Alumni engaged in an animated discussion on careers.
  • JANUARY 2026
  • Event

HBS India Gala 2026

The HBS Club of India Gala, held in Mumbai in January 2026, brought together leaders from business, academia, and the HBS alumni community for a day of dialogue on India’s economic future. Anchored around the theme “The Road to $7 Trillion,” the full-day program featured curated sessions examining India’s growth, strategy, innovation, and sustainability. The IRC's 20-year anniversary was celebrated at the gala which was attended by approximately 350 alumni. The program started with a keynote address by Sanjiv Bajaj (MBA 1997). Faculty contributors included Professor Krishna Palepu, Professor Caroline Elkins, Professor Vikram Gandhi, and Professor Ranjay Gulati, alongside several prominent industry leaders. The discussions ranged across financial services, entrepreneurship, healthcare, infrastructure, hospitality, and technology. The IRC partnered closely with the HBS Club of India on content development, speaker curation, media outreach, and on-the-ground execution.
  • DECEMBER 2025
  • GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD

South Asia Advisory Board Meeting

In December 2025, the India Research Center convened the South Asia Advisory Board (SAAB) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, bringing together board members, faculty, and alumni for a two-day program of dialogue and connection. The convening opened with a welcome dinner hosted by Hussain Akbarally (MBA 2015), offering an informal setting for board members to reconnect and set the tone for the meeting. The following day featured faculty-led discussions on global and regional issues. The program began with a session by Professor Elie Ofek on the “Promises and Perils of AI for Marketing,” followed by a panel on Sri Lanka’s business and economic landscape. Moderated by Hiran Embuldeniya (MBA 2005), the panel included Krishan Balendra, Chairperson of John Keells Group, and Murtaza Jafferjee, CEO of JB Securities Ltd. During the board meeting, Professor Rohit Deshpandé welcomed new members and shared School updates, Executive Director Anjali Raina highlighted recent Center developments, and Prof. Gunnar Trumbull led a discussion on geopolitics and business strategy. The convening concluded with a closing dinner hosted by Nayana Mawilmada (MBA 2005), featuring a presentation by Gunnar based on his book on climate change and business, reinforcing the Center’s role as a forum for leadership and impact across South Asia.
  • NOVEMBER 2025
  • EVENT

Marking 20 Years of the India Research Center with One Harvard

In November 2025, Professor Rohit Deshpandé visited Mumbai and met with the India Research Center team. The team shared updates on ongoing research, center activities, and recent developments at the Center. Prof. Deshpandé offered perspectives and guidance on research and shared updates from the school. The visit concluded with a One Harvard lunch featuring Maharashtrian cuisine, bringing together colleagues from across teams in an informal setting. A cake-cutting ceremony followed to commemorate 20 years of the India Research Center, marking a significant milestone.
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New Research on the Region

  • 2026
  • Book

Structured Empowerment: How to Achieve Growth While Promoting Agility

By: Tatiana Sandino

Structured Empowerment: How to Achieve Growth While Promoting Agility addresses one of the most critical challenges growing ventures face: how to scale effectively without stifling the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that fuel them. Based on her research and work with retail and service organizations across multiple markets, Professor Sandino introduces the concept of "structured empowerment," a method that allows companies to grow by expertly balancing flexibility with structure. The book examines how to empower employees within a structured framework, enabling them to make choices from curated practices that propel growth while contributing ideas that enhance those practices from the bottom up. Drawing on insights from service and retail companies that have both succeeded and failed, it illustrates the principles of effective growth management—and the costly consequences of getting them wrong. The book is essential reading for business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs navigating the tension between growth and agility.

  • March 2026
  • Case

NVIDIA and the Sovereignty Claws

By: Mitchell Weiss and William Marks

As NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, prepared to take the stage their GTC 2026, the company was navigating two converging forces: the rise of AI "claws" — a new class of autonomous agents, including OpenClaw — and mounting global demands for AI sovereignty. With NVIDIA rumored to be launching NemoClaw, a new open-source agent platform, questions swirled about whether the chip giant would use GTC to signal a strategic pivot. At the same time, India's DPDP Act and similar national frameworks were pressing companies to address how agentic AI systems collect, share, and act on data — obligations few governance regimes had anticipated. How NVIDIA should balance its proprietary strengths against an open, sovereignty-conscious agentic future was the central question heading into the conference.

  • March 2026 (Revised April 2026)
  • Case

Sunand Menon: The Making of an AI Leader (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

In December 2025, Sunand Menon, an Operating Partner at biotechnology venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering and newly appointed Chairman of Flagship’s portfolio company CIBO Technologies, faces a pivotal career decision. After conducting an intensive review of CIBO at the request of one of its co-founders and outgoing Chairman, Menon is unexpectedly asked to step in as acting CEO and lead the company’s growth strategy. The opportunity fits a three-decade pattern of “leaps” across industries—from consumer goods and engineering to financial services and media to industrials, technology, life sciences, and now agriculture—animated by Menon’s belief in curiosity, comfort with change, and continuous learning. Yet Menon has never served as a CEO before, and taking on the leadership role in the ag-tech space, unfamiliar territory, makes him feel both “nervous and excited.” As Menon reflects on his non-linear career journey, he must decide whether to take on the “completely different job” of leading CIBO through its next phase of transformation or focus instead on scaling strategic relationships and AI ventures at Flagship—and, more broadly, consider what the optimal role of the human leader should be in an increasingly AI-informed world.

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Mumbai Staff

Anjali Raina
Executive Director
→ Biography
Rohit Bhisikar
Research Associate
Rachna Chawla
Associate Director, Community Engagement
Anthea D’Souza
Senior Associate Director
Kairavi Dey
Assistant Director
Tanisha Murdeshwar
Research and Educational Coordinator
Zarieus Namirian
Research Associate
Rashmi Patel
Manager, Operations
Malini Sen
Senior Researcher
Sanjivani Shedge
Manager, Administration
Aindrila Sinha
Research Associate