In a year defined by rapid technological change and global uncertainty, India's most prominent business leaders turned to books for wisdom, perspective, and strategic insight. A curated collection of their 2025 recommendations reveals a fascinating blend of themes: the timeless patterns of human history, the science of scaling, the profound disruption of artificial intelligence, and the essential virtue of intellectual humility.
Stepping Back: The Long View from History and Scale
For many leaders, the key to navigating present-day chaos was to zoom out. Kunal Bahl, co-founder of AceVector and Titan Capital, found grounding in The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant. He noted that the book's distillation of centuries into recurring themes like ambition and resilience helped him separate noise from signal and recognize the deeper forces driving human behavior, a crucial skill for leading teams in unpredictable markets.
Similarly, Lalit Keshre, CEO of Groww, delved into 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin. For him, the book's detailed account of the Wall Street crash was less about predicting financial downturns and more a stark lesson in recognizing how euphoria clouds judgement. The critical takeaway, he emphasized, is the danger of the "this time is different" narrative and the importance of questioning decisions when everything seems too good.
On a more scientific note, G.V. Ravishankar, Managing Director of Peak XV, revisited Scale by Geoffrey West. This book reshaped his understanding of growth by revealing the mathematical laws that govern organisms, cities, and companies. He was struck by the counterintuitive finding that while companies slow down as they grow, cities become more innovative—a vital insight for any entrepreneur building a startup.
The AI Imperative: Navigating Power and Partnership
Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence dominated the reading lists. Mustafa Suleyman's The Coming Wave left a lasting impression on T.V. Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel. He found it a timely and essential guide to the power and perils of AI, emphasizing the need for humans to shape technology rather than be controlled by it.
Nandita Sinha, CEO of Myntra, synthesized insights from two books. She paired What It Takes by Stephen A. Schwarzman, a masterclass in building enduring institutions with courage, with Prediction Machines by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and Avi Goldfarb. The latter book's framework—viewing problems as prediction problems—convinced her that AI's real impact is in redefining strategy itself. Her conclusion: AI scales intelligence, but leadership scales judgement and institutional courage.
Punit Goenka, CEO of Zee Entertainment, recommended Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick. He appreciated its practical exploration of how to live and work with AI, ultimately agreeing with Mollick's pragmatic warning: the real risk is not AI becoming too powerful, but humans failing to adapt thoughtfully.
Unexpected Lessons: From Sensory Worlds to Economic Recipes
The list also featured books that offered profound lessons from unexpected places. R. Seshasayee, Chairman of Asian Paints, was captivated by Ed Yong's An Immense World, a poetic exploration of animal senses. The book, he said, challenges human arrogance by revealing how every creature lives in its own sensory bubble, reminding us that our perception is not the only truth.
For Devina Mehra of First Global, economics became palatable through Edible Economics by Ha-Joon Chang. Using food as a narrative hook, Chang explains complex economic history and theory, debunking myths about free trade and the roots of prosperity in an engaging and idea-rich format.
On the manufacturing front, Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh's Minister for IT and Electronics, was deeply influenced by Apple in China by Patrick McGee. The book underscored for him that world-class products are built on world-class ecosystems. It served as both a blueprint for building competitive manufacturing clusters and a cautionary tale about the geopolitical risks of over-concentrated supply chains.
Rounding out the recommendations were books on core leadership skills. Harsh Goenka, Chairman of RPG Enterprises, highlighted Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg, which reaffirmed that deep listening and authentic connection are a leader's ultimate competitive advantage. Dilip Oommen, CEO of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, praised CEO Excellence by McKinsey partners for its actionable insights from 67 top leaders on how to deliver extraordinary results and thrive under pressure.
This collective reading list from India's business vanguard paints a picture of leaders seeking not just tactical knowledge, but foundational wisdom. They are looking to history for context, to science for frameworks, to technology for foresight, and to diverse narratives for humility—all essential tools for building resilience in an era of total disruption.
