Leaders from business, politics and academia debated the future of organisations at Imperial College Business School at the second annual joint conference between the Business School’s Gandhi's Centre for Inclusive Innovation and the All India Management Association (AIMA). It attracted prominent CEOs and innovation experts from the UK and India. The speakers included GP Hinduja, Co-Chairman of Hinduja Group, India’s High Commissioner to the UK His Excellency YK Sinha, Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chairman of Cobra Beer Partnership, and Baroness Sandip Verma.
The conference shed light on the impact of digitalisation and artificial intelligence on methods of future trade, the role of government in planning and how advances in technology will affect social values.
Dr Sankalp Chaturvedi, who leads the Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation and compered the summit, and a key organiser said: “The world is changing, wherein technology, automation and artificial intelligence are creating disruption and becoming integral to growth and development strategies of new organisational forms.
"Whether we talk about technology with business or reimaging global organisational relationship. Now, more than ever, we need to proactively think and consider several dimensions of these new forms of organizational evolution.”
Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chairman of Cobra Beer Partnership, spoke about the impact of conflict and protectionism on globalisation.
The panel ‘Disrupting the Organisation: Remodelling business with technology’ was chaired by Dr Mark Kennedy, Director of Imperial Business Analytics. It included TV Mohandas Pai, president of AIMA, Jana Blount, Legal Innovation Manager at DLA Piper, and Imperial’s Vice President (Innovation) Professor David Gann.
Baroness Sandip Verma, Chairperson of the European External Affairs Committee, spoke about the impact of recent political and privacy issues.
The audience and panellists during the wide-ranging discussion, covered topics including Brexit, Trump and populism, data privacy, corporate social responsibility, technological diversity and the future of the Commonwealth.
Daljit Bamford, Director of Strategic Programs, EMEA at Salesforce, said she was struck “by how AI and machine learning played such a dominant role in the discussion, but that technology is only a tiny component. What’s missing is the person at the heart of technology: the user, consumer, worker or leader.” Imperial alumnus and chairman of Nicco Group, Rajive Kaul drew on his experience utilising technological solutions, including cloud computing, AI and VR to offer richer consumer experiences as well as manage a smarter business.
