Cyril Shroff and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the Cyril Shroff – IIMA GC Leadership Academy, a research and executive development initiative designed to address a critical gap in leadership development for General Counsels (GCs).
The Academy will be a premier learning hub for the GC community, creating world-class knowledge products, executive education, and thought leadership. The MoU signing ceremony and official launch of the academy took place at the IIMA campus in Ahmedabad.
The GC Leadership Academy represents Mr. Shroff’s personal philanthropic vision and long-standing commitment to advancing the legal profession through institution-building that prepares future legal leaders.
For IIMA, the partnership reflects its commitment to developing leaders at the intersection of business, law and governance, and to bringing its strengths in management education and research to the evolving leadership needs of the GC community.
The GC Leadership Academy will interalia focus on four core priorities. These include:
• Boardroom and enterprise leadership: Equip GCs with the strategic judgement, decision-making capabilities and confidence required for boardroom engagement and enterprise-wide leadership.
• Business, finance and strategy integration: Build deeper understanding of finance, strategy, governance, risk, organisational behaviour and business transformation.
• Technology, AI and emerging risk readiness: Prepare legal leaders to navigate artificial intelligence, digital transformation, cybersecurity and the governance implications of emerging technologies.
• Global peer learning and thought leadership: Create a curated community of senior GCs, with opportunities for peer learning, international exposure, certification and knowledge creation on the future of legal leadership.
As the role of GCs continues to evolve from legal adviser to business leader, the need for specialised executive education has become increasingly important. Today’s legal leaders must combine technical excellence with strategic judgement, commercial understanding, technological awareness and ethical leadership. Inspired by this shift, Mr. Shroff envisioned the Leadership Academy as a platform that would help prepare legal leaders for greater boardroom and enterprise-wide responsibilities. Co-created with and established at IIM Ahmedabad, the Academy will offer world class executive education and a network of peers, helping GCs strengthen their leadership capabilities and drive meaningful impact within their organisations and in the profession.
Why IIM Ahmedabad
IIMA as India’s leading B-School, was a natural partner for the initiative given its unparallel reputation for developing business and institutional leaders. Its rigorous case-based pedagogy, built over six decades, and its academic depth across strategy, finance, marketing, human resources, negotiation, organizational behaviour, decision science, AI, and public policy bring capabilities that are essential to shaping future-ready enterprise leaders.
These disciplines complement, and extend beyond, what practising lawyers can teach on their own. Together, Mr. Shroff and IIMA are creating a robust platform that combines leadership with management education to prepare our GCs for the complexity, accountability and global expectations of modern leadership.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Cyril Shroff, Founder and Managing Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said:
“Great professions are shaped not only by individual excellence, but by institutions that endure. The Cyril Shroff-IIMA GC Leadership Academy is a deliberate step towards institution-building for the legal profession and longterm stewardship of the in-house counsel community. The role of General Counsel has moved from legal advisory to enterprise leadership, with responsibilities spanning governance, strategy, technology, risk and business transformation. Through this leadership Academy, we hope to build a globally relevant platform that prepares the next generation of General Counsels to lead with judgement, capability and purpose.”
Underlining the significance of this partnership, Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIMA, said:
“The establishment of the Cyril Shroff – IIMA GC Leadership Academy is a groundbreaking initiative that addresses the evolving needs of General Counsels in today’s dynamic business landscape. This partnership and the Academy signify our shared commitment to foster leadership for global institutions at the intersection of law, business, and governance. By focusing on core priorities such as enterprise leadership, finance integration, and technological readiness, we aim to equip legal counsels with the knowledge and tools they need to excel in their roles. Together with Mr. Cyril Shroff, we are dedicated to shaping the next generation of legal counsels who can navigate the challenges and opportunities of modern times.”
Prof. Sandip Chakrabarti and Prof. Ranjan Ghosh, who are leading the Academy at IIMA, added:
“This landmark partnership brings together complementary strengths in legal leadership and management education, creating strong value for the GC community and the broader profession. Executive Education programmes offered by the Academy will draw on IIMA’s strengths in case-based pedagogy and interdisciplinary learning to deliver practical insights in strategy, finance, technology, governance, and leadership.”
Paridhi Adani, Founder Family and Partner (Head – Gujarat), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said:
“The Cyril Shroff – IIMA GC Leadership Academy has been conceived as a long-term commitment to the profession, an institution built to combine structured leadership executive education, certification, peer learning and global exposure with IIMA’s distinctive academic assets and CAM’s deep understanding of the evolving role of General Counsel. As expectations from legal leaders continue to expand, the Academy will provide a platform for GCs to broaden their perspectives, build enterprise leadership capability and participate in a globally positioned learning community.”
Mr. Cyril Shroff is the Managing Partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) and has had an illustrious legal career spanning over four decades. He has received several prestigious honours, including the FT Law 50 2026 AI Enablers award from Financial Times, the Managing Partner of the Year 2026 at the ALB India Law Awards, Legal Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution & Excellence as a Corporate M&A Law Leader of the Decade at the Legal Era Indian Legal Awards 2026 and the Asian Law Firm Leader of the Year Award from the Asia Legal Awards 2025 by ALM. He is consistently recognised as an Eminent Practitioner by Chambers and Partners and as a Legal Icon by Indian Business Law Journal.
