From Military Leadership to Academic Excellence: A Conversation with Col Virender Kapoor I NISSMAT

What this session covered

This session took the form of a host in conversation with a single guest: a retired Indian Army officer of the Corps of Signals who joined the National Defence Academy in 1968, served for 27 years, and subsequently moved into management education and writing, including a lengthy tenure as director of a management institute in Pune. The speaker credited the Academy and his Army service with building the confidence, adaptability and discipline that carried him through a complete change of field, and recalled instructional postings during service and postgraduate study in computer science at IIT Bombay.

Much of the conversation traced the speaker's path into authorship, which he described as accidental: a technical article on battlefield information systems grew far beyond magazine length, prompting a friend's suggestion that it become a book, which he ultimately self-published. He went on to describe securing mainstream publishers, translations into several languages including Vietnamese, his disciplined writing routine, and how word processing, faster printing and online retail have transformed publishing. On artificial intelligence, he took the view that such tools can assist with editing and optimisation but cannot truly create, while acknowledging they ease parts of the writing process.

The later discussion turned to a book applying military principles — such as concentration of force, force multipliers and improvisation — to business and civilian life, with the host and the speaker noting how closely business teaching mirrors military doctrine under different labels. The speaker also described studying the Prime Minister's speeches for a book on oratory. The session closed with an exchange on youth employment, in which the speaker argued that jobs exist but that attitudes and skills often fall short, urging hard work and consistency, before the host drew the conversation to a close.

Key points raised

• A host-and-single-guest interview with a retired Corps of Signals officer who moved from the Army into management education and authorship.
• The speaker credited the National Defence Academy and 27 years of service for the confidence and adaptability that enabled his second career.
• He described becoming an author by accident after a technical article outgrew magazine length, self-publishing his first book before major publishers took up later work.
• He argued that artificial intelligence can assist editing and optimisation but cannot create, while digital tools and online retail have transformed publishing.
• He applied military principles such as concentration of force and force multipliers to business and everyday life, suggesting business teaching restates military doctrine under new labels.
• On youth employment, he contended that jobs are available but attitudes and skills often fall short, stressing hard work and consistency.