Mumbai: CNBC-TV18, India’s leading English business news channel, brought together some of the country’s most influential business leaders, investors, founders and industry voices at CNBC-TV18 The Titans Summit held at Jio World Convention Centre on May 12, 2026. Presented by WeWork India and co-presented by PhonePe, the summit centred around the theme ‘From Resilience to Reinvention: India’s Enterprise Story,’ exploring how Indian businesses are adapting to rapid technological disruption, evolving consumer behaviour, changing workplace models and shifting global dynamics to build future-ready enterprises.
At a time when India stands at the intersection of ambition, innovation and global opportunity, the summit explored how enterprises are adapting to changing market realities while building for long-term scale, leadership and impact. Discussions throughout focused on entrepreneurship, capital, evolving consumer markets, specialized talent, hybrid infrastructure and the future of enterprise in a rapidly changing business environment.
Opening the summit, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, spoke about India’s growing importance as a centre for entrepreneurship, innovation and capital creation, pointing to the momentum being created by technology, policy support and investor confidence. Delivering the opening address, Karan Virwani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, WeWork India, reflected on India’s transition from a support market for global corporations to a market increasingly building globally competitive businesses. He emphasized the growing alignment between talent, infrastructure, capital and entrepreneurial ambition across the country.
One of the key sessions at the summit, ‘The Next Phase of India’s Investment Cycle’, featured Rishabh Mariwala, Manish Kejriwal, Gopal Jain and Krishna Ramachandran, who discussed disciplined investing, operational resilience, founder quality and AI’s growing influence on enterprise building.
Speaking during the session, Manish Kejriwal, Founder and Managing Partner, Kedaara Capital, emphasized the importance of investing within sectors where investors can genuinely create strategic value, adding that disciplined investing and operational excellence remain critical in a rapidly evolving market environment.
Adding to the discussion, Gopal Jain, Gopal Jain, Managing Director and CEO, Gaja Capital highlighted that the next phase of AI-led growth will be driven by businesses that combine proprietary data, customization and deep contextual understanding to solve real-world business challenges rather than relying on generic AI applications.
Another session, ‘Building Experience as a Business,’ featuring Anuraag Bhatnagar, CEO & Whole-Time Director, The Leela Palaces; Puneet Chatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL; and Rahul Ganjoo, CEO, District by Zomato, explored the rise of experience-led businesses across hospitality, travel, and lifestyle. The panel highlighted how businesses across hospitality, food, travel and lifestyle are increasingly shifting from transactional models to immersive and emotionally engaging consumer experiences. Discussions centred around premiumization, evolving consumer behaviour, experience-led loyalty and how brands are using personalization and community-building to create long-term differentiation in competitive markets.
The session ‘Building Knowledge-Driven Enterprises,’ featuring Anand Bhushan, Saint-Gobain GCC Leader, and Arindam Sen, Partner & GCC Sector Leader (TMT), EY India, focused on the growing importance of specialized talent, institutional knowledge and research-led capabilities in a technology-driven economy.
The summit also featured ‘The Rise of Flex Spaces & Hybrid Real Estate’ session with Karan Virwani, MD & CEO, WeWork India; Gulam Zia, International Partner & Senior Executive Director, Knight Frank India; and Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-Founder & MD, Hiranandani Group, where the discussion centred on how hybrid work models and evolving workforce expectations are reshaping commercial real estate and flexible workspaces across India.
During the session, Karan Virwani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of WeWork India, reiterated that flexible workspace ecosystems are no longer just about office infrastructure, but about enabling entrepreneurship, collaboration and scalable business growth. He highlighted that the future workplace will be driven by flexibility, experience and community-led infrastructure.
Speaking during the discussion, Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-Founder and Managing Director,Hiranandani Group said that India’s real estate sector remains resilient due to rising aspirations, market consolidation and changing consumer behaviour. He added that flexible workspaces are expected to account for a significantly larger share of commercial real estate in the years ahead.
The evening concluded with the session ‘Winning in Markets That Didn’t Exist Before’, featuring Harshil Salot, Ankush Grover and Pranav Maheshwari, where founders spoke about identifying untapped opportunities, building new categories and scaling businesses in rapidly evolving markets.
The CNBC-TV18 Titans Summit concluded with a forward-looking focus on building a stronger, more innovation-led India through collaboration, future-ready infrastructure, responsible leadership and long-term value creation. Discussions throughout the summit reinforced the importance of investing in technology, talent, entrepreneurship and scalable ecosystems to drive sustainable growth and position India as a globally competitive enterprise economy for the future.
