On the occasion of Women’s Day, ASPIRE – IIT Bombay Research Park Foundation hosted a leadership dialogue titled “Women at the Helm – Leadership in Action: Women Shaping Research, Industry & Institutional Strategy.”
The session brought together leaders from academia, venture capital, industry, and institutional governance to reflect on leadership within complex research and innovation ecosystems.
Moderated by Dr. Aishwarya Ramachandran, a researcher working at the intersection of technology, policy, and innovation ecosystems, the dialogue featured:
Speakers:
Prof. Leena Vachhani – Associate Dean (R&D), IIT Bombay
Ms. Vandana Rajadhyaksha – Co-founder, Colossa Ventures LLP
Ms. Poyni Bhatt – Chairperson, SEDEMAC | Former CEO, SINE – IIT Bombay
Ms. Juili Limaye – Fragrance Innovation Lead, Unilever South Asia
Ms. Priyanka Jain Atal – Chief Legal Officer, IIT Bombay
The discussion explored the realities of decision-making within multi-stakeholder institutional environments, where leaders must balance research priorities, industry engagement, governance frameworks, and long-term organisational strategy.
Key Highlights
Leadership in complex institutional systems
Speakers reflected on how leadership in research-intensive organizations often requires navigating diverse stakeholder expectations while grounding decisions in structured analysis and long-term institutional thinking.
Institution-building and research translation
Panelists emphasized the importance of institutional processes, documentation, and collaborative frameworks that enable research to translate into deployable technologies and industry partnerships.
Evolving professional environments
The dialogue also touched on the changing nature of professional ecosystems, including the growing influence of digitalization, sustainability priorities, and evolving organizational cultures.
Participation
The session saw participation from IIT Bombay, internal teams, and representatives from companies within the Research Park ecosystem, enabling a focused exchange across academia, industry, and the broader innovation community.
The dialogue reinforced the importance of thoughtful leadership, strong institutional frameworks, and sustained collaboration between research and industry in advancing innovation and technology translation,
