The Vision List: India’s Most Influential Emerging Leaders

Indiarsquos business landscape is being shaped by a new generation of leaders who are building beyond conventional playbooks using technology fresh ideas and a clear understanding of changing consumer and industry needs From entrepreneurs transforming traditional sectors to professionals creating new categories these individuals reflect the breadth of ambition driving Indiarsquos next phase of growth The Vision List Indiarsquos Most Influential Emerging Leaders brings together the people whose work ideas and leadership are creating momentum across industries Their stories are not defined by titles alone but by the businesses they are building the problems they are solving and the possibilities they are opening up for what comes nextRitesh Agarwal Founder amp Group CEO PRISMRitesh Agarwal started building businesses after identifying a problem he encountered repeatedly while travelling across India affordable accommodation often lacked consistency in quality and experience At 19 he founded OYO with the ambition of bringing greater standardisation and technology to a fragmented hospitality marketWhat followed was the rapid transformation of a young entrepreneurrsquos idea into a global hospitality technology business OYO expanded across international markets and eventually became part of PRISM the broader platform through which Agarwal now operates across hospitality and related businessesHis approach has centred on using technology to organise fragmented industries and create more efficient connections between businesses and consumers The scale of OYOrsquos evolution has also made Agarwal one of the most recognisable founders of Indiarsquos technology generationHis story reflects a broader shift in Indian entrepreneurship identifying inefficiencies in traditional industries and using technology rather than simply digitising an existing model to rethink how those industries operateMadhu Lunawat Founder The Wealth Company CoFounder Pantomath GroupFor Madhu Lunawat the business of building India begins far beyond the boardroom Her journey has taken her across the country meeting entrepreneurs promoters MSMEs and emerging businesses understanding what makes them work and identifying those with the potential to grow That ground level understanding has shaped a career spanning investment banking private equity and asset management and eventually led her to build institutions of her ownAs Founder of The Wealth Company and CoFounder of the Pantomath Group she established Indiarsquos first woman founded mutual fund business and helped build a diversified financial institution across investment banking private capital asset management and advisory She also played a pivotal role in building the Bharat Value Fund which has grown to more than 1 billion in AUM since its first close in 2022 backing high potential Indian enterprisesAnd perhaps the most telling part of her story is that even after building at scale she continues to go where opportunity isDaljeet Sandu Founder EdviaaiStudying abroad remains a major ambition for Indian students but navigating admissions can be as challenging as choosing the destination itself With more than a decade in global higher education admissions Daljeet Sandhu saw firsthand how students and families struggled with fragmented information unclear requirements and an often complicated application processThat experience led him to build Edviaai an AIpowered platform that brings programme discovery university comparisons eligibility requirements and application guidance into one placeSandhursquos approach is straightforward technology should reduce uncertainty not add to it By combining his experience in global admissions with AI he aims to give students clearer information before they make significant academic and financial commitmentsFor Edviaai the larger ambition extends beyond applicationsto create a more studentfirst approach to international education where better information and practical guidance can help families make more informed choicesDeepinder Goyal Founder amp CEO ZomatoDeepinder Goyal turned a simple observation about the difficulty of finding restaurant information into one of Indiarsquos most recognisable consumer technology companies Founded in 2008 Zomato began as a restaurant discovery platform before expanding into food delivery and a broader ecosystem built around changing consumer habitsGoyalrsquos defining strength has been his willingness to evolve the business beyond its original proposition Zomatorsquos expansion into food delivery quick commerce dining and restaurantfocused services reflects an understanding that consumer technology businesses must continuously adapt to how people live and transactThe companyrsquos evolution has also placed Goyal at the centre of Indiarsquos newage technology landscape His approach combines an emphasis on product technology and consumer behaviour with a willingness to enter categories where the underlying opportunity extends beyond Zomatorsquos original businessFrom a restaurant directory to a diversified consumer technology ecosystem Goyalrsquos story is ultimately one of continuous reinventionVishal Gupta Managing Partner Property StationVishal Gupta Managing Partner at Property Station brings over three decades of experience to real estate advisory combining institutional discipline with deep market understanding His approach is rooted in precision transparency and research helping HNIs and global investors make informed property decisions with a longterm perspectiveAlongside Property Station Gupta founded Care2Earn Services extending his expertise into mortgage advisory and financial planning to help clients optimise cash flow and strengthen financial stability He is also the cofounder of prOPIUMai a real estate data intelligence platform focused on bringing greater transparency and datadriven decisionmaking to property transactionsGuptarsquos experience across real estate finance governance and risk gives him a multidimensional view of wealth creation Today he is helping shape the evolution of Property Station and Care2Earn while building prOPIUMai into a technologyled platform for a more intelligent and insightdriven Indian real estate ecosystemDr Himanshu Gandhi Founder Mother SparshDr Himanshu Gandhi is the founder behind Mother Sparsh a premium Indian baby and kidrsquos care brand built around the idea of bringing Indian parenting wisdom into modern problemsolving formats Born in Jhajjar Haryana his academic journey spans engineering MBA and PhD giving him a multidisciplinary foundation that shaped his approach to business and leadershipBefore entrepreneurship he served in a respected position within the Haryana government an experience that strengthened his decisionmaking and longterm thinking In a category long shaped by global players he identified an opportunity to create baby products that felt more relevant to Indian families In 2018 that led him to found Mother Sparsh with a consumerfirst approach centred on understanding the parentrsquos concern before developing the productUnder his leadership the brand has combined familiar Indian ingredients modern product development hospital sampling and continuous consumer feedback to build trust Today Mother Sparsh is an omnichannel brand operating at an ARR of over 200 croreNithin Kamath Founder amp CEO ZerodhaNithin Kamath is the Founder and CEO of Zerodha the brokerage he bootstrapped in 2010 after years of experience as a trader His own frustrations with the high costs and complexity of traditional broking became the foundation for building a simpler more transparent way for Indians to participate in the marketsZerodharsquos flatfee model and technologyled approach helped reshape Indiarsquos retail investing landscape while the companyrsquos decision to grow without external venture capital made its path particularly distinctive Beyond Zerodha Kamath has supported startups and financial innovation through Rainmatter and its broader ecosystemHis story reflects a different model of entrepreneurship one built around solving a problem he experienced firsthand keeping the product simple and building patiently without following conventional growth playbooks

The Vision List: India’s Most Influential Emerging Leaders

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