BW Businessworld tracks Tata leadership change & fintech’s rise as finance infrastructure

BW Businessworld’s latest issue brings together two defining transformations shaping Indian business today - the institutional transition underway at the Tata Group and the evolution of fintech from a consumer-facing category into the underlying infrastructure of modern finance.

The issue is led by the cover story, ‘Back To Tata’, which examines the institutional compact taking shape after Ratan Tata and ahead of the appointment of the next Tata Sons chairman. Alongside the cover package, an extensive fintech special, drawn from BW Businessworld’s proprietary Festival of Fintech 2026, explores the technologies, businesses and leaders reshaping lending, payments, artificial intelligence, wealthtech, insurtech and financial inclusion.

Beyond The Next Chairman

The Tata cover package moves beyond speculation around individual candidates to examine the larger strategic question facing one of India’s most influential business groups: what should the next Tata Group look like, and what mandate will its next professional leader inherit?

The ‘Back To Tata’ cover story does not suggest a return to family-run management. Instead, it examines how the Tata Trusts, under Noel Tata, have re-emerged as the institutional centre responsible for articulating the owners’ long-term purpose, risk appetite and expectations from professional management.

The package also presents a balanced, data-led assessment of N. Chandrasekaran’s tenure and the scale of the group he leaves behind. Between FY20 and FY26, Tata Group revenue increased 2.1 times, while profit after tax rose 5.4 times. The group’s listed market capitalisation grew 2.6 times over the same period.

At the same time, the story examines the scale and cost of the group’s newer businesses. Tata Electronics, Air India, Tata Digital and Agratas together generated revenue of nearly Rs 2.39 lakh crore in FY26, while reporting combined losses of Rs 29,924 crore.

Against this, Tata Sons entered the transition with a profit after tax of Rs 31,961 crore, net cash of Rs 21,841 crore and no borrowings.

The central challenge for the group, therefore, is less about financial capacity and more about capital allocation, execution and institutional alignment.

“The Tata Group is more than one of India’s largest business institutions. It represents a distinctive compact between enterprise, professional management, ownership stewardship and public purpose. This transition, therefore, cannot be reduced to the identity of the next chairman. Through ‘Back To Tata’, we examine why Noel Tata’s institutional stewardship matters, the formidable group N. Chandrasekaran leaves behind, and the mandate its next professional leader must carry. Tata’s next chapter must unite ambition with accountability, and scale with its enduring responsibility to India,” said Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4media group.

Complementing the cover story are columns by Dr Annurag Batra that examine Noel Tata’s record as an operator, builder and custodian of the Tata ethos.

Finance Becomes Infrastructure

The issue’s fintech package is led by ‘The Infrastructuralisation Of Finance’, which examines how digital public infrastructure is moving finance from the foreground of individual transactions to the underlying architecture powering commerce and economic activity.

Built on platforms and systems such as UPI, Aadhaar, Account Aggregators, ONDC and the Open Credit Enablement Network, and increasingly strengthened by artificial intelligence, this emerging architecture is embedding payments, credit, insurance and investments into the digital platforms and journeys that consumers and businesses already use.

The package examines how finance is increasingly becoming invisible and integrated into everyday experiences, from travel bookings and ecommerce purchases to supply-chain platforms, gig work and enterprise systems.

It also explores the opportunities emerging for MSMEs, first-generation borrowers and underserved consumers as consent-based cash-flow data begins to supplement conventional collateral and credit histories.

The analysis brings together perspectives from T Rabi Sankar, former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Praveena Rai, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Multi Commodity Exchange of India; as well as leaders working across payments, embedded finance, public digital systems and artificial intelligence.

Honouring India’s Fintech Architects

The special fintech package also features India’s Fintech Architects, recognising the organisations and leaders honoured at BW Businessworld’s Festival of Fintech 2026.

The awards recognise excellence across lending platforms, payment solutions, financial inclusion, customer experience, fintech products, wealthtech, insurtech, the application of AI in fintech, startups and breakthrough innovation.

Entries were evaluated across parameters including innovation, business impact, scalability, customer value, governance, technological excellence, market differentiation and contribution to the wider financial ecosystem.

“Both Tata and fintech are at important institutional inflexion points. One is defining the compact between ownership, purpose and professional management for its next chapter. The other is progressing from disruption to infrastructure and institution-building. This issue examines the leaders, systems and strategic choices shaping both transformations,” added Noor Fathima Warsia, Group Editorial Director, BW Businessworld.

The recent issue of BW Businessworld is now available in both digital and print formats. Read BW Businessworld’s latest digital edition here for more insights and the full stories.

About BW Businessworld

BW Businessworld, with a 45-year legacy, is India’s fastest-growing 360-degree business media house. With a network spanning 23 niche business communities and 10 magazines, BW Businessworld is proud to be entrenched in various domestic and global verticals that organise conferences and forums to facilitate interaction between sectoral business leaders and create a conducive environment for collaboration. All BW issues are also digitally covered, including online and video stories, and eMagazine is available for every issue.