A DECADE OF WOMEN DEFINING LEADERSHIP

Eleven years ago, when we decided to dedicate a special March edition to women in business, the intention was simple - spotlight emerging leaders who were quietly reshaping India's enterprise landscape.

- PUNITA SABHARWAL WITH SHRABONA GHOSH, MINAKSHI SANGWAN & PRINCE KARIAPPA

What we did not anticipate was how rapidly that landscape itself would evolve. A decade later, women are no longer entering boardrooms as exceptions. They are building them. They are not just scaling companies - they are architecting ecosystems. From semiconductor manufacturing to managed workspaces, from rural transformation to cultural revival, from capital markets to climate solutions women today are influencing not just sectors, but systems. This year's Women to Watch is not a celebration of token milestones. It is a reflection of structural shift. These leaders are redefining ambition. They are as comfortable discussing EBITDA and IPO strategy as they are speaking about community impact and long-term sustainability. They are balancing capital with conscience, speed with stability, expansion with inclusion. Some come from legacy enterprises and are reimagining them for a new India. Others are first-generation entrepreneurs who built conviction before capital arrived. What connects them is not industry, background, or scale. It is intent. As India moves toward its next growth decade, the role of women in shaping that trajectory is no longer peripheral - it is foundational. This is our Class of 2026 - women who are not waiting for the future to arrive. They are building it.

WOMAN OF INTENT

How Dr. Payal Kanodia Is Building Ecosystems of Impact Across India

In the boardrooms of India’s real estate corridors, capital builds skylines. Steel, glass, and ambition redraw the contours of cities. But beyond the towers and gated communities, in more than 1349 villages across 22 states, another kind of construction is quietly underway.

Dr. Payal Kanodia calls it ecosystem building. “I have always seen my elders giving back—from my grandmother to my father,” she says. “But when I studied medicine, I felt the pain that exists in society much more closely. That is when the purpose became stronger.”