Daybreak The Ken: Stories that shaped 2025
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Dec 23, 2025 Nuha Bubere, a renowned reporter known for her in-depth analysis of Flipkart, discusses the company's struggles amid competition and leadership challenges under CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy. She highlights his intense, metric-driven management style and the impact of recent executive departures. Atul Krishna, a business reporter, explores India's groundbreaking policy allowing foreign universities to open campuses, emphasizing its implications for higher education and global competitiveness. Together, they provide a fascinating look at evolving business landscapes in 2025.
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Flipkart Under Sustained Pressure
- Flipkart is under sustained internal and external pressure that has shifted its leadership style from growth play to damage control.
- Kalyan Krishnamurthy runs an obsessive, numbers-driven 'wartime' leadership that permeates daily operations.
Six Morning Calls Every Day
- Nuha describes Kalyan's morning routine of six direct calls to key executives focused solely on numbers and deliverables.
- The ritual illustrates how hands-on and metrics-obsessed his crisis management has become.
Wartime Leadership Drains Talent
- Wartime leadership intensifies accountability but depletes senior talent as trusted lieutenants leave amid repeated reorganizations.
- Flipkart's aggressive targets persisted even as category growth slowed, widening a gap between expectations and market reality.