The IMA India Accounting & Finance Conference 2025, held on November 22, 2025 in Bengaluru, brought together CFOs, senior finance leaders, industry practitioners, and young professionals for a day of deep thinking, practical learning, and honest conversations on the future of finance. Organised by IMA India, the conference reflected the growing influence of the IMA ecosystem and the strengthening role of the CMA community in shaping globally capable finance professionals.
What stood out across sessions was the clear message that finance is no longer a support role. It is now a strategic driver of business direction, resilience, and long-term value creation.
Leadership Beyond Technical Mastery
Mike DePrisco, the President and CEO of IMA opened the conference with a powerful message: technical expertise may open doors, but real leadership is built through clarity of thinking, strong communication, and the ability to connect finance with business outcomes. He explained how finance professionals are moving from back-end reporting roles to front-line decision-enabling positions.
The keynote strongly reinforced that future finance leaders must focus not only on competence, but also on presence, purpose, and perspective, especially in a world where automation is rapidly changing traditional finance tasks.
Panel 1 – CFO 2030: Clarity, Courage & Collaboration
The CFO 2030 panel featuring Srinath Ganesan, Anindya Pal, Ayaskant Sarangi, and Kenneth Lean delivered practical insights into how the CFO role is rapidly evolving.
Key ideas included:
• Simplicity builds trust, while over-complexity often hides risk
• The need for early risk escalation and structured thinking
• The importance of strong networks and cross-functional collaboration
The session highlighted that future CFOs must not function in silos but must think like business partners and enterprise leaders.
AI, Technology & the Rise of Autonomous Finance
This session led by Samir Mallik, Ravikiran Chengalva, Dr. Hari Saravanabhavan, and Narayanan Ramachandran explored how AI is reshaping forecasting, governance, and decision-making in finance.
Key takeaways:
• Over 75% of business data is now unstructured
• Finance is shifting from descriptive reporting to predictive and prescriptive analytics
• Forecasting is now forward-looking, scenario-based, and real-time
The discussion also stressed that data quality, governance, and ethical frameworks are essential, and that AI must remain human-guided and context-driven.
Young Professionals Segment – A Human Lens on Careers
This inspiring segment featured Vyshnavi Loganathan, Kavya Ramesha, Shivetha Vikrom Jayaraj, and Kanishk Dilaware. Their stories reflected the reality that modern careers are rarely linear.
Key reflections included:
• The value of resilience and adaptability
• The importance of relationships and continuous learning
• How the CMA qualification, supported by IMA’s global standards, builds confidence, structure, and global exposure
This session brought a deeply human dimension to the conference and resonated strongly with young finance professionals in the audience.
India’s Rising Global Finance Footprint
Ganesh Vaideeswaran, Chief Transformation Officer, FINSPIRE Academy, spoke about how India is rapidly positioning itself as a global finance destination, driven by the growth of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and the shift towards borderless, digitally enabled work environments.
He explained that GCCs are no longer limited to back-office work and are now becoming strategic hubs for decision intelligence and business partnering. Within this context, he highlighted the relevance of the CMA qualification, explaining how it equips professionals with strong capabilities in planning, performance management, cost control, risk management, and strategic thinking — skills that are increasingly critical in GCC-led global finance operations.
He concluded by linking India’s global momentum with the rising demand for CMA-trained professionals who can operate confidently in complex, cross-border finance environments.
Personal Branding in the Age of AI
Sripal Jain delivered a powerful session on how visibility, communication, and credibility shape long-term career success. He emphasized that while AI can automate technical tasks, it cannot replace human trust, storytelling, and leadership presence.
Professionals were encouraged to invest in professional identity, articulation, and consistent visibility to remain relevant in the AI-driven world.
Strategic Thinking – Structure, Calm & Problem Solving
Sunil Deshmukh, Chair-Emeritus of IMA’s Global Board of Directors for the year 2024-2025, focused on the importance of structured thinking and calm leadership, especially in high-pressure environments.
He highlighted that unmanaged stress and poor problem framing can eventually lead to systemic organisational risks. Finance leaders, he explained, must act as anchors of clarity, logic, and stability, rather than being reactive.
Startups & the New Age CFO – Discipline Meets Ambition
This panel featuring Jaywardhan Semwal, Sumith Kamath, and Gopinath M R explored the challenges faced by finance leaders in fast-growing startups.
Key insights included:
• Ambition fuels growth, but systems and governance sustain it
• Demand forecasting and capex planning are critical for survival
• CFOs must balance speed with structure
Fireside Chat – Leadership Lessons from the C-Suite
The conference concluded with a deeply moving fireside chat featuring Shailesh Dhuri, Arindam Ghosh, Abhilash Misra, and Pratik Shah.
Key themes included:
• Leadership built on listening and empathy
• Creating psychologically safe teams
• Leading with clarity and compassion during change
This session shifted the focus from systems to people and reminded the audience that leadership is ultimately a human responsibility.
CMA Graduation & Recognition Ceremony
The conference concluded with the CMA graduation and recognition ceremony, led by Fenil Vadakken, Director of Growth IMAIPL and Anshul Priya, Corporate Head IMAIPL marking a proud milestone for new CMA Professionals. It also reinforced the role of the IMA India platform in strengthening the future of the accounting and finance profession.
It reinforced a strong sense of belonging and shared purpose among professionals reminding attendees that the CMA journey is not just about the qualification, but about becoming part of a global leadership mindset shaped by IMA values.
Mindset Over Mechanics
The IMA conference in Bengaluru was not just about technology or frameworks. It was about mindset.
The clear message across sessions was that the future belongs to finance professionals who combine:
• Technical excellence
• Strategic thinking
• Technological awareness
• And authentic human leadership
Those shaped by the discipline of CMA and the global vision of IMA are especially well-positioned to lead this transformation.
Written by Ranjaani Parthasarathy and Sanjana Suresh, our CMA alumni who completed their CMA journey with FINSPIRE Academy