On August 10, 2025, SDA Bocconi Asia Center hosted its flagship annual business fest, La Conquista 2025 – Unlocking AI, Unlocking Potential. Managed by students of the International Master in Business program, this year’s edition drew over 4,900 registrations and attracted participants from India’s most prestigious institutions, including the IIMs, ISB, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, XLRI, FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, NMIMS, Christ University, and Lady Shri Ram College. The energy on campus reflected the fest’s growing stature as a crucible of innovation where academia meets industry in meaningful ways.
The event began with a high-powered panel on AI’s impact across industries. Corporate leaders, including Shipra Anand Mishra, Senior VP – HR Strategy at CIFDAQ, Sohil Karia, Co-Founder of Schbang and Founder of Mojek Money, CA Sandeep Mantri, CFO & Board Member at Protean eGov Technologies, and Atul Yadav, AI Coach & Entrepreneur at Outspark, shared how artificial intelligence is streamlining operations, reshaping innovation, and redefining the future of work, while also highlighting the human judgment and ethical oversight still required in its deployment. The session was moderated by Aditya Bhutada, student of the International Master in Business (IMB) Class of 2027, Edition 14. Specializing in prompt engineering and innovation, he helps businesses harness AI tools to drive growth and navigate the complexities of modern technology.
From there, the spotlight shifted to the six case competitions, each grounded in live problem statements provided by leading organizations. Together, these challenges captured the complexity and breadth of business decision-making in an AI-driven world.
In BizOps with Grant Thornton, students stepped into the world of agribusiness transformation. They were asked to design a resilient and sustainable grape supply chain for exports to Europe—an industry plagued by risks ranging from climate change and pests to price crashes and fragmented landholdings. The case demanded participants balance farmer profitability with supply chain efficiency by integrating cluster analysis, sustainability frameworks, and technology-enabled solutions.
Luxury and tourism converged in LuxFeud with Fidenza Village, where participants had to devise an AI-powered digital marketing strategy to attract high-value Indian travelers to the Italian shopping destination, part of The Bicester Collection. By leveraging geo-intelligence, real-time personalization, and engagement across digital platforms such as Instagram and Indian travel portals, teams were challenged to strengthen Fidenza Village’s positioning in the highly competitive European luxury retail market.
Consumer branding took center stage in Ignite with LoveChild by Masaba, a competition that tested participants’ ability to launch a new product line—whether fragrance, foundation, wellness, or grooming—while deepening reach in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The challenge lay in crafting a complete go-to-market strategy that preserved the brand’s premium-yet-accessible identity, supported by AI-driven micro-market targeting, personalized campaigns, and inventory optimization.
Finance was explored through two competitions. In FINnovate with Finlatics, students tackled investment risk analysis and portfolio optimization, decoding financial challenges to propose strategies that would improve overall business performance. In contrast, ProdPreneur with Mojek Money focused on data infrastructure for a fintech startup. Participants were asked to curate a reliable knowledge base from credible financial sources, structure it into a machine-readable format, and establish systems for accuracy, governance, and integration with AI tools—laying the groundwork for Mojek’s AI-powered assistant for Gen Z.
Human resources innovation came alive in HRythm with Occams Advisory, where the challenge revolved around boosting employee engagement and retention. Faced with a score of just 3.5 out of 5 against a target of 4.2, Occams invited students to design a one-year, AI-enabled HR plan. Teams had to balance bold innovation with practical feasibility, quantify return on investment, and ensure strategies could be smoothly implemented in a fast-changing workplace.
From supply chain design to luxury marketing, consumer branding to HR transformation, and financial innovation to data strategy, the six competitions captured the complexity of today’s business landscape. What united them was not only the use of AI as a transformative enabler but also the opportunity for students to solve real-world problems in collaboration with industry leaders.
La Conquista 2025 was more than a showcase of talent—it was a celebration of collaboration. Students from the International Master in Business program at SDA Bocconi Asia Center worked alongside peers from India’s top institutions, exchanging ideas and perspectives that reflected both global exposure and local insight. The evening closed with cultural performances and festivities, but the true legacy of the event lay in its message: when academia and industry come together, innovation becomes inevitable.