Founders & CXO's Roundtable: Beyond Campus Boundaries | Digii100x Maharashtra

In a candid, provocative, and highly dynamic roundtable conversation themed "Beyond Campus Boundaries: Industry, Academia, and Societal Impact" at Digii100x Maharashtra, a powerful panel of corporate leaders, venture capitalists, and academic directors tackles the historic divide between campus curricula and industry expectations. This panel features key insights from: • Shri Vik Singh — Consul (Commercial) & Trade and Investment Commissioner - South Asia, Australian Trade and Investment Commission • Shri Kiran Deshpande — Executive Council Member, SemiX IIT Bombay & Former CEO, Tech Mahindra • Dr. Bhimaraya Metri — Director, Indian Institute of Management Nagpur • Dr. Hrridaysh Deshpande — Former Vice-Chancellor, Ajeenkya DY Patil University • Dr. Ganesh Rao — Director, Pune Business School • Prof. Kannan M. Moudgalya — Founder and Director, EduPyramids Educational Services Pvt. Ltd. & Retired Professor, IIT Bombay • Dr. Rajesh Ingle — Vice-Chancellor, Deccan Education Society Pune University • Shri Sunil Dahiya — Executive Vice President - Skilling, Wadhwani Foundation • Shri Dviwesh Mehta — Director, Harvard Business Impact Education, Harvard Business Publishing • Shri Sagar Bahadur — Executive Director – Asia and Head of Regional Strategy, Acumen • Shri Aatash Shah — Senior Vice President & Business Head, UNext Learning • Ms. Sujatha Kshirsagar — President, Career Launcher • Shri Aditya Malik — Director & Group CEO, SNVA Veranda The speakers move past standard platitudes of "industry readiness" to offer a tough-minded critique of both corporate and academic priorities. They address low corporate R&D and training spends in India while challenging universities to scrap rote assessments and integrate real-world decision-making. The discussion outlines innovative frameworks for global student pathways, rural entrepreneurship hubs, and peer-to-peer pedagogy sharing. Key Highlights from the Discussion: • The Corporate R&D and L&D Challenge: Confronting the reality of abysmally low corporate research and development spend in India, challenging industry to co-invest in academic talent pipelines instead of complaining about the lack of "job-ready" graduates. • The Fallacy of MCQ-Based Assessment: Highlighting how multiple-choice testing has crippled students' critical thinking and communication skills, and advocating for a return to open, descriptive, and argumentative articulation. • Transitioning to Participant-Centered Learning: Unpacking how case-study methods and classroom simulations prepare students for global decision-making by forcing them to make hundreds of localised, practical business judgments before graduation. • Hyper-Local Talent and Jobs: Exploring the Wadhwani Foundation's model of dividing India into 20 distinct economic ecosystems to match hyper-local talent with hyper-local jobs, reversing the traditional migration from supply states to demand metros. • Domestic Immersion and Pedagogy Sharing: Showcasing IIM Nagpur's "domestic immersion" model for tier-2/tier-3 colleges and IIT Bombay's live course transmission to COEP, proving that tier-1 pedagogical experiences can be scaled to elevate regional institutes. About Digii100x Maharashtra: Digii100x Maharashtra is the regional extension of Digii100—India’s flagship invite-only summit for higher education. Held in Pune, Maharashtra, this premier regional event brought together the sharpest minds, vice-chancellors, founders, and CXOs from across the state's leading Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to discuss the digital transformation mandate and lay the foundation for building AI-first campuses.