Kolkata, 26th September, 2025: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) held its 97th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, 25th September 2025, at Taj Bengal, Kolkata, marking its centenary year with the appointment of Brij Bhushan Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of Shyam Metalics and Energy Ltd, as the new President of the Chamber. The occasion was also commemorated with the release of a special postal stamp by Ashok Kumar, Chief Postmaster General, West Bengal Circle.
The event brought together prominent business leaders including Abhuyday Jindal, President, ICC and MD, Jindal Stainless Ltd; Parthik Neotia, Joint Managing Director, Neotia Group; Mia Kyandi, Co-Founder and CTO, Venture Factory AI; Prithish Chowdhary, Deputy Managing Director, Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd; Keshav Bhajanka, Director, Centuryply Plyboards (I) Ltd; and Devina Swarup, Director, Paharpur 3P Pvt. Ltd, for an interactive session on Family Business & Artificial Intelligence.
Accepting his new role, Agarwal said the centenary year marked “a defining moment to engage with industry leaders on the transformative role of AI, emerging technologies and innovation.” He added, “As President, I am committed to fostering collaboration, leveraging technological advancements, and strengthening human capital to create sustainable growth opportunities. Our goal is to ensure Indian businesses are equipped to adapt, thrive, and compete globally while continuing to drive national progress.”
Releasing the commemorative stamp, Ashok Kumar of India Post said it was “a unique opportunity to recognise an institution that has achieved the remarkable milestone of completing its centenary year,” adding that ICC’s contribution “towards industry and development over a century is truly commendable.”
Outgoing ICC President Abhuyday Jindal, reflecting on the intersection of technology and employment, observed, “Every wave of innovation sparks concerns over job loss, but history shows technology creates as many opportunities as it disrupts. While AI may automate roles, it also generates new industries and skill sets. To harness its full potential, governments and businesses must strengthen local ecosystems and retain talent at home. Within organisations, adoption should be inclusive—by breaking projects into smaller, practical use cases and encouraging reverse mentoring. With the right approach, AI can simplify work, boost efficiency, and unlock growth.”
Parthik Neotia, senior Vice President of ICC highlighted AI’s growing impact on healthcare, noting that it is improving accuracy and efficiency across systems. “AI-assisted radiology now delivers 90% accuracy compared to 75% by doctors alone. It also reduces discharge summary preparation time from hours to minutes with 98% accuracy, enhancing both patient care and administration. While AI isn’t new, its real-world applications have accelerated over the past two years, making healthcare faster, safer, and more precise,” he said.
According to Mia Kyandi, “AI is becoming as transformative as electricity a century ago. While early implementation often faces setbacks, rapid iteration helps refine outcomes. Family businesses are uniquely positioned to benefit by combining legacy data with AI to derive insights, preserve institutional knowledge, and ensure long-term continuity and resilience.”
Prithish Chowdhary added, “Technology has continually reshaped operations. Implementing SAP and Ariba at Titagarh Rail Systems deepened our operational insights, and now with AI, we are identifying areas for automation, especially in tender documentation. In engineering-intensive sectors like rail or aerospace, AI is already assisting with tasks that traditionally demand thousands of man-hours. While it won’t replace human judgment, it will continue to redefine efficiency and precision.”
Keshav Bhajanka stressed that “balancing tradition and innovation is essential. AI enables faster, data-backed decision-making. At Centuryply, predictive AI has reduced dealer churn by 50% and cut logistics costs by 6%. Startups are also using data to provide affordable financing to retailers, showing how technology can open new growth avenues while reducing inefficiencies.”
Devina Swarup underscored that AI’s success depends on robust data and human oversight. “Our European projects involve lengthy contracts across teams, and we are using software to highlight key clauses and reduce negotiation time. Parameterising engineering processes has also cut hours and errors. However, inconsistent datasets once caused our analytics project to fail, proving that AI doesn’t remove complexity—it redistributes it. Ultimately, the human element remains central to any organisation’s success,” she said.