The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad has remained steadfast in minting India's future leaders; here's how

The realisation that India is not the only country for which the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) produces leaders keeps Bharat Bhasker, its new Director, on his toes. “The world is changing at a rapid pace. We’re going to be at the centre of the world [economy]. Everybody is de-risking from China and it’s time for us to [grab] that opportunity,” he says.

To ensure that the opportunity isn’t missed, IIMA has remained steadfast in its commitment to mould industry-ready students, says Anirudh Rapole, a student of the postgraduate diploma in management for executives programme, who has taken a break from a well-paying job. “[IIMA’s] emphasis on academic rigour and experiential learning fosters a transformative journey, where students are immersed in real-world decision-making scenarios. This experience equips graduates with invaluable skills,” he says.

Talking about real-world scenarios, IIMA opened up just such an opportunity for Dwibesh Nath, another student. “Within a month of our study at IIMA we got the opportunity to be a part of the round table conference of policymaking proposals for India’s G20 leadership, interact with influential individuals like the new US Ambassador to India, and participate in the implementation planning programme of the National Education Policy,” he says. Bhasker, meanwhile, is focussed on the future, which means embracing technological change. “Tradistarted a centre for data science and AI that studies the impact of such  technologies on businesses. 

Now, the focus is on IIMA’s presence online. “There’s no substitute for in-class learning, but we want to reach students who might have missed the bus. We call it democratisation of management education,  because many people will never be able to get admission at IIMA. We provide a variety of Management  courses on an online platform for free as we don’t want them to stop educating themselves,” he says.