The Federal COGNI: The Boardroom Series explores how AI reshapes CXO decisions

As artificial intelligence moves into the boardroom, industry leaders gathered at the MMA Management Centre, Anna Salai, Chennai, for The Federal’s COGNI: The Boardroom Series.

The conference, held in association with the Madras Management Association (MMA), was titled "From Insight to Impact: AI in the Boardroom". The event explored how AI is no longer just a tech tool but a strategic partner guiding decisions at the highest levels.

Thunai AI was the title sponsor of the event, TheNeural was the knowledge partner.

CXOs, innovation heads, product architects, and technologists reflected on a pivotal question: How is AI reshaping business decisions?

AI on the corporate ladder

The evening began with an opening address by The Federal's News Editor Indira Balaji. While AI is rising up the corporate ladder to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with decision-makers, the media coverage in India has been rather muted, she said.

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“At The Federal, we don’t just see, report, and move on. As an independent media house committed to insightful, balanced journalism, we want to start meaningful conversations,” she added.

Fireside Chat: AI as a strategic ally, not just a tool

S Srinivasan, Editor-in-Chief of The Federal, hosted a fireside chat with Dinesh Varadharajan, CPO of Kissflow. Srinivasan said AI has the potential to change the whole working pattern, something similar to the industrial revolution.

"On the one hand, there are those who believe — based on the kind of talks coming from places like the Silicon Valley — that machines may soon replace human beings. That’s one perspective. On the other hand, some are more skeptical, dismissing it as just another technological advancement. As always, I believe that the truth lies somewhere in between," he said.

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Stating that every paradigm shift creates new opportunities, Dinesh Varadharajan said the AI shift in boardrooms will support decision-makers but may pose challenges for those who primarily follow instructions, as they are more likely to be replaced by AI.

"Decision-makers usually know exactly what they need and typically rely on their teams to execute it. But with AI, the executive team or the leadership team will be able to do it themselves," he further said.

Panel discussion: How do we include AI in strategy?

Next came a panel discussion on how to build trust in machines as AI moves beyond operations into the strategic core, and how the CXOs are adapting to this shift.

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Moderated by Ranjith Melarkode, Founder of TheNeural, the panel discussion brought together a distinguished set of leaders driving digital innovation across domains: Jegan Selvaraj, CEO, Thunai AI, Aparna TA, Head of Enterprise IT Solutions, ManageEngine (Zoho), Manish Bafna, SVP of Engineering, Responsive, and Raj Babu, Founder & CEO, Agilisium Labs.

Lightning presentation

Aditya Santhanam, Founder of Thunai AI, the title sponsor of the event, gave a presentation on how Thunai functions as an AI brain, acting as a powerful brain in the background, and interacts like an intelligent teammate.

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Stating that human-AI collaboration brings together knowledge from multiple sources, Aditya noted that by integrating this knowledge and layering workflows and agents on top of it, many tasks can be automated or managed with a human-in-the-loop approach when needed.

Vote of thanks

J Johnson, Business Manager of The Federal, delivered the vote of thanks.

“This gathering has been a remarkable exchange of ideas, shaping the future of AI in leadership and decision-making,” he said, expressing hope over several more such events in the future.