‘A world where anxiety and optimism co exist’: Kumar Mangalam Birla

Addressing the Convocation of the class of 2025 at BITS Pilani, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla delivered a powerful message for young minds stepping into a world defined by contradiction—uncertainty and opportunity, disruption and creation.

“You are all, of course, passing out at a time of great global uncertainty. We are all being buffeted by the crosswinds of geopolitical turmoil and relentless technological disruption. The world appears uncertain and paradoxical in equal measure,” Birla said during his address.

He continued, highlighting the surreal nature of global events, “Take the month of June — it seemed like we were at the brink of World War III, with headlines warning of escalating conflict and disruptions to global trade. Yet benchmark indices in the US hit record highs. It is a world where anxiety and optimism co-exist.”

Birla, whose group spans industries from telecom and metals to fashion and retail, urged students — to live a generative life, a concept that resonates in an age dominated by artificial intelligence.

“Today, in an age of generative AI, there is much discussion about what machines can produce. But I invite you to consider instead the idea of a generative life — one fuelled by deliberate creative energy,” he said.

“It is easy to marvel at what algorithms generate. Harder, and far more urgent, is to ask what kind of value we choose to generate with our own lives.”

Birla defined a generative life as one that creates lasting value, embraces resilience, and understands the interconnectedness of the world.

“A generative life is one that creates lasting value. It is the capacity to build what endures. It means choosing to make things better. It is about cultivating resilience or the ability to regenerate after setbacks. It is about stewardship—or the responsibility to impact institutions and communities in a way that they are stronger than when we found them.”

He encouraged graduates to embrace complexity and adopt system-level thinking. “To live generatively is also to embrace complexity. It means seeing the whole system rather than its parts. It means recognising that solutions in one domain often create consequences in another. It is the discipline to think deeply, to see past the mundane and reach what might otherwise have remained invisible, he said.