Celebrating 36 years of rich legacy, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar is organizing the 5th edition of the annual Business Excellence Summit from 30th September to 1st October 2023. The theme for this year’s summit was “Navigating the Unknown.” The event was presided over by Vice-chancellor Fr. Antony R. Uvari, S.J., Deputy Registrar and Chief Financial Officer Fr. V. Arockia Das, S.J. and Associate Dean – Student Affairs Prof. Arijit Mitra, and the honorable keynote speaker, Mr. Sameer Sathpathy.
The welcome address was delivered by Vice Chancellor Fr. Antony R. Uvari, S.J., who declared the Business Excellence Summit 2023, open. Associate Dean – Student Affairs, Prof. Arijit Mitra delivered a thought-provoking speech. Joint Secretary of the student body, Aryaki Daw took the opportunity to introduce the keynote speaker.
Mr. Sameer Sathpathy, Chief Executive – Personal Care, ITC, an esteemed alumnus of XIM, Bhubaneswar took the center stage to deliver a powerful speech to the young leaders and motivated the students to search beyond the ordinary, conquer the unchartered territories of the world and pushed the students to be resilient in the discomfort that lies before all of us. He also said, “Some say that challenge is a burden, but actually, challenge is an inspiration to do better.”
Mr. Pravin Srinivasan, Country Sales Leader, CISCO, an esteemed alumnus of XIM, Bhubaneswar guided us through the topic “Selling Technology to Business” where he shared insights into traditional B2B selling process in the IT industry with an impactful quote “The only way a salesperson is successful in an IT industry is by making their customers successful”.
Mr. Neeraj Das, Group Head Insurance, Adani Group, an esteemed alumnus of XIM, Bhubaneswar walked us through what is a risk, the types of risk, and risk management. He shared his thoughts on the hierarchy of risk. The speaker as well as the audience kept the session quite interactive and discussed risk framework and categories. He ended his speech by quoting, “Risk is not a function, risk is not a department. It is part of every organization, institution, and a part of every decision.”
The next speaker, Vinay Choletti, Head of Payment, Tata Digital, delivered a speech on the topic “Evolution of Fintech in an Uncertain World”. He highlighted the major obstacle faced while developing a digital payment system by quoting “The problem is not transforming payments. The problem is equipping people with the minimal amount of money that they can spend digitally”.
The next speaker, Ramesh VS, Head of Corporate Business Excellence, Godrej & Boyce, an esteemed alumnus of XIM, Bhubaneswar explained to the audience what his organization does and its various businesses and quoted that “Business today is at its simplest place”. He shared his views and insight about the global chip shortage and its impact and reflected his thoughts on the topic “Anxious: The Illusion of Control” and learnings from Mahabharata.
Our last speaker of day was Mr. Ayaskant Sarangi, CHRO, Wipro Enterprise, an esteemed XIM, Bhubaneswar alumnus, initiated his discussion by delving into the distinction between knowledge and skill. He actively engaged with the audience and elucidated the essence of uncertainty, emphasizing its relevance in decision-making in group dynamics. He concluded with a powerful message on self love, underscoring the significance of mental well being beyond corporate achievements by stating “Life is much bigger than corporate, if you love yourself, everyone else will love you”.
Overall, the first day of the Business Excellence Summit ended on an eventful note where the stalwarts of the industry enlightened the students with their insightful sessions and urged them to enable the same in their respective career trajectories.
