At a time when India’s higher education system is under pressure to scale faster, place better, and compete globally, the real challenge lies deeper — how do institutions grow without losing their soul?
In this insightful episode of Leadership Lounge with The CEO Magazine, we speak with Dr. Mayank Agarwal, Managing Director of the IIMT Group of Colleges, a leader navigating one of the most complex responsibilities in modern India: shaping the minds, careers, and values of more than 20,000 students across a sprawling education ecosystem.
Under his leadership, IIMT is not merely expanding in size — it is redefining what an integrated, future-ready education model can look like.
Taking charge of a large academic institution comes with inherited expectations, emotional weight, and public accountability. Dr. Agarwal speaks candidly about stepping into an established legacy — and the responsibility of making it relevant to a new generation of learners.
For him, leadership in education is not about preservation alone. It is about evolution — respecting institutional roots while being unafraid to redesign systems, pedagogy, and priorities to meet the realities of a rapidly changing world.
The IIMT Group today spans universities, colleges, schools, medical institutions, a hospital, a radio station, and an incubation centre — a scale that few education leaders manage holistically. Dr. Agarwal’s vision has been to create a seamless pipeline where learning, healthcare, innovation, and community engagement coexist.
This ecosystem approach ensures students are not insulated within classrooms but exposed to real-world environments early — building confidence, competence, and character in equal measure.
One of the most striking parts of the conversation is Dr. Agarwal’s honest reflection on the unseen costs of chasing rankings, placements, and short-term outcomes. While employability remains critical, he argues that education loses its purpose when it becomes transactional.
The real test, he believes, is producing industry-ready professionals who are also life-ready humans — capable of ethical decision-making, resilience, and long-term thinking.
To bridge the gap between academia and industry, IIMT has invested heavily in partnerships, Centers of Excellence, and technology-driven learning models. These initiatives are designed not just to improve placements, but to ensure students graduate with relevant skills, exposure to innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
The IIMT Incubation Centre, in particular, reflects Dr. Agarwal’s belief that institutions must become launchpads — not endpoints — for ambition.
Managing thousands of students, faculty, parents, regulators, and partners brings relentless pressure. Dr. Agarwal shares how he handles decision fatigue, expectations, and constant scrutiny — emphasising discipline, delegation, and clarity of purpose as anchors.
Leadership, he notes, is not about having all the answers, but about building systems that can adapt without losing direction.
A key question explored in the episode is whether India can create education brands that compete globally. Dr. Agarwal is cautiously optimistic — but clear that global relevance demands more than infrastructure. It requires academic freedom, faculty development, student-centric design, and long-term vision.
For young people, his message is simple yet firm: shortcuts may offer speed, but they weaken foundations. Real growth comes from patience, discipline, and sustained effort.
For future academic leaders, his advice is even more direct — education leadership is not a business role alone; it is a custodial responsibility.
This conversation is a reality check for anyone invested in the future of education.
It raises essential questions:
What are we really preparing students for?
Can scale and quality coexist?
How do institutions stay ethical under competitive pressure?
Through grounded insights and lived experience, Dr. Mayank Agarwal offers a rare inside view into the leadership challenges shaping India’s learning ecosystem.
Watch the full episode to understand what it truly takes to build institutions that don’t just educate — but empower.
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