We are delighted to announce that award-winning entrepreneur and businesswoman Kalli Purie (Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 1991), Vice Chairperson of the India Today Group, will be giving an exclusive online interview on 9 October 2020, 4pm-5pm (UK time). Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to hear from Kalli about her life and distinguished career, as well as the challenges of running a global media organisation during a pandemic. Kalli will be interviewed by Professor Roy Westbrook, Senior Tutor at St Hugh’s.
This online event will take place via Zoom webinar. To register to attend, please fill out the online booking form below. The event is free but we ask you to consider making a donation to the College’s Covid-19 Support Fund when you book your ticket. For further information about the Fund and the critical role your donations play in supporting the College at this particularly challenging time, please click here.
If you would like to suggest a question for Kalli, please add it to your online booking form and submit before close of play on 1 October. We will aim to get to as many audience questions as possible during the event.
Joining details will be sent to all those who have registered the day before the event (please ensure that you enter your email address carefully on the booking form).
Please note that St Hugh’s College’s virtual events may be recorded.
Kalli Purie is the Vice Chairperson of the India Today Group. The India Today Group is India’s most respected and diversified media conglomerate, and it has created an enviable legacy of trust, leadership and admiration since the Group’s inception over four decades ago. The launch of the India Today magazine in 1975 set the beginning of the Group’s journey into a multi-brand, multi-platform and multi-vertical media group, with brands that command undisputed leadership across categories. The Group has today become a barometer for trust, integrity and excellence in journalism across TV, Print, Digital and Social.
A serial entrepreneur at heart, Kalli brings a rich experience in running a wide range of media properties, from 4 television channels – Aaj Tak, Aaj Tak HD, India Today Television, Tez – apps, a digital newspaper, championing world class events, to devising a social media strategy for the Group. She has also spearheaded the launch of 5 new web portals – TheLallantop.com, DailyO.in, OddNaari.in, Pakwangali.in, and iChowk.in. Currently she is totally immersed in nurturing the 24 niche mobile first, digital channels across multiple platforms under the umbrella of Mobile Tak. An ideator and project manager par excellence, she is the natural choice to head the innovation for the Group. In addition, Kalli also oversees the publishing business which publishes the nation’s No.1 magazine – India Today, the nation’s No.2 Magazine and No.1 Hindi Magazine – India Today Hindi, the No. 1 Business magazine – Business Today, besides Indian editions of leading international titles like Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and Reader’s Digest, all of which command leadership status. She is also the lead for all signature, thought leadership events of the Group – ‘The India Today Conclave’ which has global leaders from around the world including luminaries such as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nicolas Sarkozy, Narendra Modi, Hamid Karzai, Al Gore, Tim Berners-Lee, James Cameron, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, and Alvin Toffler; ‘Agenda Aaj Tak’, the Group’s thought leadership conference in Hindi; ‘India Today Safaigiri Summit and Awards’, a program focused on the environment, celebrating green initiatives and eco warriors; ‘Sahitya Aaj Tak’, a literature festival celebrating the traditional Indian forms of expression; and ‘India Today Mind Rocks’, a youth festival of ideas, career advice, success stories and music.
Her unified leadership in television, digital and events is the cornerstone for the success of synergy in the Group.
A graduate of St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, she is armed with a clear vision about the future of news, she is leading one of the most-awarded and celebrated teams of journalists in a futuristic newsroom that she helped build, apt for the multimedia, multi-device world we live in. The project has created a giant news turbine to harness the forces of an integrated newsroom, exploiting synergies amongst the many media platforms. She is also pursuing the Owner/President Management Program (OPM 54 Batch) from Harvard Business School, Boston, U.S.
Professor Roy Westbrook is Senior Tutor of St Hugh’s College, and an Emeritus Professor of Operations Management and Emeritus Deputy Dean of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Prior to his retirement in 2014, he held a number of positions at St Hugh’s, including Vice-Principal (2012-2014). He was Director of the MBA Programme at the Business School (2003-2006), and he led the roll-out of the Business School’s 1+1 MBA programme and ‘Engaging with the Humanities’ initiative. Professor Westbrook is the author of numerous Management articles and co-editor of an important volume on ‘Understanding Supply Chains’.
