IIM Calcutta A PGPEX Annual Business Conclave PGPEX - IIM Calcutta

Lattice is the Business Conclave organized at IIM Calcutta and hosted by PGPEX. It is an ideal platform that facilitates interaction between stalwarts from all walks of life, a part of which are IIM Calcutta alumni, students and professors. The Conclave aims to serve as a platform to propagate new ideas and develop sustainable solutions to address the current socio-economic problems facing our country.

The theme for this year's event was "INDIA'S ROAD AHEAD". In today’s VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity Ambiguity) world, traditional ways of doing business are not as relevant as before. The government has introduced a host of reformative initiatives like GST, Make in India, Digital India, Smart cities, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, PAHAL (DBTL), Financial Inclusion etc. These set of reforms truly promise to deliver inclusive growth and development. The implementation of these initiatives provides a potential opportunity for India to reshape and restructure its corporate landscape, thereby strengthening its position globally. This opportunity comes at a time when the world is growing at its slowest pace since 2009. Our Chief Guest, Honourable Railway Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal threw light on how does India Inc plan to travel the treacherous road ahead.

The event comprised of an address by Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Railway Minister of India, two Panel Discussions and two Key Note Speeches.

Shri Piyush Goyal shared instances of his life with us which shall always inspire the audience to strive for the greater good of the society. His exemplary oratory skills combined with a Knack for keeping up with the global advancements left an impression on the minds of the students.

Mr. Meenakshy Sridhar, Leadership Recruiter, RIL, Mr. Vivek Bhatia, CEO Asia Pacific Thyssenkrup, Prof Peeyush Mehta, Professor of Operations Department at IIM Calcutta were the panellists discussing how manufacturing industries plan to tap the potential unveiled by the Government policies. They brought to the fore ways in which their respective organisations were keeping pace with the changing times.

Mr. Darshan Shankavaram, Executive Vice President at Capgemini, Mr. Ganesh Prabhanjan, Head of Alliance Business at Comparex and Mr. Diwakar Natarajan, COO at Sigmasoft provided insights on whether India is on its way to being the next Silicon Valley. There was a detailed discussion on the Indian Start-up story. The discussion concluded with an idea that India can make its own place in the software industry which will fundamentally be different from Silicon valley.

Mr. Amitabh Ray, MD, Ericsson India educated the audiences on the ArtificiaI Intelligence and Internet of Things initiatives undertaken worldwide and how are these going to affect humanity in general. MD, SAP Labs touched upon the technological advances that will shape industries in the future.

A social talk by Mr. Prateek Madhav, ex CEO – Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled (NGO) shed light on the initiatives taken to aid the visually disabled citizens. The organization has led to creation of stalwarts in many walks of life. One such example is its members who were a part of the cricket world cup team for the visually disabled.

Lattice 2017 concluded with an electrifying and entertaining performance by Madaari – the band where the students and staff tuned into music together, thereby strengthening the inter-community relations.