Sadhguru Questions Idea of Democratising E-commerce; ONDC CEO Says His 'Ultimate Dream' is to Enable Sellers to Display Products on Open Network

Isha Foundation head Sadhguru questioned the impact of the disruptive idea of democratising e-commerce, to which ONDC CEO Thampy Koshy said his “ultimate dream” was to enable every seller to make products visible on an open network using a common protocol.

“My ultimate dream for the transformation of commerce is that every type of seller should be able to make their products visible to an open network using a common protocol,” Thampy said on dismantling the monopoly of some large e-commerce brands.

In an electrifying session on the first day of the 11th edition of ‘Isha Insight: The DNA of Success’, Koshy said e-commerce as it was today was soon going to become irrelevant.

To this, Sadhguru asked the CEO of Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) if the system of democratising e-commerce as envisioned by ONDC was a “complete annihilation” of the branding system. “So is this a complete annihilation of the branding system?” he asked.

Setting the stage for a vibrant discussion on ONDC and an disruption in e-commerce, Koshy said, “Various buyer applications provide customers access to certain products based on their customer preferences and their service level expectations. In the true spirit of omni-channel, a completely open network will do away with the spell of powerful branding.”

Isha Insight 2022, which has become one of the most sought-after leadership programmes in the country, began with an insightful session from Sadhguru. “If you want to run your business. You must be in a state of mukti — that nothing touches you but you’re absolutely involved, never entangled,” said Sadhguru, drawing a leaf out of Indian spiritual wisdom.

He said a person aiming for mukti is a seeker — an intrinsic Indian cultural value that permits one neither believe nor disbelieve anything. Drawing out a unique perspective, Sadhguru underscored this as an important quality of an entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneur does not mean just running a business. An entrepreneur means he’s a seeker, always seeking solutions, and maybe possibilities. If you’re not in the seeking mode, you will not be in the enterprise mode,” he said.

Calling the “time in which we exist” an important factor defining our actions, Sadhguru advised the participants to develop some distance between their thoughts and emotions so as to develop a clear vision. “If one does not bring the distance from everything that we are doing — above all, the times in which we exist — we will never see reality as it is. We will be a consequence of the wisdom of time and many times the tyranny of times,” he said.

Later in the day, Amit Kalra, director and chief transformation officer, HLE Glascoat Ltd, decoded the process of transforming a company from being good to being great. “The three pillars of a company are — people, investors and customers. If the company shuts down, they should wish it came back to life,” Kalra said.

The next three days of ‘Isha Insight 2022’ will witness an eclectic range of speakers — Sonam Wangchuk, director, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL); Kunal Bahl, co-founder, AceVector Group (Snapdeal, Unicommerce and Stellaro); Chandrashekhar Ghosh, MD and CEO, Bandhan Bank; Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, union minister for jal shakti; Gautam Saraogi, founder and CEO, Go Colors-Go Fashion; Aravind Melligeri, chairman and CEO at Aequs, who will bring deep insights and practical learnings from their journey.

Additionally, over 20 resource leaders — business veterans and entrepreneurs from varied industries — will bring key insights from their industries. The participants also stand to gain a unique perspective on the industry and their businesses from their one-on-one interactions with the resource leaders.

Over the past decade, ‘Isha Insight: The DNA of Success’ has become one of the most sought-after business leadership programmes in the world. Previously, participants have been mentored by veterans like Ratan Tata, NR Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, GM Rao, KV Kamath, Ajay Piramal, Harsh Mariwala, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Bhavish Aggarwal, Pawan Goenka among several others.

Sadhguru founded Isha Leadership Academy over 11 years ago with the objective of providing the highest quality leadership education, combining external skill sets with tools for inner well-being. The academy focuses on cultivating leadership as an innate and intuitive process, beyond strategies or techniques.

Read all the Latest India News here