SPM Summit India 2025: Software Product Management Excellence at Scale
ISPMA has a long-standing tradition of bringing together global experts, thought leaders, and professionals in the field of software product management through its annual summits. Continuing this tradition, SPM Summit India 2025 was held on 27 February – 1 March, 2025, at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). The theme selected for this year was “Software Product Management Excellence at Scale,” reflecting the industry’s growing focus on maintaining exceptional standards of quality, innovation, and operational efficiency amidst rapid growth and global expansion.
Overview and Structure of the Summit
SPM Summit India 2025 was designed to facilitate a deep exploration of product management practices through structured and interactive sessions over three days, including a pre-summit day dedicated to intensive masterclasses. The Summit’s comprehensive agenda was carefully crafted to provide practical insights, strategic frameworks, and rich industry experiences to participants from diverse professional backgrounds.
Keynote Speeches and Distinguished Talks. Prominent industry leaders provided strategic insights into achieving excellence and scalability, including:
- Dr. Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, Vikram Sarabhai Professor at ISRO,presented compelling insights from India’s ambitious space exploration projects, drawing strategic parallels between orchestrating complex space missions and scaling software product operations.
- Dr. Arokiaswamy Velumani, founder of Thyrocare,shared transformative strategies that allowed his healthcare enterprise to achieve exponential scale, highlighting innovation in business models and operational agility.
- Dr. Sudhanshu Mani, leader behind the iconic Vande Bharat Express, discussed the meticulous journey from product conception to successful market delivery, emphasizing lessons in brand-building, resilience, and overcoming execution hurdles at scale.
- Hans-Bernd Kittlaus, Chairman of ISPMA, presented a thought-provoking session titled Data Quality for AI, emphasizing the strategic importance of high-quality data as foundational to effective artificial intelligence integration and sustainable product scaling.
- Prof. S. Sadagopan, Chairman of ISPMA India and former Director of IIIT Bangalore, shared a reflective journey in his talk Down Memory Lane: The Evolution of Software Over the Years, tracing significant transformations in software product management and drawing lessons relevant to contemporary practices.
Fireside Chats. In-depth conversations providing insights into strategic leadership and operational excellence, featuring:
- Wg Cdr Rakesh Sharma, India’s first astronaut, shared invaluable lessons on resilience, meticulous planning, and teamwork, derived from his extensive experience in aerospace operations.
- Mukul Saxena, President and CTO of Havells India, explored strategies for empowering product teams and fostering organizational cultures conducive to achieving operational excellence and sustainable growth.
- Srinivasu Chakravarthula, Director of Product Accessibility at Freshworks, addressed the critical role of inclusivity and accessibility in scaling products, reinforcing that excellence must encompass all user segments.
Strategic Panel Discussions. Expert panels explored crucial challenges and strategic approaches in software product scaling, such as:
- Building from India for Global Markets, moderated by Muthu Ranganathan (Oracle), featured industry leaders including Rajalakshmi Srinivasan (Zoho) and Dr. Vishal Rao (HCG Cancer Centre), discussing India’s strategic advantages and challenges in designing scalable global products.
- Disruptive Innovations in Traditional Industries, moderated by Deepak Padmanabha (SAP Labs), examined how technological innovation reshapes established sectors, with insights from Roopa Jayaraman (Odessa), Dr. Amitabh Saran (Altigreen Propulsion Labs), and other leading innovators.
- Effective Pricing and Go-To-Market Strategies, led by Ankita Parihar, addressed practical challenges in scaling software products, focusing on pricing strategies, channel partnerships, and international market penetration.
- ISPMA Certification for Professional Excellence, moderated by Vibhuti Ranjan Singh, highlighted the importance of standardized certification programs in professionalizing and enhancing the global practice of software product management.
Celebrating Excellence: SPM Excellence Awards 2025. Recognizing outstanding achievements, the SPM Excellence Awards showcased exemplary products across diverse sectors, including fintech, healthcare, aerospace, and digital innovation. These awards celebrated industry best practices, reinforcing the Summit’s central commitment to excellence in software product management.
The Summit also offered complementary learning opportunities, including masterclasses on advanced topics such as integrating AI into product management, strategic influencing skills, and transitioning from service-based models to product-driven strategies, as well as a student case competition designed to identify and support emerging talent from leading management institutes, thus nurturing the next generation of product management leaders.
Embracing Excellence at Scale: Key Insights
Two strategic pillars — Excellence and Scaling — dominated discussions throughout the Summit:
- Excellence was consistently framed as the ability to deliver high-quality, user-centric software solutions through robust processes, effective cross-functional collaboration, and strategic use of technology, including AI. The importance of decision-making, communication, and strategic influencing skills were emphasized as essential competencies for achieving market leadership.
- Scaling discussions emphasized the careful management of growth, focusing on infrastructure optimization, process automation, user-experience preservation, and sustainable market expansion. Frameworks like the 3P Model (Product, Process, People), presented during pre-summit masterclasses by experts such as Deepak Chauhan and Abhijit Bendigiri, provided strategic methodologies for effective product scaling.
Future Outlook: Continuing the Journey
ISPMA remains committed to advancing software product management excellence globally. The overwhelming success of the SPM Summit India 2025 has reinforced the importance of continual learning, knowledge exchange, and professional networking in driving product management forward. Plans are already underway to expand the Summit further in 2026, broadening engagement, enriching content, and continuing to build a robust global community dedicated to product management excellence.
