Professor Sushil Vachani is an accomplished academic, strategist, and institutional leader with a distinguished global career spanning academia, industry, and public policy. He served as Director of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) from July 2014 to April 2016, where he played a key role in advancing the Institute’s global engagement, technology adoption, and innovation ecosystem.

Professor Vachani holds a B.Tech. from IIT Kanpur, a PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad, and a Doctorate in International Business from Harvard Business School. Prior to joining IIMB, he spent nearly 28 years at Boston University as Professor of Strategy and Innovation, where he held several leadership roles including Chairman of the Strategy Department, Chairman of the Doctoral Program, Faculty Director of the Japan Program, and Special Assistant to the President for the India Initiative.

His professional experience also includes roles at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Tata Administrative Service (TAS), Tata Motors, and Philips. These roles provided him with a strong grounding in global business, strategy, and industrial operations.

Professor Vachani’s primary academic area is Strategy and International Business. His research interests include global institutional environments, multinational-government relations, base-of-the-pyramid strategies, innovation, sustainability, and climate change.

Prof. Vachani has taught across MBA (PGP), doctoral (FPM/PhD), and executive education programs. He has also taught internationally in the United States, Japan, China, and India, bringing a global perspective to management education. He has contributed to global academic collaborations and played a major role in developing Boston University’s India Initiative.

At IIMB, Professor Vachani promoted Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) (IIMBx), internationalisation, and entrepreneurship initiatives, strengthening the Institute’s global and digital presence. In August 2014, IIM Bangalore joined the world’s leading universities to become a member of edX, the Harvard-MIT joint venture platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs was launched on 11 June 2015.

Professor Vachani has advised corporations, government bodies, and non-profit organisations. He worked closely with policymakers in India and supported EdTech and social impact initiatives, reflecting his commitment to accessible, high-quality education. In keeping with IIMB’s focus on improving education, during Professor Vachani’s tenure, the Institute was appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, in 2014-15 as the mentor Institute for the new IIM in Visakhapatnam.

Professor Vachani has published extensively in leading journals such as Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and Journal of International Business Studies. He has also authored four books on multinational strategy, global governance, poverty, and climate change.

At IIMB, he promoted technology-enabled learning, global collaborations, and entrepreneurship-focused curriculum development. His work aligned management education with global trends and societal needs. During this period, IIMB’s executive education portfolio continued to operate across Open, Customised, and International programs, reflecting the Institute’s strong engagement with practising managers and global partnerships.

His leadership period also saw sustained emphasis on doctoral education and research quality, reflected in improvements in doctoral output and research publications. The doctoral program continued to grow in quality and international recognition, with students publishing in leading journals such as the Strategic Management Journal and Harvard Business Review. There was significant effort to expand international research collaborations (e.g., with University of Exeter, SMU, IVEY); and maintain global case dissemination partnerships. His academic orientation toward international business aligned closely with IIMB’s growing global footprint.

Professor Vachani’s administrative contributions focused on institution building, global engagement, and strengthening research and teaching systems. His leadership emphasized technology in education, global integration, and entrepreneurship. Colleagues and students recall his global outlook, practical orientation, and dedication to advancing management education with societal impact.

Professor Sushil Vachani’s career reflects a rare combination of global scholarship, industry experience, and institutional leadership. His tenure at IIM Bangalore contributed significantly to its evolution as a globally connected and innovation-driven institution.

Link to an account of the launch of the IIMB Golden Jubilee publication, ‘The Evolution of IIMB: Directors’ Perspectives’
https://www.iimb.ac.in/archives/directors-perspectives.php

For more from “The Evolution of IIMB: Directors’ Perspectives”, which features interviews with former Directors Professors J. Philip, K. R. S. Murthy, M. Rammohan Rao, Prakash G. Apte and Sushil Vachani, and a foreword by the then Director Professor G. Raghuram, and an essay (reproduced from an earlier collection) by the first Director Professor N. S. Ramaswamy visit
https://www.iimb.ac.in/archives/directors-perspectives.php

Click to read the book : https://www.iimb.ac.in/sites/default/files/directors-perspectives/#p=1