Podcast · Business
by The Economic Times · English · Business
Corner Office Conversation is The Economic Times’ flagship interview podcast featuring unfiltered, one-on-one conversations with some of India and the world’s most powerful business leaders. Hosted by ET’s top journalists and editors, this fortnightly show goes beyond headlines and press…
8 Oct 2026 · 22 minNew
AI is getting better, cheaper and increasingly specialized. At The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Sudip Roy, Co-Founder and CTO of Adaption, joins ET’s Swathi Moorthy to discuss why the next phase of AI may be less about building ever-larger models and more about adaptation, efficiency, and solving specific enterprise problems. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
E45 · 5 Oct 2026 · 21 min
AI is moving from experimental technology to an increasingly powerful part of everyday work. At The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Krish Ramineni, Founder and CEO of Fireflies.ai, joins ET’s Himanshi Lohchab to discuss AI agents, the future of knowledge work, India’s AI opportunity, and why falling AI costs could dramatically expand its adoption Tune in. You can follow Himanshi Lohchab on her social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like - Cognizant’s Surya Gummadi on How AI Can Deliver Returns , The Future of Insurance in India | Sarbvir Singh…
E44 · 1 Oct 2026 · 28 min
AI investment is soaring, but who will ultimately capture the value—and who will be displaced? Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das explains why Anthropic’s enterprise bet paid off, why OpenAI and its rivals may be undervalued, and what follows the current infrastructure boom. He also delivers a stark warning: AI agents can already probe and breach major corporate systems, giving attackers an unprecedented advantage. For India, the consequences could be profound as intelligence becomes purchasable through compute, weakening the country’s traditional human-capital edge. Das also…
E43 · 28 Sep 2026 · 14 min
What makes some CEOs and founders successful? At The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Cheryl Lim, Partner at McKinsey & Company, joins ET’s Anirban Chowdhury to explore the mindsets and behaviours that drive long-term value creation, how leaders balance big ambitions with disciplined execution, and what it takes to build organisations that can sustain growth. Listen In You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like - Cognizant’s Surya Gummadi on How AI Can Deliver Returns , The Future of Insurance in India |…
E42 · 24 Sep 2026 · 17 min
India is scaling its semiconductor ecosystem as AI development accelerates—and both are raising new questions around technology, investment and regulation. In this Corner Office Conversation, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks to ET’s tech editor Surabhi Agarwal about Semicon 2.0, global investment in India, electronics manufacturing and the country’s value-addition journey. He also lays out his views on AI risks, company responsibility, techno-legal safeguards and global cooperation on AI regulation. Listen In You can follow Surabhi Agarwal on her Linkedin…
E41 · 21 Sep 2026 · 23 min
India has opened insurance to 100% foreign ownership. But Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain says ownership is less important than building the right business—and that the company currently works better alongside the Aditya Birla Group than alone. In this conversation from the Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Strain explains to ET’s banking editor Sangita Mehta why Sun Life’s India insurance business is growing 25% annually, where its $100-billion asset manager goes next, and how private credit and infrastructure could power its expansion. He also discusses bancassurance,…
E40 · 17 Sep 2026 · 18 min
From expanding its India footprint to adapting hospitality for the age of AI, Marriott is navigating a rapidly changing travel industry. At The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Anthony Capuano, President and CEO of Marriott International, joins ET’s Anumeha Chaturvedi to discuss India’s growth story, tourism, talent, technology, and the future of the global hospitality business. Listen in You can follow Anumeha Chaturvedi on her social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like - Cognizant’s Surya Gummadi on How AI Can Deliver Returns , The Future of…
E39 · 14 Sep 2026 · 22 min
The multinational is giving way to the multi-local, as tariffs, geopolitics and supply-chain risk force companies to rebuild around regional roots rather than one global blueprint. In the latest Corner Office Conversation from The Economic Times World Leaders Forum Bain & Company Global Chairman Manny Maceda tells Anirban Chowdhury what this fragmentation means for India's shot at becoming the world's factory, why AI's payoff still eludes most companies deploying it, and whether costlier capital is quietly forcing private equity to build better businesses instead of just cheaper deals. He…
