XLRI Hosts Manakriti 3.0 on Translating Agentic AI into Measurable Business Outcomes

Inaugural Address

Fr. Dr. Joseph Mathew, S.J., opened the conclave by reflecting on the evolution of AI from tools that assist human decision-making to systems capable of taking action. He encouraged students to look beyond the hype surrounding AI agents and consider where autonomy creates value, how it should be governed, and what leadership capabilities are required to manage teams comprising people and digital workers.

Panel I: Engineering Autonomy — From Conversational Chatbots to Connected Workflows

The first panel examined the transition from conversational chatbots to AI agents capable of planning, taking action and operating across enterprise systems. Panellists highlighted the importance of quality data, system integration, multi-agent collaboration and effective monitoring mechanisms in deploying reliable AI solutions at scale. The discussion also covered the growing role of forward-deployed engineers and the need for clearly defined use cases and expected outcomes.

Panellists:

* Gaurav Satija, Senior Director, Engineering, Adobe

* Balaji Raghunathan, Data & AI Engineering Business Unit Leader, Sigmoid

* Sriram Kalyanaraman, Head of AI Engineering, Winmore

* Saurav Ghosh, Global Technology Delivery Leader, Applied AI, Quantiphi

Panel II: The Augmented Workforce — Redesigning Roles, Collaboration and Human Oversight

The second panel explored how AI agents are reshaping jobs and organisational responsibilities. Panellists discussed how automation can free employees to focus on judgement, creativity and oversight, while emphasising the importance of human accountability, employee training, change management and leadership support. The discussion underscored that successful AI adoption must account for human experience alongside technological capabilities.

Panellists:

* Syed Amir Najme, Director, PwC

* Suvro Raychaudhuri, Partner & Director HR, Global Technology Operations (APAC), CGI

* Swagat Siddhartha, AI & Digital Strategy Leader, Lenovo India

* Arijit Kundu, Program Director/Consulting Partner, Tech Mahindra

Panel III: Delivering the P&L — Measuring Real ROI, Unit Economics and Operational Risk

The third panel addressed how organisations can evaluate the business value of AI investments. Experts discussed measuring actual financial returns, understanding the costs of deploying agents at scale, and managing operational, regulatory and reputational risks. Panellists stressed the importance of aligning AI initiatives with business objectives, monitoring costs and establishing robust governance mechanisms. They also highlighted token usage, error-related expenses and governance costs as important considerations in assessing AI economics.

Panellists:

* Kakul Paul, Partner & Delivery Unit Leader, Tiger Analytics

* Kunal Kaushal, Partner, Data & Analytics, GenAI/Agentic AI, PwC

* Vijay Morampudi, SVP, AI & Innovation Leader, Marsh

* Ravikumar Mariappa, Vice President, Consulting, CGI

* Mukesh Deshpande, Managing Director, Protiviti India

Closing Address

Prof. Sunil Kumar Sarangi delivered the concluding address, reflecting on the day’s discussions and the responsibility associated with deploying autonomous systems. He emphasised that the true value of AI agents lies in the outcomes they deliver for organisations and the people they serve, encouraging students to approach AI transformation with curiosity, rigour and integrity. The event was conducted with the guidance of Prof. Kanagaraj Ayyalusamy, Ms. Haripriya B and the AI Committee.

Manakriti 3.0 reinforced XLRI’s commitment to developing leaders who can translate technological advances into meaningful business outcomes through responsible adoption, sound judgement and effective governance. The conclave further strengthened dialogue between management education and industry on the evolving role of AI in enterprise transformation.