About the Series – For Your Insight
This feature marks the first edition of For Your Insight—a thought leadership initiative by SDA Bocconi Asia Center. The series brings together perspectives from our students, alumni, faculty, and industry experts, showcasing stories that reflect the value of an SDA Bocconi education and the excellence we strive to deliver. Through real-world narratives and career journeys, For Your Insight explores how business leaders are navigating transformation, innovation, and responsibility in a fast-changing world.
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the global enterprise landscape, the demand for hyper-personalized, outcome-driven client engagement has reached an inflection point. According to McKinsey, organizations that successfully integrate AI into their operations can unlock up to 70% productivity gains, with personalization driving 40% more revenue compared to competitors. This dramatic shift underscores a deeper transformation in the role of technology leaders—from task managers focused on delivery to strategic partners leading enterprise-wide change.
For professionals like Rachit Gupta, a current International Executive Master in Business candidate, who has spent over a decade working with Fortune 500 clients and building thriving open-source communities like Drupal Mumbai, this evolution has been both professional and personal. As he puts it, “It’s no longer just about digitization—it’s about reimagining business models and aligning technology with human-centered outcomes.”
Having witnessed the arc from early Agile adoption to the onset of Industry 5.0, Rachit now champions a leadership style rooted in inclusivity, empathy, and governance-first innovation. Whether it’s embedding GenAI into decision intelligence or driving community-led tech for good, his approach exemplifies the kind of responsible leadership enterprises need—especially as AI adoption raises ethical, social, and regulatory concerns globally.
In this conversation, we explore how Rachit’s journey—from co-founding open-source movements to shaping intelligent enterprises—mirrors the broader transformation of the tech industry, and what it means to lead with purpose in an era defined by disruption and digital trust.
- Can you share the story behind founding Drupal Mumbai and how your involvement in open-source has shaped your leadership style?
My journey with open-source began in college, not as a career strategy, but as a calling. I co-founded a Linux User Group with the intent of creating something larger than myself—a community that could democratize access to technology and knowledge.
Years later, that vision took a new form with the founding of Drupal Mumbai, a grassroots movement aimed at fostering a vibrant ecosystem of Open Source developers, contributors, and change-makers in India. What started as a local meetup, Camps soon evolved into a nationally recognized community, culminating in DrupalCon Asia 2016, where we welcomed over 1000 participants from around the globe. Organizing and leading such an initiative—completely volunteer-driven—taught me more about leadership than any corporate assignment ever could.
Open-source leadership is unique. You lead without authority, inspire without incentives, and build without boundaries. It forces you to master the soft skills that matter most—influence, empathy, vision, and trust. I learned how to navigate conflicting opinions, mentor across experience levels, and bring diverse stakeholders—students, professionals, enterprises—into a shared mission.
This has fundamentally shaped my leadership style:
- Purpose-driven: Always focused on impact, not titles.
- Inclusive: Making space for every voice at the table.
- Empowering: Creating platforms for others to grow, contribute, and lead.
Whether I’m driving digital transformation for Fortune 500 clients or mentoring teams within my organization, I draw on these experiences. Open-source didn’t just make me a better technologist—it made me a better leader. And that remains my biggest takeaway from the journey.
Reference for more content – https://rachitgupta.in/decade-of-open-source-community-building/
2. You’ve worked with Fortune 500 clients for over a decade. How has your approach to client engagement evolved over time?
Over the past decade, the software industry has undergone a fundamental transformation—from traditional project delivery models to Agile-led, product-centric ecosystems, and now, into the era of AI-powered intelligent enterprises. This evolution has reshaped how we define value, deliver solutions, and engage with clients.
Early in my career, client engagement was largely task- and scope-driven—ensuring delivery within time, budget, and quality constraints. While those fundamentals remain important, my approach has matured significantly. Today, I anchor every engagement around business outcomes, customer centricity, and value realization.
The adoption of Agile methodologies played a pivotal role in this shift. Working closely with Fortune 500 organizations, I witnessed how Agile, when embraced beyond just ceremonies, becomes a mindset that fosters transparency, co-creation, and rapid feedback. It enabled me to move beyond delivery oversight and start leading multi-functional teams, aligning technology initiatives with strategic objectives, and driving change that matters at scale.
As we now enter the AI era, client conversations have become even more strategic. It’s no longer just about digitization—it’s about reimagining business models, enhancing decision intelligence, and delivering hyper-personalized experiences. My focus has expanded to helping clients navigate this complex journey—by identifying high-impact AI use cases, building responsible governance frameworks, and integrating GenAI into core operations.
Ultimately, my leadership approach to client engagement today revolves around:
- Empathy and active listening, to truly understand client pain points
- Outcome-led planning, with clear KPIs linked to business goals
- Collaborative transformation, empowering teams on both sides to co-own success
This evolution—from task manager to strategic partner and transformation leader—has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my professional journey.