E38 · 10 Sep 2026 · 36 min
AI is reshaping how businesses work, but the biggest shift may be how humans and technology work together. At The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Nigel Vaz, CEO, Publicis Sapient, joins Dia Rekhi to break down the “Iron Man” approach to AI, why enterprises need to reimagine how work gets done, and where agentic AI can create real business value. You can follow Dia Rekhi on social media: Linkedin & X Check out other interesting episodes like - Cognizant’s Surya Gummadi on How AI Can Deliver Returns , The Future of Insurance in India | Sarbvir Singh of PB Fintech ,…
E37 · 7 Sep 2026 · 23 min
ET opens its World Leaders Forum podcast series with Anu Aiyengar, global chair of investment banking, J.P.Morgan. In conversation with Anirban Chowdhury, she explains why uncertainty is driving—not deterring—big-ticket deals, and why companies are buying scale, stability and resilience. She examines the risks posed by rising yields, inflation and oil, the curious leeway investors are giving AI spending, and how automation is reshaping entry-level investment-banking work. Aiyengar also makes the case for India as an under-owned market and reveals her contrarian bets on…
E36 · 4 Sep 2026 · 46 min
What does one of India’s original venture capitalists see coming next? Accel’s Subrata Mitra speaks to Anirban Chowdhury about a funding market moving from exuberance to discipline—and an AI boom whose economics remain deeply uncertain. He explains why India cannot fight a trillion-dollar foundational-model battle with a fraction of that capital, and where its more credible opportunities lie. The conversation explores Accel’s interest in AI-enabled services, deeptech, spacetech and advanced manufacturing, the logic behind keeping funds relatively small, and the long…
E35 · 27 Aug 2026 · 33 min
Trilegal began as an outsider in a legal industry dominated by closely held, family-run firms. More than two decades later, it has become one of India’s largest law firms—and part of the establishment it once challenged. Partners Nishant Parikh and Sridhar Gorthi talk to ET’s Vinod Mahanta and Maulik Vyas about the model behind that rise, the founder-rainmaker trap holding back midsized firms, competition from global firms and the Big Four, and why AI could reshape both fees and the traditional associate pyramid. They also confront two deeper questions: whether elite…
E34 · 13 Aug 2026 · 38 min
Sarvam AI began with an ambitious proposition: build foundational AI models in India. It must now prove that those models can support a viable business. Co-founder Pratyush Kumar explains to Himanshi Lohchab the company’s expansion into compute, inference, customised models and enterprise applications, while Peak XV Partners MD Rajan Anandan lays out the investment case. They discuss NVIDIA’s backing, the economics of voice AI, Sarvam’s enterprise adoption and why specialised models could be cheaper than global frontier systems. The conversation also confronts the capital…
E33 · 10 Aug 2026 · 28 min
LinkedIn CEO Dan Shapero says the platform’s data points to a more complicated story. In this Corner Office Conversation, Shapero joins Anirban Chowdhury and Dia Rekhi to discuss why hiring has slowed, how AI is rewriting skills, and why India is seeing a surge in AI roles, R&D hiring and new founders. He also explains LinkedIn’s fast-growing AI Hiring Assistant, the possibility of recruiters’ AI agents talking to jobseekers’ agents, the platform’s crackdown on “AI slop,” and why LinkedIn wants to remain a trusted professional network. You can follow…
E32 · 3 Aug 2026 · 25 min
AI adoption is soaring, but where are the financial returns? Surya Gummadi, President, Americas at Cognizant, argues that enterprises are consuming tokens without always choosing the right use cases. He joins Anirban Chowdhury to explain why companies remain trapped in pilot mode and what it takes to scale AI successfully. Gummadi discusses the coming transformation of coding, testing, talent models and IT contracts; Cognizant’s approach to acquisitions; the evolution of GCCs; and AI’s potential in healthcare. He also reveals how Cognizant used context agents to identify $200…
E31 · 20 Jul 2026 · 42 min
India’s insurance industry is changing faster than ever. New regulations, 100% FDI, AI-powered underwriting, rising medical inflation and Policybazaar’s expansion into healthcare through PB Health are reshaping how Indians will buy—and use—insurance. In this episode of The Morning Brief, ET’s Anirban Chowdhury speaks with Sarbvir Singh, Joint Group CEO of PB Fintech, on why India remains underinsured, how health insurance is evolving, whether claims can become less painful, the future of retirement planning, and the biggest reforms set to transform the sector…
