CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Natarajan Chandrasekaran
Natarajan Chandrasekaran
Chairman, Tata Sons
Watch

6 Business & Leadership Rules Every Leader Can Learn From N Chandrasekaran

📅 Aug 13, 2026 Business Today 10 MIN 3743 VIEWS 14 SEGMENTS · 3 SPEAKERS
From AI and talent disruption to the transformation of Air India, N Chandrasekaran opens up on the big bets shaping the Tata Group’s future. In this exclusive conversation, he discusses Tata’s four major transitions- AI, energy, supply chains and talent along with the group’s approach to innovation, leadership and simplifying complex businesses. He also shares insights into the Air India acquisition and transformation, Tata’s plans to integrate AI across its diverse businesses, and the three-S strategy that strengthened the group. For CEOs and entrepreneurs, his message is clear: opportunities...

What Natarajan Chandrasekaran said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran discussed Tata Group's renewable energy targets, stating that by 2025 renewable capacity will exceed coal capacity and by 2027-28 will double it, reaching 65-70% of total. He emphasized AI as a major disruptor requiring regulatory frameworks and workforce reskilling. Regarding Air India, he acknowledged receiving 4-5 daily emails on the airline, with the goal of making Indians proud. He outlined four transformation dimensions across all businesses: AI, energy transition, supply chain, and talent. Chandrasekaran explained his 3S strategy (strengthening the core, simplification, synergy) to address complexity and balance sheet issues. He highlighted Tata's EV pivot, including electric buses and first hydrogen buses, and noted the group's plans for AI centers of excellence and pilot projects.

Key takeaways

  1. By 2025 renewable capacity exceeds coal; by 2027-28 doubles coal, reaching 65-70% renewable
  2. Receives 4-5 daily emails/WhatsApp messages on Air India from customers and well-wishers
  3. Tata launched an electric vehicle in six months due to business synergies

Numbers and commitments

FigureWhat it refers toTypeAt
'25 Year renewable capacity exceeds coal timeline 0:00
'27, '28 Year renewable capacity doubles coal timeline 0:00
65, 70% Share of renewable in capacity metric 0:00
4 or 5 mails Daily Air India emails/WhatsApp messages metric 2:36

Chapters

  1. 0:00Renewable energy targets
  2. 0:29AI as disruptor and regulation
  3. 1:56Air India acquisition and feedback
  4. 2:36Transformation across four dimensions
  5. 4:38Training and AI pilots
  6. 5:52Group history and strengths
  7. 6:45Complexity and 3S strategy
  8. 8:21Opportunities and advice
Natarajan Chandrasekaran 0:00 ↗
Tata Group has a lot of people who serve the group for a very long time, so that's our strength. Our aim is to give a product which every Indian is proud of, give a service which—I don't want a second one which is better than anything else that exists. I think by '25 our renewable capacity will be higher than our coal capacity, and by '27, '28 probably our renewable capacity will double the coal capacity. 65, 70% will be renewable.
Moderator 0:28 ↗
Will be renewable.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran 0:29 ↗
Will be renewable. I would only say that people should continue to be bold, they had to have discipline, and it does take time to build a good business. Talent is—we are predominantly an inbred company. I think Tata Group has a lot of people who serve the group for a very long time, so that's our strength. But at the same time we need to inject talent and also train our people on new technologies because AI will be a disruptor. I think we can talk about it for all day, but it'll be a disruptor and it is real. It's going to change the productive equation by an order of magnitude. It has implications on jobs. It has got implications on skills that are required for the future. It has got a huge regulatory issue because already different governments have started reacting differently, which we have got to take the lead to come out with some kind of a regulatory framework where there is not too much of a difference between—because it's a global world as much as the geopolitics is making it out to be difficult, but still we are a connected world.
Moderator 1:50 ↗
Absolutely. AI has lots of implications.

4 more exchanges in this transcript

Sign in free to read the rest of this interview. No card required.

Sign in to read the full transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Chandrasekaran, N. (2026, August 13). 6 Business & Leadership Rules Every Leader Can Learn From N Chandrasekaran [Interview transcript]. Business Today. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1201040/

MLA

Natarajan Chandrasekaran. "6 Business & Leadership Rules Every Leader Can Learn From N Chandrasekaran." Business Today, 13 Aug. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1201040/.

BibTeX 
@misc{chandrasekaran2026_1201040,
  author       = {Natarajan Chandrasekaran},
  title        = {6 Business \& Leadership Rules Every Leader Can Learn From N Chandrasekaran},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Business Today. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {aug},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1201040/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}