Inaugural edition of The Leaders’ Canvas , a leadership and industry forum co-created by The Collaborative Canvas Podcast and AX Pulse / Asia Research Media, witnessed over 85 industry professionals from consumer insights, marketing, research, technology and business come together at The Westin Gurgaon.
Co-curated by Ankesh Saxena and Claudia Siregar, The Leaders’ Canvas is premised on the idea “Experience and conversations Shape actions.” Moving away from the traditional conference model based on presentations, The Leaders’ Canvas consisted of moderated conversations aiming at fostering diversity of opinions, challenging prevailing paradigms and exploring the questions facing businesses and the insights industry.
Inaugural edition of the forum included four panels on the evolving roles of research, AI and intelligence in business decision making.
Opening session of the forum titled “What Should Stay. What Must Change?” focused on the ways for businesses and the insights ecosystem to strike the right balance between proven fundamentals and need for adaptation.
Second panel titled “The Questions Have Changed. Have Our Solutions?” addressed the issue whether the methodologies used in research and the solutions offered by the industry keep up with increasingly complex business questions and the growing demands for speed and agility.
Issues related to artificial intelligence became the focus of the third panel discussion with “Stress Testing AI: Where AI Delivers. Where AI Breaks.” The panel discussed not only about the power of AI but also its limitations, emphasizing on the importance of context, critical thinking and human judgment while adopting the AI-driven tools.
Last but not least, the fourth discussion “What Happens When Intelligence Is Everywhere?” looked forward to the future when advanced analytics capabilities and AI are becoming increasingly accessible, posing a question about what will differentiate organizations once access to intelligence will not be an advantage anymore.
The forum saw senior industry professionals including Lloyd Mathias, Chandan Mukherji, Tripti Mathur, Shawn Roy, Soumya Mohanty, Smriti Singh Bhatia, Charu Mullick, Sucheta Jha, Achyuta Ghosh, Aparajita Roy, Varun Mehra and Aditya Sharan, among others.
Audience Choice Awards The Most Impactful Conversation
An interesting part of the inaugural edition of The Leaders’ Canvas was the participation of the audience in choosing the most impactful discussion. The attendees were allowed to vote for the panel which they found the most compelling, and Panel 2 – “The Questions Have Changed. Have Our Solutions?” won the Audience Choice – Best Panel Award.
In addition, the winning panel received an opportunity to participate in the upcoming MRMW and QUAL360 by Merlien Institute, having access to their respective editions in Germany and Singapore scheduled to happen later this year. Thus, the conversation initiated during The Leaders’ Canvas continues at international platforms within the global research and insights community.
The Leaders’ Canvas Becomes The Venue for Launching Shawn Roy’s Book
Inaugural gathering also witnessed the official launch of Shawn Roy’s book, Corporate Drifters. The book focuses on the issue of navigating careers amidst technological disruptions, changing industries and the need for continuous reinvention.
Book launch became a complement to the conversations which happened during The Leaders’ Canvas, specifically focusing on how individuals and organizations can adapt in the face of technology, AI and changing business models.
According to the co-creator of the Canvas, Ankesh Saxena, the core idea behind The Leaders’ Canvas is to bring different experiences and perspectives into one place and generate meaningful industry progress through questioning, disagreement, learning and collaboration rather than passive consumption of the presentations.
While the first edition was taking place amid heavy rains, severe waterlogging and traffic disruption across the city of Gurugram, more than 85 professionals attended the event, showing high level of interest in organizing meaningful industry dialogue and community.
Organizers aim to transform The Leaders’ Canvas into a continuing platform rather than a one-time event. Next edition of The Leaders’ Canvas will take place in Mumbai; more information will be released later.
Having inaugurated itself, The Leaders’ Canvas becomes the platform where conversations around AI, consumer insights, research, business transformation and leadership intersect and where industry experience translates into the questions, perspectives and action.
Source: Business Wire India