E30 · 29 Jun 2026 · 38 min
One in two popcorn kernels eaten in India comes from one man's farms. He built the crop from nothing, the processing plant that rivals anything in North America, and a farmer network no competitor can crack. When COVID killed every client overnight, most founders would have cut and run. He doubled his acreage. He has 50Xed his revenue in 5 years, build a moat few can crack and plans to now indigenise other crops and commodities like oats and palm oil with host Anirban Chowdhury. You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Listen in to the episode of Corner Office…
E29 · 8 Jun 2026 · 25 min
She walked into the courtroom with no playbook and built an empire anyway. Host Maulik Vyas talks to one of India's most formidable legal minds Co-Founder & Managing Partner of AZB & Partners, Zia Mody, who reflects on four decades at the forefront of corporate law, from the chaos of early liberalization to billion-dollar cross-border deals. She opens up about the cautious mood on deal street amid global uncertainty, why women in law still have ground to cover, the very real pressures of succession at a firm she helped build from 12 lawyers to over 700, and the one thing she believes…
E28 · 4 Jun 2026 · 30 min
Wockhardt's FDA approval of Zaynich marks a historic first, the only drug entirely discovered and developed by an Indian company to clear US-FDA scrutiny. ET’s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar and Rica Bhattacharyya talk to Habil Khorakiwala, Chairperson of Wockhardt who unpacks the 25-year innovation journey behind this milestone. From a deliberate pivot to antibiotics when big pharma was exiting the space, to navigating financial turbulence, asset sales, and regulatory hurdles, Khorakiwala reflects on strategic patience and scientific conviction. He also outlines peak sales projections…
E26 · 1 Jun 2026 · 31 min
What does it take to back India's highest-grossing films three years in a row? Host Anirban Chowdhury and ET’s film journalist and critic Rajesh N Naidu talk to Jyoti Deshpande, President - Jio Studios, Media & Content Business -Reliance Industries Ltd, who pulls back the curtain on how she green-lights films, why she rejects 98 out of every 100 ideas, and what Indian cinema needs to do to crack the global market. From Stree 1 to Stree 2, Laapataa Ladies to Dhurandhar Jyoti reveals the method behind the madness. She shares Mukesh Ambani's first principles that shaped JioStudios' rise,…
E25 · 22 May 2026 · 28 min
HP’s MD and SVP for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Ipsita Dasgupta joins ET’s Anirban Chowdhury in the latest Corner Office Conversation to discuss why India’s PC story is still in its early stages — and how AI PCs, creators, SMEs and students could drive the next wave of growth. She explains why HP sees “a PC in every child’s hands” as a national opportunity, how AI-powered computing could change productivity for enterprises and creators alike, and why India may emerge as a critical manufacturing and innovation hub in the global tech supply chain.…
E24 · 18 May 2026 · 27 min
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says India could become Uber’s largest market globally over the next decade and on whether he is open to a partnership with Travis Kalanick. In this conversation with ET’s editor, ETtech.com, editor-startups, emerging business, new economy Samidha Sharma and Pranav Mukul, he explains Uber’s India strategy across AI, EVs, bike taxis, logistics, and autonomous driving. He discusses the company’s new partnership with the Adani Group, why India’s engineering talent is central to Uber’s AI stack, and how the company sees itself…
E23 · 4 May 2026 · 43 min
She grew up navigating a war zone of a family home, arrived in Bombay with ₹50 lakhs borrowed from a neighbour, and watched her debut film get pulled from theatres the morning after India lost the cricket World Cup. That's where most stories end. Guneet Monga's was just beginning. In this candid, far-ranging conversation with ET’s Anirban Chowdhury and in-house film journalist and critic Rajesh N Naidu, the Oscar-winning producer and CEO of Sikhya Entertainment traces a 20-year journey defined by jugaad, grit, and an unshakeable belief in the power of story. From Gangs of Wasseypur to…
E22 · 23 Mar 2026 · 34 min
G.V. Prasad has spent over thirty years at the helm of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories — long enough to know where the opportunities were missed and where the potential and challenges lie. In a candid conversation with ET’s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar on Corner Office Conversation, the Co-Chairman and Managing Director pulls no punches: India is the generic pharmacy of the world, not the pharmacy of the world, and that distinction matters. He reflects on regulatory crises weathered, acquisitions never made, and an innovation pipeline that remained perpetually underfunded. On AI, he is…
