Why Staying in One Industry for 24 Years Beat Switching | Sachin Mhashilkar

Is AI a real shift or just the latest buzzword? A media veteran who has covered Cloud, Big Data and Blockchain for 24 years gives his unfiltered answer. In this episode of Corporate India Unfiltered, I speak with Sachin Mhashilkar, Senior Director at ET Edge (The Times Group) and one of India's most experienced B2B technology media leaders. Over nearly 25 years, he has built CIO, CISO and CXO communities from scratch, led P&L across media businesses, and moderated some of India's biggest enterprise technology conversations, across The Indian Express, CyberMedia, 9.9 Group, Network18/CNBC-TV18 and NTT-Netmagic. We talk about: • Why he stayed in one industry for 24 years • The difference between a database and a real community • Which tech hype cycle surprised him most • Why he went back to IIT Bombay 16 years into his career • Work-life balance, career risks and advice he disagrees with Made for every mid-career professional wondering whether to jump ship or go deeper. Chapters 00:00 – Career Lessons, Relationships & The Future of AI 00:46 – Introducing Sachin Mashilkar | 25 Years in B2B Tech Media 01:46 – Why Staying in One Industry Can Build Expertise 03:34 – Database vs Community Building: What Matters More? 05:36 – Cloud, AI & Technologies That Changed Business 07:19 – AI Is Here to Stay: The Future of Work 09:11 – AI Adoption, Human Intelligence & Critical Thinking 11:35 – Why Senior Professionals Should Keep Learning 14:03 – Leadership Lessons: Staying Calm Under Pressure 15:32 – Decision-Making When There Is No Blueprint 16:50 – Collective Decision-Making & Taking Ownership 18:27 – What Leaders Can Learn from Sports Teams 19:43 – Managing Gen Z: Fresh Perspectives at Work 20:33 – Asking Uncomfortable Questions to CXOs 21:44 – Corporate Competition vs Relationship Building 23:35 – Career Risks: Why You Must Leave Your Comfort Zone 24:05 – From Market Support to Sales & Community Leadership 28:40 – Safe Job vs Risky Job: Which Career Path Should You Choose? 29:16 – Gen Z Career Advice: Focus on Becoming Valuable 30:35 – Personal Branding: Become Known for Something 31:20 – Work-Life Balance: Is the 50/50 Formula Realistic? 33:38 – Rapid Fire: Advice to Your 22-Year-Old Self 35:38 – Final Career Lessons & Closing Thoughts 👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Sachin Mhashilkar is Senior Director at ET Edge, The Times Group. Previously COO & Associate Publisher (B2B Tech) at 9.9 Group, VP at Network18, and Senior GM-Marketing at NTT-Netmagic. Alumnus of IIT Bombay's Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management. Linkedin :-   / sachin-mhashilkar-661ba914   🎙️ ABOUT THE SHOW Corporate India Unfiltered features real conversations with senior business leaders on leadership, governance and the career decisions nobody talks about publicly. Romit Dalal(host) :-   / romit-dalal-1287541   🔔 Subscribe for a new episode every week 💬 Which part hit home for you? Tell me in the comments. #CorporateIndiaUnfiltered #SachinMhashilkar #AIinIndia #TechMedia #CareerAdvice #Leadership #CommunityBuilding #B2BMarketing #ETEdge #CXO #CIO #IndianBusiness #DigitalMarketing #CareerGrowth #Podcast