Aurora 3.0 at XLRI: Shaping Future-Ready Product Leaders with Purpose and Innovation

In his opening remarks, Dr. Sanjay K. Patro emphasized that “Product management today is at the heart of organizations, where strategic agility and fast-paced decision-making define leadership.” Dr. Giridhar Ramachandran urged students to embrace problem framing, quick turnarounds and managing stakeholder trade-offs as key skills for the future.

 

The day featured four high-impact panel discussions:

1. The Agentic Future: Product Evolution in the Age of AI

Mr. Prakash Kumar, Director of Product Management, Google

Ms. Shruti Jain, Director, Publicis Sapient

Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Head of Product, Ajio

Mr. Rahul Jain, Director of Product, Razorpay

Mr. Pavan Kumar, Senior Director, ServiceNow

Mr. Harshil Desai, Product Leader, Optum

They shared insights on responsible AI adoption, personalization, fraud detection and inclusive technology.

 

2. Leading Products When the Ground Shifts: Strategies for Resilience and Relevance

Mr. Manish Sharma, Senior VP, Pine Labs

Mr. Arvind Nair, Head of Product, Tata Digital

Ms. Pooja Bhatnagar, Director of Product Management, SAP

Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Senior Manager, Expedia

Mr. Rohit Mehta, Strategy Consultant

Panellists highlighted strategies to balance speed, adoption, and resilience during market volatility.

 

3. Product with Purpose: Ethical and Sustainable Technology for a Responsible Future

Mr. Vivek Rao, Co-Founder, GreenTech Solutions

Ms. Ananya Sinha, Chief Sustainability Officer, FutureTech

Mr. Arjun Malhotra, Founder & CEO, Social Impact Tech

Ms. Shreya Gupta, Head of Responsible Innovation, Infosys

They stressed aligning profitability with people and planet, advocating ethical innovation and user-focused design.

 

4. From Doing to Leading to Redefining: Career Pivots and Failures that Future-Proof Product Leaders

Mr. Siddharth Mishra, Senior Product Manager, Zomato

Ms. Kavita Sharma, Director of Product, Amadeus

Mr. Rohan Kapoor, VP Product, OpenText

Mr. Aditya Verma, Global Product Head, Joveo

The Prodzion Committee concluded the conclave by delivering the Vote of Thanks guided by Dr. Kanagaraj Ayyalusamy and Mr. Shownu Winstington. The committee expressed gratitude to the distinguished panellists, XLRI leadership and the student community for their active participation and conclave’s success.
 

Speaking on the success of Aurora 3.0, XLRI leadership reiterated the institute’s commitment to preparing leaders who blend innovation with responsibility, staying true to its ethos of “For the Greater Good.”