WEF Davos 2025: Aryaman Vikram Birla, Director at Aditya Birla Management Corporation, called his father, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, “resilient and unflappable”. Aryaman Birla said that KM Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, who has headed the conglomerate for three decades, has seen his own share of ups and downs, but still has been able to grow the group.
Speaking at World Economic Forum 2025 in Davos, the cricketer-businessman said that his father speaks less, but is an extremely comfortable person to work with. “He doesn’t say a lot. He’s someone that I can work with very comfortably. He’s very comfortable giving me the leeway and my space to explore and that I’m sure is tough for a parent because you know that’s going to come with failures as well. But I really appreciate that and I think if there’s one thing that I would say that I’ve learned from him or am learning from him continuously is just how resilient and unflappable he is,” he said.
Aryaman Birla further stated: “He’s been at the head of the group for 30 years this year. In fact, just that journey itself…30 years at the top is a long, long time. He’s seen so many cycles both good and bad but he’s been unflappable through it all. And not only that, he has also been able to grow the group and institution.”
He said that his parents have really been the wind beneath his wings and given him and his siblings the opportunity to explore what they want to do in this world. “And it’s somehow happened that we’ve done sort of our exploration very seriously with all the values that they’ve instilled in us and all come back saying that what we really want to do is contribute to our group, contribute to the economic development of the country and the societal development of the country like the generations before have us.”
KM Birla-led Hindalco Industries had inducted Ananya Birla and Aryaman Vikram Birla as directors on the board of the company last year. The year before, both siblings had joined the boards of the group’s flagship companies, Grasim Industries, and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. They are also directors on the board of Aditya Birla Management Corporation, the apex body responsible for providing strategic direction to the Aditya Birla Group’s businesses.
Speaking about the legacy of the Birlas and what he would like to do once he completes his program at the Harvard Business School, Aryaman Birla said it is an ongoing conversation with his family. “I’m seventh generation. There’s a way that we’ve done things. It’s also a discussion with family and so these are iterative conversations and obviously by the time I get back post my MBA, one thing I can say is that I’m going to be extremely invested in what the group does and I’m going to be right there,” he said.
Talking about things that he would like to change in the group, he said, “I’m not a big fan of just changing for the sake of change. I truly believe that the six generations before me, including my father, over the last 30 years, have created systems and processes and an institution that’s extremely robust. We have businesses that are extremely robust in terms of their balance sheet, in terms of growth and revenue growth. I don’t think I’m going to come in and just say that we need to change A, B and C. I think it’s about absorbing, having a good sense of what’s going on and obviously there’ll be change and you want to be part of that change. I’m sure there’ll be things that we want to pivot towards but I’m not a fan of just changing for the sake of change.”

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