3. With GenAI rapidly evolving, how do you see its practical enterprise adoption shaping up in the next 2–3 years?
GenAI is not just another technological trend—it’s a paradigm shift that’s fundamentally redefining how businesses operate, innovate, and compete. What we’re witnessing is the onset of Industry 5.0, where the collaboration between humans and intelligent machines becomes the new cornerstone of value creation.
Across industries—from pharma and BFSI to retail and manufacturing—GenAI is being rapidly embedded into the enterprise lifecycle to drive efficiency, cost optimization, operational excellence, and faster time-to-market. Early adopters are already realizing productivity gains of up to 30–40%, and projections suggest this could exceed 70% in the next few years as models mature and become tightly integrated with business workflows.
In the next 2–3 years, I see three major waves of GenAI adoption in enterprises:
- Efficiency at Scale – Automating repetitive tasks like content creation, data summarization, and coding to unlock massive time and cost savings.
- Augmented Intelligence – Embedding GenAI into decision-making workflows to enhance customer service, compliance, R&D, and risk management.
- Business Model Innovation – Reimagining how products are built, personalized, and delivered through AI-native platforms and experiences.
But the transformation isn’t just technical—it’s deeply organizational. We’re seeing a significant shift toward re-skilling at scale, as employees across functions are being empowered to work with AI, not against it. This calls for a new kind of leadership—one that can navigate ambiguity, foster a culture of experimentation, and drive responsible AI adoption that aligns with governance and ethics.
The IT industry, in particular, is reinventing itself—moving from system integrators to strategic AI transformation partners. And as someone deeply involved in this space, I believe the next frontier is not just deploying GenAI, but orchestrating an ecosystem that brings together technology, talent, and trust to unlock exponential enterprise value.
4. How do you maintain balance between a high-stakes corporate role, community leadership, and your personal interests?
Maintaining balance across work, community, and personal life isn’t about finding equal time for everything—it’s about being intentional and present in whatever role I’m playing. It took years of self-awareness, trial and error, and continuous reflection to find a rhythm that works for me.
Fitness has always been a non-negotiable part of my lifestyle. I’m a marathoner, and training for endurance runs has taught me invaluable leadership traits—self-discipline, resilience, consistency, and the ability to stay focused over long stretches, even when things get tough. These lessons translate seamlessly into my professional life, especially when managing high-pressure client engagements or long-term transformation initiatives.
I’m also a certified yoga trainer, which adds another dimension to how I lead and live. Yoga has instilled in me the power of focus, mindfulness, and staying calm under pressure. It has helped me navigate tough decisions with clarity, respond rather than react, and build emotional resilience—something every leader needs in today’s fast-paced world.
Balancing work with community leadership—whether it’s mentoring in the open-source ecosystem or driving tech-for-good initiatives—has been deeply fulfilling. It reminds me why I started my journey in tech: not just to deliver, but to inspire and uplift others.
That said, balance isn’t always easy. Over the years, I’ve learned the art of delegation, the importance of setting boundaries, and perhaps most importantly, the power of saying ‘no’—not as a rejection, but as a commitment to what truly matters.
At the center of it all is my family, who grounds me. I plan my time consciously—making space for learning, health, relationships, and reflection. For me, leadership isn’t just about professional success—it’s about living a well-rounded, value-driven life, and leading by example.
5. How has the IEMB curriculum helped you enhance your leadership capabilities in innovation and transformation?
The IEMB program at SDA Bocconi has been nothing short of transformational. Coming from a strong technology and delivery background, I was confident in my ability to lead complex programs—but stepping into areas like Marketing, Finance, Macroeconomics, Sustainability, and Business Innovation pushed me into unfamiliar yet incredibly rewarding territory.
What makes this program unique is not just the content, but its practical, real-world application. The curriculum is designed to challenge assumptions, expose blind spots, and sharpen both strategic thinking and executional discipline. It allowed me to move beyond functional expertise and think end-to-end—like a business leader, not just a technologist.
Learning from world-class faculty—many of whom bring deep global consulting and academic experience—has expanded my perspective on what innovation and transformation truly require in today’s volatile business landscape. Concepts that once felt abstract now feel actionable. I find myself applying them directly to client engagements and internal strategy discussions with far greater clarity and confidence.
Equally powerful has been the peer learning. The cohort brings together leaders from diverse industries—banking, healthcare, consumer, manufacturing—which creates a melting pot of ideas, experiences, and leadership styles. Every classroom session becomes a dialogue, not a monologue—something that’s accelerated both my self-awareness and leadership maturity.
Finally, the global reputation and brand of SDA Bocconi, ranked 4th in Europe by the Financial Times, adds tremendous value. It signals both credibility and quality—and I can already see how it’s amplifying my professional narrative in external conversations.
For anyone aspiring to move from mid or senior management into top leadership roles, I would wholeheartedly recommend the IEMB program. It doesn’t just build skills—it builds leaders ready for tomorrow’s challenges.