Corporate governance, and specifically the role and functioning of the board of directors has never been under sharper scrutiny than in recent times. Three broad developments define the current landscape: the good, the bad and those in between.
First, the bad news. The ongoing, bruising tug-of-war in the Tata Sons, board-level storms in the HDFC Bank and Coforge, the turbulence that rocked India’s two largest airlines (Indigo and Air India), the ugly family feud in Sona Comstar, the sheer shortage of quality independent directors and even the politicization in the composition of boards in leading public sector units (PSUs), all point towards the urgent need for more effective and proactive boards in Indian companies. A March 2026 news report said that 53 central public sector enterprises have no Chairman or Managing Director, while 70 per cent of the posts for independent directors in PSUs remain vacant.
Now, the good news. The smooth succession plan and onboarding of next-generation family members on the boards of marquee business groups like the Aditya Birla Group and Zydus Lifesciences is ongoing. There is also an increasing influence of women directors who are both professionals like Shikha Sharma and family business members like Nisaba Godrej. Even the seamless reconstitution of the board of Airtel Africa, with Gopal Vittal taking over as chairman and Sunil Mittal stepping down from that role are moments to celebrate in the history of corporate governance in Indian companies.
However, there is a third, subtle and under-the-radar trend too. These are the demergers of companies like Tata Motors and ITC Hotels, which have necessitated the creation of new boards. The coming impact of global geopolitical disruptions and artificial intelligence (AI) will require experts from both the fields on corporate boards. Furthermore, the growth of the exclusive and elite club of India’s high-profile board members, and the increasing number of start-ups and Indian subsidiaries of multinational corporations going public, indicate both opportunities and threats in the governance landscape.
The reasons for this state of affairs of India Inc boards have been much written about. So the key question now is: how could this landscape be changed for the better?
Noted business leaders, academic thinkers and governance experts say that at least three best practices are imperative to make this happen.
A new governance agenda for India Inc
Managing Disruptions: Global geopolitical uncertainties and resultant risks, greater adoption of AI and building organisational resilience require the attention of boards now more than ever.
Despite assertions by the government that the economy has the strength to weather the disruptions, some of the ground realities of India’s economic fundamentals are not very encouraging. The World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report places geoeconomic confrontation at the top of near-term risks, while the International Monetary Fund warns that deeper geoeconomic fragmentation could raise India’s input costs, tighten financial conditions, and reduce trade, FDI, and growth.
In March 2026, India had to advise parts of industry to prepare for energy and supply disruptions linked to the US-Iran war. The World Bank’s January 2026 South Asia outlook predicted resilient growth in India, but specifically against a backdrop of heightened trade tensions and policy uncertainty. This is, therefore, the time for India Inc to get its act together on corporate governance, particularly regarding the role and efficacy of the board of directors.
Rajiv Memani, chairman and CEO, EY India and Chair — EY Global Growth Markets Council, told ThePrint, “For corporate boards across India, the bar is rising; disruption is now more frequent, and boards must build the muscle to anticipate and govern emerging risks such as cyber and data, geopolitical fragmentation and supply shocks, technology disruption, and the implications of capital allocation in a volatile world. Boards will need to build proactive oversight of emerging risks and scenario planning, especially, in say, cyber readiness.”
Also Read: Tata Sons’ last boardroom battle took 4 years. This one doesn’t have to
Rewriting the Customer Service Agenda: A company’s customer service agenda is not discussed too often at board meetings in deep detail, but is most often dealt with at the level of the chief marketing officer (CMO) and the marketing department. More importantly, CMOs or an external marketing expert often do not have a presence on the board of directors.
But as the examples of Air India and Indigo show, it was only when customer fury reached unprecedented levels that it became imperative to thoroughly discuss marketing issues in the boardroom. Not surprisingly, the expat CEOs in both companies resigned.
The traditional separation between boards and management has been clear: boards focus on strategy and oversight, while CEOs and leadership teams run operations. That distinction still matters and is the cornerstone of good governance and leadership.
Customer experience, however, sits awkwardly across this divide. It is operational in execution, yet profoundly strategic in consequence. It’s like a matter that needs to be on a concurrent list with a focus from both sides. Ignoring it at the board level may risk missing early signals of deeper failures. Boards definitely should not manage service, but they must actively discuss and interrogate it. Questions on falling NPS/CSAT scores that measure customer satisfaction and loyalty or increased customer complaints, deserve some questioning. When customer experience begins to reflect broken incentives, weak culture, or unmanaged risk, it is no longer an operational issue, but a governance concern.
Sapna Popli, Professor of Marketing at the leading business school IMT Ghaziabad, said, “These are not isolated crises but patterns. Boards do not step in because service is poor; they step in when customer experience exposes strategic blind spots. The implication is clear: customer experience belongs on both agendas owned by management, but rigorously examined in the boardroom before it becomes a crisis.”
Raise the bar for family business governance: With estimates that about 75 per cent of India’s GDP comes from family businesses, corporate governance in this important segment of the economy cannot be ignored. The imperative is reflected in groups ranging from the iconic Tata Sons to Sona Comstar.
At another level, E. Pabaney & Co is a relatively low-profile family business group in India which is now led by its chairman Sharik Currimbhoy Ebrahim, who is from the seventh generation. Its strategy and operations in building enduring family business groups offer lessons for other Indian companies.
Operating in the areas of private credit, mergers and acquisitions and strategic investments, Sharik talked about its success sauce.
”We carry no debt and have no outside shareholders, which lets us plan over decades. The family’s charity has sat in a separate trust since 1901. For the future, we will also document how the family makes decisions, its precedents and standards. Successors and AI systems will both learn from that record. And one family member will be responsible for the Family Governance Knowledge Base AI system,” he said.
Incidentally, the group’s founder, Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim was also a founder-director of Tata Steel & Iron Co and Tata Power, and Sharik is the grandson of Ayurvedic beauty pioneer Shahnaz Husain.
Clearly, companies need to rethink the role of boards in today’s times of constant change.
George Skaria is the former Editor of Indian Management and Asian Management Review. Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)