Reflections on 27th September— moving from a closed-door gathering of founders to a college auditorium, exploring how authentic storytelling and technology shape culture, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.
Leadership is about the stories we tell and the systems we dare to build. But not just any stories — authentic ones.
For me, leadership isn’t about spinning clever lines or dressing up narratives. It’s about lived experience — the mistakes, the lessons, the resilience that becomes worth sharing because it’s real.
Stories are not just for applause; they’re for shaping future generations, helping them see the paths we’ve walked and perhaps avoid the pitfalls we fell into. And systems? That’s where my work as an ecosystem enabler lives — in building frameworks that others can stand on.
On 27th September, I was reminded of this twice in very different settings.
The morning began with the CII Indian Women Network’s Stories to Scale: Leadership Lab — a gathering curated to celebrate narratives of vision, resilience, and purpose.
- Janaki Sabesh showed us how storytelling is not a soft skill but a leadership muscle.
- Avanti Natarajan spoke with her trademark clarity about how stories don’t just move companies, they shape cultures and entire generations, influencing ethics and values.
- Gowri Kailasam grounded us with numbers: India is now the 3rd largest startup economy with a $30T aspiration, and Tamil Nadu has 49% of startups led by women. But the sobering fact remains: 90% of startups fail within 5 years. Her challenge? Don’t fear failure — treat it as fuel.
- Suresh Sambandam shared a deeply personal journey, framing the evolution of economies — agrarian → industrial → knowledge → entrepreneurial. For Tamil Nadu to achieve its $1T vision by 2030, we need MSMEs, startups, GCCs, and above all, equitable, sustainable growth.
By afternoon, the setting shifted. At KCG College of Technology, I spoke on AI and Sustainability, representing EcoHQ and Zha VC (ழ) as event sponsor.
I laid out both sides of AI:
⚡ The costs — massive electricity and water use, rare earth mining, and a resource race so intense it is already sparking border conflicts. AI’s energy appetite may soon outpace entire countries.
🌍 The contributions — predictive climate and disaster intelligence for Tamil Nadu, water monitoring, resilience planning, and health diagnostics that catch disease early.
My message to the students was simple: AI will shape your jobs — but you will shape the AI the world steps into. Build solutions that don’t just optimise profits but strengthen communities. Because in a world of AI agents and humanoid robots, we need human leaders who choose to build responsibly.
And there’s a personal principle I’ve always held onto: I refuse interviews and podcasts on ‘general’ topics. I’ve only ever spoken when the stage was about Sustainability, Climate, or Social Impact — because that’s where my lived experiences lie, and where I can do justice to the opportunity. I hope more people are mindful when they are awarded such spaces, and not use the words ‘impact‘ or ‘activist‘ casually.
The conversations of 27th September were a powerful reminder of this: leadership is not about polished, inauthentic stories. It is about telling the truths we’ve lived — and building the systems that will outlast us.