The Indian Armed forces have always been famous for producing some of the most outstanding Military leaders. However these traits of leadership are not just limited to the defence environment. After retirement these leaders have now donned crisp suits and are contributing to nation building from Board rooms of large organizations. They solve corporate problems with military precision and innovative solutions which are honed in battlefield situations. They bring sharp and decisive leadership from the war room to the board room especially during uncertain and challenging times.
One such case of transition from battlefield to boardroom is that of Wing Commander Anthony Anish (Retd.), An alumnus of the National Defence Academy. He has served the Indian Air Force for more than two decades in several capacities. His battlefield experience started early when he was 21 years old while serving as a helicopter pilot for the Indian Air Force in the Kargil war in 1999 and Siachen operation in 2002. His crisis management ability was shaped as a disaster management in charge during the flood relief operations during the 2014 Jammu & Kashmir floods. His ability to work in cutting edge technology was shaped during the development of Rustom-1 drone for the DRDO.
Post-retirement like most veterans he aspired to continue contributing to nation building but as a job creator rather than a job seeker. He joined the budding Indian startup ecosystem in 2018 as a part of the founding team at MyGate. The firm has become the largest gated community management app in India with a 82% market share serving close to five million houses in urban India. He also Co-founded Apposite Learning Solutions, which is a multiple Brandon award-winning Instructional design company operating in India and the USA.
With the startup ecosystem growing rapidly he then aspired to contribute at a larger scale by building a large ecosystem which could nurture multiple large startups like Mygate. His next assignment was with the most significant startup ecosystem in Telangana – T-Hub. Working as the Chief Operating Officer for T-Hub, Wing Commander Anthony Anish helped in scaling up the innovation center, taking it from 250 startups to more than 2,000 startups, thus creating one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world. T-Hub startups have managed to raise more than 20,000 crores of funding and create more than 75000+ jobs. T-Hub has also won the national award for the Best Indian incubator for all the years during his stint.
It was now time to take the Indian innovation ecosystem global. Anthony has been a representative of India’s innovation ecosystem at multiple platforms globally. Anthony has been a member of the INDUS-X delegation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States. He has represented India at International Fora including the SCO summit in Kazakhstan and delegations to Maldives, South Korea and Philippines. He has also addressed global platforms like the G20 summit in support of India’s fast-growing startup ecosystem.
Anthony firmly believes that great organisations are guided by great vision but achieve impact through execution. He is currently contributing towards creating systems which foster relentless execution, governance, and scaling with purpose. He is a member of the Board of directors for Startups at the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), a consultant to the Asian Development Bank for digital innovation infrastructure, a Partner at Factoryal where he partners with high growth startups and an investor in the investment committee of a defence-specific venture capital fund. He also mentors entrepreneurs at institutions including IITs and IIMs.
Nation building comes in many forms. Military leaders are proving their relevance in suits as much as in uniforms. As organizations become more demanding of leaders who can take them through a process of transformation, Military leaders possess a rare combination of skills which are invaluable for any organisation especially in times of crisis or when the impossible is to be attempted.
