Leadership
TechHR India 2026: Meet the leaders who navigated disruption before you had to
||
Four extraordinary careers. Four different industries. One common lesson. The leaders who stay ahead are the ones who learn to embrace disruption long before it becomes everyone else's reality.
Disruption does not arrive with a warning.
It slips into boardrooms as a new technology. Into businesses as a changing customer. Into newsrooms as a global crisis. Into creative industries as a blank page that suddenly demands a new language.
The leaders who succeed are rarely those who react fastest. They are the ones who have learnt to live with uncertainty long before everyone else begins talking about it.
This year, People Matters TechHR India 2026 brings together an exceptional line-up of leaders. Their worlds could not be more different. One writes stories that shape culture. One built one of India's most recognisable consumer brands. One transformed culinary excellence into a global personal brand. One reports from the frontlines of geopolitical change.
Together, Prasoon Joshi, Aman Gupta, Ranveer Brar and Aditya Kaul represent a broader leadership truth. No matter the profession, disruption rewards those willing to rethink, relearn and reinvent.
As organisations prepare for an AI-driven future, their experiences offer lessons that extend far beyond their respective industries.
Prasoon Joshi: Why creativity remains a leader's greatest competitive advantage
For more than three decades, Prasoon Joshi has worked where commerce meets creativity.
As a lyricist, screenwriter and advertising leader who served as CEO of McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman of McCann APAC, he has helped shape campaigns, films and ideas that have remained culturally relevant across changing generations.
His career has unfolded through multiple waves of disruption. The rise of digital media. The explosion of social platforms. The transformation of consumer behaviour. Now, the rapid emergence of generative AI.
Each wave has raised the same question. Can technology replace creativity?
Joshi's body of work suggests a different perspective. Technology changes how ideas are delivered. Creativity determines whether they matter.
For business and HR leaders, this distinction has become increasingly relevant. Organisations may automate workflows and accelerate decision-making, but culture, purpose and trust still depend on human imagination.
At TechHR India 2026, Joshi brings a perspective forged at the intersection of leadership, communication and culture, reminding organisations why originality remains difficult to automate.