E21 · 25 Feb 2026 · 29 min
In a wide-ranging conversation with host Surabhi Agarwal, IBM's chairman, president and CEO Arvind Krishna addresses the questions every technology leader and IT professional in India is wrestling with right now. He pushes back on AI doomsday narratives for software services, makes a compelling case for why hybrid cloud and mainframe architecture remain indispensable, and shares his candid take on job displacement, quantum computing's commercial horizon, and what India's sovereign AI strategy must focus on. He also offers a measured reading of global economic uncertainty, tariffs, and why…
E20 · 23 Feb 2026 · 20 min
In a candid, unscripted exchange, India’s pharma titans peeled back the mythology of overnight success to reveal a harder truth: conviction compounded over decades. What began as two products and a bet on neglected therapy areas evolved into a multibillion-dollar enterprise riding India’s epidemiological shift. Innovation, they argued, is a long game—scarred by failed trials, investor backlash, and capital droughts—yet redeemed by landmark deals and scientific persistence. In this episode, host Vikas Dandekar talks to Dilip Shanghvi, Chairman of Sun Pharma and Glenn…
E19 · 16 Feb 2026 · 23 min
In a market long dominated by premium playbooks, Director of Reliance Consumer Products, T Krishnakumar is scripting a different FMCG story. Handpicked by Mukesh Ambani to build Reliance Consumer Products from scratch, he talks to host Ratna Bhushan about his strategy: targeting India's 500–600 million middle-class consumers, Krishnakumar is betting big on affordability at scale—a counterintuitive move in an inflationary environment. From resurrecting legacy brands like Campa to building Asia's largest AI-powered food parks and expanding to five million outlets, RCPL blends…
E18 · 9 Feb 2026 · 31 min
India's AI revolution demands strategic vision beyond enthusiasm. Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Rajan Anand, Managing Director of Peak XV and Surge a former Microsoft India head and Google VP shaping India's venture landscape. With 120 unicorns and 300 IPOs last year, India is poised for transformation. Anand's thesis: India needs localized, hyper-affordable AI models—not trillion-parameter ones. Predicting fifty AI unicorns by 2030, he advocates computational sovereignty through infrastructure investments in firms like Sarvam. Rajan also talks about Peak XV’s path after its…
E17 · 26 Jan 2026 · 27 min
Qure.ai is transforming routine medical imaging into early disease detection at unprecedented scale. Processing nearly 1,000 patients per hour across 105 countries, the startup has made preliminary radiology reports at India’s AIIMS and CMC Vellore AI-powered often flagging diseases physicians weren’t even looking for. In this conversation, Vikas Dandekar speaks with Prashant Warier Co-founder & CEO, Ankit Modi, Founding Member and Chief Product Officer and Preetham Putha, Founding Member and Chief AI Officer about how Qure.ai is reimagining diagnostics. Their breakthrough…
E16 · 12 Jan 2026 · 26 min
Suzlon Energy controls a third of India's wind market, but co-founder and vice chairman Girish Tanti isn't celebrating. In this conversation with host Anirban Chowdhury, he confronts hard questions: Why has India tapped only 4% of its wind potential despite three decades of operations? Can the sector scale from 6 gigawatts annually to the 10+ needed to meet 2030 targets? And will promised AI data centers overwhelm renewable capacity before it's built? Tanti reveals truths about offshore wind economics, the two-year lag between planning and execution that bottlenecks growth, and why financial…
Corner Office Conversation is The Economic Times’ flagship interview podcast featuring unfiltered, one-on-one conversations with some of India and the world’s most powerful business leaders. Hosted by ET’s top journalists and editors, this fortnightly show goes beyond headlines and press releases to explore how CEOs and founders think, decide, and lead in an era of disruption. From Marc Benioff (Salesforce), Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber), and Roland Busch (Siemens) to Adar Poonawalla (Serum Institute), Suresh Narayanan (Nestlé India), and Ravi Kumar S (Cognizant), these conversations uncover personal leadership playbooks, global strategy pivots, lessons from failures, and bold visions for the future — across industries like tech, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and consumer goods. New episodes drop every alternate Monday.
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