Mahindra University’s School of Management hosted the inaugural Pramaan International Conference 2026, bringing together scholars, researchers, doctoral students and industry practitioners to examine how leadership, organisations and management research are evolving in an increasingly digital and technology-driven world.
The conference, themed “Leadership in the Digital Age”, received 170 submissions, of which 93 were accepted, with 59 research presentations comprising 41 papers and 18 posters. The conference featured participation from 26+ institutions across India and abroad, including leading institutions such as Buckinghamshire New University (UK), GlobalNxt University (Malaysia), NYU Stern (New York), IIM Lucknow, IIT Kharagpur, University of Hyderabad.
Dr. Yajulu Medury, Vice Chancellor, Mahindra University said, “Leadership in the digital age demands more than technological fluency. It calls for the ability to understand change, question established assumptions and make informed decisions in an increasingly complex environment. Pramaan 2026 reflects Mahindra University’s commitment to creating platforms where rigorous research, industry experience and academic dialogue come together to address the challenges shaping organisations and society.”
The two-day programme combined research-focused workshops with keynote addresses, an editors’ panel, research presentations and an industry-academia discussion. The pre-conference workshops covered research gap identification, grounded theory and case research, quantitative research design and big data analytics, offering scholars practical insights into strengthening research quality and methodological rigour.
Dr. Anadi Saran Pande, Dean, School of Management, Mahindra University said, “Pramaan 2026 has created a meaningful space for researchers and practitioners to engage with the questions that are redefining management in the digital era. The quality and diversity of research presented at the conference underline the importance of strong methodologies, cross-disciplinary thinking and closer industry-academia engagement. We hope the conversations and collaborations emerging from Pramaan will contribute to stronger and more relevant management research.”
The conference featured an inaugural address by Prof Davide Sola, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, ESCP Business School, and a keynote by Mr. Sunil Jose, President, Workday India both of which brought a global perspective to setting the context of transformations in the digital age. The editors’ panel, ‘Leading in the Digital Age: Editorial Perspectives Across Management Disciplines’, brought together senior journal editors to discuss evolving research priorities, methodologies and the changing role of leadership research in a digitally connected environment. The focus of this session was to enable young scholars to conduct high quality research.
Panellists for the editor’s panel on the topic “Leading in the Digital Age: Editorial Perspectives Across Management Disciplines” included Dr. Pradeep Racherla, Professor & Associate Dean, Mahindra University School of Management, Dr. Ajay K. Manrai, Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Delaware, Dr. Sushanta Kumar Mishra, Professor, IIM Bangalore, Dr. Sachin Kumar Mangla, Professor, FORE School of Management and Dr. G. Balasubramanian, Former Dean, IFMR Graduate School of Business.
An industry academia panel was hosted as a part of the conference with a goal to bring both on the same platform. The distinguished speakers included Mr. Vinay Agrawal (Global Head, Business HR, Tech Mahindra), Mr. Isaac Rajkumar (Managing Director, RealPage), Mr. Maneesh Sehagal (Managing Director and CEO, DBS Tech), Mr. Subba Perepa (Managing Director, Charles Schwab India), Mr. Sudhanshu Chaturvedi (Vice President, T-Hub), and Mr. Tarun Kumar (Head of HR Shared Services Centre, Tech Mahindra). The active engagement of scholars and industry practitioners in the audience set the stage for a dynamic and thought-provoking dialogue.
The conference also provided a platform for interdisciplinary research across areas including consumer behaviour and marketing, data science and artificial intelligence, finance and economics, emerging technology management, organisational behaviour, strategy and entrepreneurship, and sustainability and public policy.
The conference further strengthened its academic focus through publication opportunities, including an associated special issue of IIMB Management Review and expedited review pathways with six partner journals. The event concluded with the Best Paper and Poster Awards, recognising research contributions across the conference tracks.
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