News

Kumaar Bagrodia (MBA 2001), LeapVault CEO, initiated India’s first ever Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Summit in Mumbai. The pioneering initiative in India was partnered by BloombergUTV, The Business Standard newspaper, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and endorsed by the EU India Chambers.

The inaugural event brought together many eminent speakers and leaders from companies like IBM, Oracle, L & T, Aditya Birla Group, Pepsico, BPCL, Mindtree and others. Addressing issues related to organizational learning and development, the summit saw insightful keynotes, crisp panel discussions and stimulating presentations covering a host of topics within the Indian context in the domain. The event successfully laid the foundation for a world class platform for the learning, coaching and training community in India.

Bagrodia discusses the changing trends, “An organization’s capability to unlearn and learn will not only be a key differentiator but will also be a source of competitive advantage in terms of its ability to attract and retain talent, customers and investors. This ability will be harboured by the Chief Learning Officer. Companies must equate learning to innovation and allow for empowerment at all levels.”

The keynote address at the summit was delivered by the Chief Guest, Bhasker Chatterjee, Secretary, Dept. of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India. The panel discussion on the role of a CLO, was moderated by Vikram Oza, Bloomberg UTV. It started off with the view that the Chief Learning Officer is not a solitary position in an organization and it should extend to all levels of a learning organization.

By the end of the discussion, there was near consensus among panelists that in the times to come, the role of a CLO would become indubitable.