MUMBAI : From the outset, the message was clear: the sector’s AI conversation is maturing, beyond pilots and demos, toward measurable outcomes, compliance readiness and student impact. MasterSoft positioned the Dialogue as a focused, small-room exchange: panels, spotlight talks and plenty of corridor time to interrogate what works (and what breaks) when institutions operationalise AI across teaching, governance and student services.

What gave the day its edge was its policy-meets-practice spine. Sessions returned, again and again, to three anchors:

1. NEP 2020 alignment: Not as a checkbox, but as a north star for curriculum redesign, learner centricity and outcome-based education, areas where AI can be a force multiplier if implemented with academic ownership.
2. Accreditation & compliance readiness: IQAC-grounded roadmaps and data discipline were framed as the bedrock for any serious AI rollout, because what isn’t measured won’t scale.
3. Institutional excellence: Leaders traded notes on governance models, faculty enablement and student experience, keeping the conversation rooted in how to deliver visible value on campus, not just why.

The Dialogue also spotlighted global benchmarking through rankings and internationalisation. Dr Ashwin Fernandes, a familiar voice on rankings, policy and excellence, added perspective on how Indian universities can use evidence and standards to build durable, globally competitive reputations in the AI era. As Regional Director at QS for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Fernandes, well known for pushing Indian institutions to think globally while measuring fairly, spent his time in Mumbai bridging rankings, quality systems, and the institutional culture shifts AI demands. His broader body of work with QS made him a natural anchor for this discussion.

If the July Pune Dialogue and the late-August Kolkata Dialogue were scene-setters, Mumbai felt like the “operational brief”, tightening the lens on execution, controls and capacity-building in India’s most densely networked education market.

MasterSoft’s own story threaded through the corridors. Founder & MD Sham Somani, who cut his teeth automating Nagpur University before building MasterSoft, embodies the “operations meet outcomes” ethos the conclave promoted. The company’s platform footprint (1100+ institutions, by its own count) gives it a pragmatic vantage on what it takes to seamlessly transition into classroom reality. It narrated that sustained AI adoption rides on disciplined data pipelines, interoperable systems and process stewardship, hard, unglamorous work that underwrites everything from assessments to BI dashboards to accreditation reporting. As several posts trailed in the lead-up, this conclave was designed for institutional decision-makers ready to move from talk to task.

MasterSoft reinforced what many in Indian higher ed already know: the conversation about AI is inseparable from the realities of campus-wide systems, governance, data quality, and compliance. Conversations around the conclave highlighted exchanges featuring Gurudev Somani, MasterSoft’s CEO & Co-founder, and sessions that drilled into accreditation and ranking readiness grounded in IQAC practice, not as a checkbox, but as a continuous operating habit.

In a year when India’s campuses are flooded with AI pilots, Mumbai’s Dialogue read the room correctly, leaders don’t need another showcase; they need operating clarity: What’s the model? Who owns outcomes? How do we stay audit-ready under NAAC/NBA while pushing for personalised learning and student success? The sessions didn’t pretend AI is a silver bullet; they insisted it’s a management choice, a compliance journey and a cultural shift.