40 Under Forty: Ethics, innovation tilt scales for winners

The Arabian Sea shimmered in the late afternoon sun 21 floors below as the highpowered jury gathered to deliberate on the young business leaders vying for a highly coveted spot on The Economic Times 40 Under Forty scroll.

Thirteen elite jurors — women and men who have weathered many economic cycles and built enduring businesses — gathered in the Jaipur Suite at The Oberoi in Mumbai last week, tasked with recognising the most brilliant young leaders of corporate India. The 10th edition of 40 Under Forty was adjudicated by a power-packed panel led by Reliance Foundation’s Nita Ambani.

“This is a wonderful exercise to reflect on our new generation of business leaders,” said Ambani, who joined the august gathering virtually from London. “Such initiatives help nurture young talent and give them resources and a platform to shine… Thanks to ET for bringing all of us together today.”

The jury seemed overwhelmed initially by the number of nominees they had to pick from. However, as they got into the groove of shortlisting, they moved efficiently through the numbers with Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak, former banker Kalpana Morparia and Hindustan Unilever’s Rohit Jawa cheerleading the jury.

Once they narrowed down the selection, the jury settled in for an insightful debate with plenty of time in hand.

At one point, when the panel was beginning to drag its feet, Nita Ambani gave them a gentle nudge, citing the IPL’s “accelerated auction” concept. It’s cricket season, after all! To the delight of the jury, the selection pool was brimming with talented young women, a testament to the remarkable strides Indian business has made when it comes to gender empowerment.

“I am super excited looking at the long list,” said Morparia, who was seeking young achievers who not only demonstrated professional and business acumen but also believed in giving back to society. “I am just blown away by this profile of people under 40… It shows the rich talent landscape of India,” said Morparia, resplendent in an exquisite purple blue cotton saree embellished with fine Kashmiri embroidery.

The jury members actively engaged in lively discussions, drawing on their own experience or insights of fellow panel members to evaluate the candidates. They diligently inquired about their work ethic, leadership skills and innovative approaches, before approving candidates for the accolade.

Every now and then, the two private equity leaders on the table — Shweta Jalan of Advent International and Manish Kejriwal of Kedaara Capital — would engage in playful banter, making the arduous task of picking India Inc’s brightest sparks a wee bit lighter.

“The global firms are bullying the local ones,” Kejriwal said in mock lament, much to the amusement of RPG Group’s Anant Goenka and JM Financial’s Vishal Kampani.

A testament to the remarkable talent and ambition of India’s rising stars, the selection pool also had several candidates significantly younger than the 40-year cutoff. Renowned lawyer and former solicitor general of India Harish Salve, who along with his Supreme Court peer Abhishek Manu Singhvi joined the jury meet virtually, said “40 is the new 25”, to which the forever witty Kotak retorted: “This is how the 60-pluses speak… Actually, 60 is the new 40.”

Adman Prasoon Joshi, who brought a refreshing perspective to the deliberations, chipped in, saying, “As Uday keeps moving up, that bar will keep going up.” The founders of a few social impact ventures also made it into the candidates’ pool, prompting the jury to first define the criteria for adjudicating them. “Social impact outweighs everything,” said Singhvi, while Kotak held the view that “only ventures with a certain scale should be considered”. Prasoon Joshi emphasised the need for defining social impact as “quite often, such businesses strike an emotional chord, and jury members may feel obliged to vote for it”. An alternative viewpoint on the jury table was to pick “businesses that exhibited both impact and profitability”.

As the jury members dissected the candidate profiles, Google India boss Sanjay Gupta pointed out the value that human minds can bring to a jury table. “It’s not an AI-powered selection process; every candidate is picked after lengthy debate,” he said. Three hours — and several rounds of tea, black coffee and lemonade — later, the jury arrived at its pick of 40 young achievers.

Throughout the selection process, the jury members found themselves thoroughly engaged and impressed by the quality of the candidates. Bajaj Auto’s Niraj Bajaj rounded things off nicely, saying, “This was a lot more fun than I expected.” His fellow panelists concurred. Before calling it a day, Kotak pushed for a last-level check of the final list. “We have to be careful about counting,” he said. “It’s election season after all.”