Leaders unite: IIT-Mandi’s management conclave explores impact of AI

The School of Management, IIT-Mandi, successfully hosted the third edition of its flagship annual management conclave, AiXcelerate 3.0, on campus with the theme “Igniting Innovation and Leadership in the Digital Era.” The two-day event brought together industry leaders, academicians and students to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping modern business practices.

A spokesperson for IIT-Mandi highlighted that the conclave aimed to nurture future-ready managers and leaders while boosting the country’s innovation ecosystem. Students gained invaluable exposure by engaging directly with industry experts through panel discussions, mentoring sessions, case competitions and cultural performances.

Sessions covered the evolution of core management functions — marketing, human resources, operations, strategy, finance and entrepreneurship — under digital transformation. Special emphasis was laid on AI applications in marketing analytics, financial decision-making and strategic planning.

Prof Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT Mandi, congratulated the School of Management on the conclave’s success, while Prof Anjan Kumar Swain, Chairperson, noted that AiXcelerate 3.0 underscored the responsibility of leaders to ensure transparency, trust and inclusivity while adopting AI.

The event featured 10 renowned speakers, including Shiv Kumar (L’Oréal India), Manish Purwar (GE Healthcare), Lokesh Sharma (Salesforce), Abhijit Shah (Nippon Life India Asset), Ram Srinivasan (Ascendion), Dr Rishi Bhatnagar (AA2IT), Swapnil Tambi (BNY), Ritesh Agrawal (Powerica Ltd), Nikhil Bhushan (Starbucks India) and Somjit Amrit (iHUB & HCI Foundation, IIT-Mandi).

Key themes included strategic leadership in the age of agentic AI, AI-driven financial transformation, smart customer engagement and responsible AI with ethics and governance.

Reinforcing its mission, IIT-Mandi’s School of Management continues to blend management principles with AI, data science and emerging technologies.