IIM Ahmedabad And Cyril Shroff Launch Academy To Train GCs For Enterprise Leadership Beyond Law

Ahmedabad: A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cyril Shroff and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has paved the way for the Cyril Shroff - IIMA GC Leadership Academy. The new initiative is positioned as a research and executive education platform aimed at solving a long-standing lack of structured leadership training for General Counsels (GCs).

According to Paridhi Adani, Founder Family member and Partner & Head of Gujarat at the prestigious Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas law firm, the Cyril Shroff - IIMA GC Leadership Academy will place strong emphasis on domains outside of law and technical subjects. The objective is to bridge a critical gap in how general counsel and in-house legal professionals are prepared for the bigger leadership responsibilities they now shoulder within organisations.

On August 8, Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), and the IIMA signed an MoU to formally establish the Cyril Shroff - IIMA GC Leadership Academy. 

Speaking to ANI about the vision for the academy, Paridhi Adani stated that the GC Leadership Academy, launched in partnership with IIM Ahmedabad, has been designed to equip legal officers, general counsels, and other senior legal leaders within organisations with the capabilities needed for enterprise-level leadership.

Paridhi Adani pointed out that while technical legal education is already well addressed by existing programs, a major gap persists. General counsel and in-house legal professionals are increasingly expected to take on bigger leadership mandates inside organisations, but there is little structured training available to prepare them for those roles.

She further stressed that today’s legal leaders function at the “intersection of finance, capital, technology, policy, regulation, and business". Despite the complication of these responsibilities, no formal framework currently exists to develop them. “We hope to fill that gap with the launch of this academy. We will focus heavily on areas outside of the law and technical subjects to build something that will endure,” she added.

According to Paridhi Adani, the academy is designed to go beyond conventional classroom teaching. Instead, it looks to build a self-sustaining ecosystem that combines expert faculty guidance with active peer-to-peer learning among participants.

Elaborating on the approach, Adani said, "The idea is to have an academy where there is an exchange of ideas and perspectives. You can learn as much from each other as from an instructor." The model places equal value on collaboration between legal leaders and formal instruction.

Outlining the curriculum, she added that the program will deliberately move away from traditional legal subjects and focus instead on high-impact leadership skills. Adani also expressed hope that the academy would establish a lasting legacy of shared knowledge, where every graduating cohort contributes to the development and learning of the next.

Paridhi Adani underlined the breadth of the curriculum, saying, "...whether you take communication and presence, whether you take geopolitics, risk advisory, crisis management, ethics and morality...I mean, it's a long list. But the idea is that all of that blends together in a learning platform, where you learn not only in the classroom but from experiences from others." She explained that the focus is on integrating these leadership competencies into one cohesive program rather than teaching them in isolation.

The academy has been co-founded by Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM). Shroff brings over 40 years of distinguished experience in the legal profession and has been one of the most prominent voices in shaping India’s corporate legal sector.

The official launch ceremony for the leadership academy was held at the IIM Ahmedabad campus on August 8, marking the formal beginning of the joint initiative between CAM and IIMA.